Someone should be fired...

Looks like there is quite the investigation firing up in the Puger Sound area, about some fine folks in the Marine Enforcement Division of NOAA.  It appears that somewhere along the line, someone in the Seattle Bureau of the National Marine Fisheries Service became convinced that the what they really needed to catch more people hooking salmon out of season, and tour boats bothering killer whales was an undercover boat.

Rather than something that might look remotely working class, like a used Arima, Trophy or Alumaweld, all of which would be perfectly at home on Puget Sound, the NMFS purchased a 35-Foot Boston Whaler Conquest, valued at over $300,000 dollars.  The initial request had been to spend $146,000 on a boat...but the final price tag on this Conquest, with hardwood floors, granite counter tops, and capable of sleeping 6, was twice that amount. 

I know, we can't expect our government agencies to play around on Craigslist, but are you telling me something like this 30-foot Grady White, or this 24 Foot Trophy, or even this 33-foot Maxum wouldn't have worked?  Anyone of them would have looked perfectly at home shadowing fishermen or whale watching boats, for under 70K, which is still excessive, since a $20,000 used 20-foot Arima would have done just as well...

Let's not even talk about how this falls into the Department of Government Redundancy and Repetitiveness, since the Coast Guard is already doing this same job...

The money is spent, and you can't cry over spilt milk. 

You can punish the guilty though...and in this story, there is one person who keeps coming up as GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.  The middle part of the article focuses on one person...the first Fisheries Agent to use the boat after it was purchased, and his uses of the boat read like a perfect example of not just abuse, but also incompetance.

First time in the boat(with his wife for some reason), he runs out of gas.  After a tow, he has dinner at a dock side restaraunt in Ballard.  Next time out, it's lunch in Poulsbo, followed by dinner at the Tide Tavern in Gig Harbor(at least he has good taste...the Tide Tavern is excellent).  Finally, the dude get's stranded on the way to Everett with his wife, no doubt trying to visit another tasty water-side restaraunt. 

This guy needs to be fired.  When I worked for the shipyard, and now here at Hanford, where I also get to drive GSA paid for vehicles, you were made well aware...get caught using a government vehicle for personal use, and you were going to face disipline.  And yes, that included hitting a drive through in Silverdale, even though it's on the way between Bremerton and the Sub Base at Bangor...and that's a lot less heinous than burning marine gas to get from Seattle, to Poulsbo, to Gig Harbor, then back to Seattle...I mean, that's at least 6 hours of cruising time....

Guess I picked the wrong career path...