Kayak fishing, life jackets, and respecting authority

I went out fishing with a few buddies today in the kayaks. Fishing was slow, while the wind was anything but. I had just caught two fish in two casts (combined total 9 inches) and then saw my least favorite person on the water (besides jet ski-ers, who are in their own terrible category): the marine patrol.

I said to one of my buddies, "He's going to ruin my day." And I was right. He asked to see our lifejackets, fishing license, and whistle or other "personal noise making device."

I repeated back to him, "I have no personal noise making device, and one of the two kayaks has a life jacket in them." My other kayak, in use by a friend from church, was the winner. Not having a life jacket is now a 90 dollar fine. Just went up last weekend. Lovely.

He also issued us warnings for not having a whistle/personal noise making device. To make matters worse, I actually didn't have my fishing license with me either. It was in the car, in my wallet. So I got a 70 dollar fine, which will be taken away when I go to the clerk of the court and show him I do in fact have a license. Crazy. I felt a pang of conscience and checked just to make sure I wasn't assuming my lifejacket was there. Fortunately it was in the front compartment. Now I won't have that on my conscience!

The morals of the day:

1.) Get a stinkin whistle, another life jacket and put your fishing license with your fishing lures. What good does it do you in your wallet if you leave that in the car?

2.) People in positions of authority like to be respected. Marine patrols have a clause that allows them to give a "non-refundable" 70 dollar ticket for folks who don't have their licenses with them. Apparently it is up the marine patrol's discretion. Glad I was decently respectful. Now I'm only out a trip to courthouse and 5 bucks or so. And half the other fine.