I have seen him twice.
My neighbor has seen him more often.
He motors along the beach -- probably within 10 meters of the shore.
He then motors out into the bay and sits there -- sometimes for hours.
The boat bristles with antennae. And I say "he," because I have only seen the helmsman. If there is anyone below, they stay below.
So, what is up? (I used the telephoto lens merely to give the photograph a "Stevenson explains missiles in Cuba" effect.)
The boat has no markings. But with that silhouette, the orange life rings, and the nautical gray paint job, it certainly belongs to some governmental agency -- most likely the Navy. Though, there are other possiblities.
While I was photographing the boat, someone asked me if I thought it was a narco boat. I responded: "Not unless things are a lot worse than the press lets on." And I find that hard to imagine.
But I really have no idea.
Anyone want to drop a guess in the boat pool?
My neighbor has seen him more often.
He motors along the beach -- probably within 10 meters of the shore.
He then motors out into the bay and sits there -- sometimes for hours.
The boat bristles with antennae. And I say "he," because I have only seen the helmsman. If there is anyone below, they stay below.
So, what is up? (I used the telephoto lens merely to give the photograph a "Stevenson explains missiles in Cuba" effect.)
The boat has no markings. But with that silhouette, the orange life rings, and the nautical gray paint job, it certainly belongs to some governmental agency -- most likely the Navy. Though, there are other possiblities.
While I was photographing the boat, someone asked me if I thought it was a narco boat. I responded: "Not unless things are a lot worse than the press lets on." And I find that hard to imagine.
But I really have no idea.
Anyone want to drop a guess in the boat pool?
It's your Secret Admirer stealthfully watching you :-)
ReplyDeleteMic -- Yikes! Never thought of that. Break out the torpedoes!
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange looking vessel...I'm gonna go with..Mexican Coast Guard.
ReplyDeleteFrancisco
Instituto Nacional de Ecologia?
ReplyDeleteCanadiangrl
The vessel appears to be a CB90 combat/patrol boat, probably a CB90 HMN.
ReplyDeleteThey were originally manufactured by Dockstavarvet in Sweden, but now the Mexican government has a license to produce them for its own use. The Mexican Navy operates about 50 of them.
North Americano Senior Cotton may I offer some suggestions.
ReplyDelete1. Pretend the boat does not exist.
2. Do not observe it with binoculars.
3. Do not take pictures of it.
4. Do not post pictures of it on your website.
5. Do not talk about it on your website.
6. You are no longer in Salem.
Anonymous
It has to be a government boat. It's tooo toooo ugly to be anything else.
ReplyDeleteSteve - You just can't seem to stay out of trouble these days ;-)
ReplyDeleteYes - government boat - and now you have blown heir cover - like they really had one. Maybe they sell pirate DVD's on that pirate ship?
I agree with Babs, the thing is so ugly it probably get kick out of every anhorage it approaches.
ReplyDeleteFrancisco -- As far as I know, none of the coast is missing.
ReplyDeleteCanadiangrl -- Ecology? Perhaps, specialty agriculture.
Mdoneil -- I am handing my binoculars over to you. Good match. We will assume Navy, and no special assignment. I almost missed those machine guns at the helsman's station.
Anonymous -- But where would be the adventure in that?
Babs -- I looked at some of the footage on this beauty. It is fast. It is sleek. And it is deadly. The perfect boat.
Calypso -- I did notice the helsman looked a lot like Geoffrey Rush.
Chrissy -- I suspect this baby gets to anchor wherever it chooses.
"Boat pool?" Are you shameless?
ReplyDeleteHorst
My opinion is for you to be careful. You don’t work for Al Gore as did the girls taken into custody in North Korea. Therefore you can not expect Bill Clinton to ride to your rescue.
ReplyDeleteMom
Horst -- Nope!
ReplyDeleteMom -- I am certain Dr. Paul would have plenty of clout here in Mexico.
AAAK. It just ate my whole comment. I should know better than not to copy it before I hit post.
ReplyDeleteIt is the Mexican government watching the coast for drug smugglers using either pangas or submarines. I read a long article somewhere recently where they talked about alot of drugs are bypassing Mexico, moving from Columbia or wherever along the coast to the US.
They pose as fishermen in the pangas and hang about by day and hurry North by night.
Thanks, Nancy. That makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteI empathize with the computer-ate-my-comment problem. A couple of weeks ago, that happened to me on almost every other post. Frustrating.
It is definitely a Navy boat. Mostly used for drug patrol and confiscation. You have been making joking responses to some of the comments here. But.this.is.not.a.joking.matter.! Use a little more discretion and sense when posting about military, government or drug cartel subjects. Or better yet, avoid those topics. Nobody is going to come to your rescue.
ReplyDeleteIslagringo -- By asking the question, I have received some very good information from local sources. The Navy wants the boat to be seen. It is there for exactly that puropose.
ReplyDeleteIt is clearly a reconnaissance ship operated by the Sardinian Navy. The rest of the crew is tightly packed below deck.
ReplyDeleteSaludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where there are so many ships, boats, and assorted flotsam that we can't worry about them.
Kim -- With or without oil? But now we are verging on the border of kinkiness -- and this is not that type of blog.
ReplyDelete