I Got An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

[CaptainKickback]

As some of you know, my project boat includes plans to convert to outboards. A guy came in our salon today and he related some stories his freiends (3 of them) who converted to OBs have experienced. They have all been stopped by law enforcement as they came back in an inlet. One of them gets stopped routinely.

It seems smugglers have used converted boats to perform their trade. So any such boat is suspect.

 

[zopperman]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Why?

How can LEOS tell?

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

The cops on the water here are very knowledgable about boats. They know.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

The cops on the water here are very knowledgable about boats. They know.

If the conversion is done well, it should be impossible to tell unless you are inspecting hands on... Chances are they could see the 'conversion' a couple hundred yards away... Although i'm thinking there is more to the story. Almost every conversion I've seen would have been stopped by LEO's also, but not because of drugs, but from a pure safety (or lack of!) standpoint.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

What am I missing here? Conversions create room under the decks for contraband? They go faster and can escape pursuit?, What?

 

[O-fishal]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

The pod is hollow and can hide drugs!!!

 

[DaNinja]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

What am I missing here? Conversions create room under the decks for contraband? They go faster and can escape pursuit?, What?

That and they have a multi-engine option that the boat didn't have with an I/O?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

I would think all boats over a certain size would be suspect in S. Fla.

... and a conversion is like WTH dude, why didn't you just buy an OB to begin with?

I don't mind being stopped by the Marine Police of Game Wardens, if you aren't doing anything wrong and obey the laws you have nothing to worry about... these people are just doing their jobs. I actually like to see my tax dollars at work.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Drop the politics guys lest THIS thread get locked too... duh

As for how the tell.... an older outboard boat without a splashwell would be a pretty obvious clue.... I know that the conversions I've seen could be easily spotted a LONG way off

 

[scoutabout]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

The pod is hollow and can hide drugs!!!

:facepalm: - But the whole damn boat is hollow and can hide drugs!

It just seems like kind of a dumb criteria for stopping a boat for a search. Meanwhile, Buddy is cruising by in his Trojan right under their noses, towing a Zodiac tender that's packed full of blow instead of compressed air.

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

As for how the tell.... an older outboard boat without a splashwell would be a pretty obvious clue.... I know that the conversions I've seen could be easily spotted a LONG way off

Agreed. For instance, I have been following the OP's rebuild and he is doing a great job. However, when the boat is done, if anybody is familiar with these Sea Ray boats, they will know that they were never built with outboards.

Nothing against the OP, as I stated he is doing a great job and I look forward to seeing the completed result!

 

[zopperman]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

The thing about searays is definitely true, but what about a boat that just has an integrated bracket...?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Quad..._Motorboats&hash=item1c215c9b75#ht_500wt_1182
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DEEP...hing_Boats&hash=item3a6cd0ecfd#ht_1627wt_1165

Both could have been I/Os (minus the fact that most CC's aren't)
it just doesn't make sense that converted boats would be used for drug running... I'm actually writing a 20+ page paper about marine drug smuggling now for school... This is NOT something I've come across... I will look further into it though.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

makes perfect sense.... REAL easy to have a bracket welded up with drugs inside.... bolt to a boat and go.... the real point though is that some LEO's are aware that it has been done so they NOTICE them..... In my experience standing out and getting noticed is what gets you stopped..... IE anything out of the norm is suspect

 

[zopperman]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

I feel like it would be equally easy to put them under a deck or something. IDK, just my thoughts on how I'd smuggle drugs

 

[Philster]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

My understanding is that drug runners can't get proper I/O support, or could at one time but cannot now. In addition to freeing up max storage, it is them doing what they can do: run outboards.

There have been books written about how outboards have changed the third world. Many drug runners are people right out of a jungle, essentially living a third world life. But... They know outboards, because outboard became fixtures in third world places decades ago. Plus., they get more storage, and, again, I don't think they have I/O support.... and if I/O support is around them, it's not in their power circles.

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[DuckHunterJon]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

These are good reasons, but my guess is it's more about ability to put more HP on the transom to go faster. These guys probably aren't concerned with max HP ratings of USCG, let alone stopping in to iBoats and asking how much motor they can hang off the back.

 

[Philster]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

These are good reasons, but my guess is it's more about ability to put more HP on the transom to go faster. These guys probably aren't concerned with max HP ratings of USCG, let alone stopping in to iBoats and asking how much motor they can hang off the back.

They're stopping converted boats, not boats with excessive outboard H.P. Although, again, they know outboards, and they can bolt them on for crazy power... so agreed there.

For those that like to argue I/O vs. Outboard, the drug runners have cast their vote! The only thing bewteen them and 900 HP is bolting on some engines. They already tried the I/O thing and it got ugly for many boat builders. The drug runners don't exactly have the ties to the guys that can build 1200 HP I/O's. Well... regardless, if they do, still just easier to buy the outboards and replace them as they burn 'em up.


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[halfmoa]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

This doesn't even remotely sound like reasonable suspicion to initiate contact for an investigation, more like profiling. I'm sure there's a civil rights loophole in there somewhere that they're using, something like a legal right to stop for a safety inspection...:facepalm:

 

[zopperman]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

This doesn't even remotely sound like reasonable suspicion to initiate contact for an investigation, more like profiling. I'm sure there's a civil rights loophole in there somewhere that they're using, something like a legal right to stop for a safety inspections...:facepalm:

Agreed.
They should just stop all outboard boats...

 

[Philster]

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

Re: I Gon An I/O to OB Conversion Warning Today

They are profiling boats. Boats have no rights; people do.

They can pull over every conversion to keep it from being illegal/random/unjust. Oh wait! Isn't that what they are doing?

They can pull over every fifth conversion... every tenth... or every single one when practical. The courts have already spoken on this matter.