Texan Insanity

[seanz]

it doesn't matter much... there is no honor in the world

Phillip! Wash-yer-mouth-out-wiv-soap!

There's not much honor in politics, and when your country shares a border with a country that is going through a civil war honor doesn't come into it very often.....

[seanz]

They call them "shallow water interceptors" or some such.

I believe the Rio Grande doesn't make it to the Gulf of Mexico anymore. Wonder what their budget for shear pins, propellors and hull repair is?

Hmmmm......now I'm wondering why they didn't go with a jet drive.

[fishrswim]

YEEEEHAAAAWWWW!!!!! Whoa dogie!!! I'd love to drive that thang at full throttle up and down that little river. Better be on your game tho, cause there's no time to correct. If ya screw it up, you'll be 40 yards up in the sagebrush. Gotta be fun tho. A"mazing what those small gov't politicians think is "necessary".

Let's see now, how long is that river?? Six boats? Hmmmm.

[seanz]

Six boats? Hmmmm

Good little fleet.

1 boat for training.
2 boats for patrolling.
3 boats in the 'shop'.

[Plumbtex]

Sailing on Galveston Bay/ Clear Lake a couple of weeks ago I came across one of these boats racing around the area. Homeland Security and Customs each had similar boats out that day. The Texas boat was apparently doing PR work as there were civilians aboard and no machine guns mounted. I am more comfortable with the Texas DPS having these boats and weapons than I am with Homeland Security or Customs having them. I've not met a Trooper or Ranger who behaved in anything but a profesional manner, can't say the same for the dinks from the other two agencies. As for the depth of the Rio Grande, it just depends where you're at. There is a couple of large lakes on the river and there have been some piracy incidents. A lot of the border area is pretty remote and lawless.
I went kayaking with family through the Boquillas Canyon over spring break two years ago. On our first day out we ran into a group of men on the Mexican side of the river armed with various weapons including assault type rifles. Most of the group tried to get their weapons out of sight and look nonchalant but one of the men, who was a little up stream from the others, shouldered his weapon leveled off at us and mimed shooting us as we paddled by. They were using walkie talkies. My BIL who speaks spanish and also had a radio heard them discuss the stuff we were carryin and how easy it would be to rob us. The area we were in wouldn't have been accessible to these boats but the situation is much the same all along the river, worse as you near populated areas.
I don't think this boat is too far out of line for the job it's doing in the area it's doing it.

[fishrswim]

The official river border measurement ranges from 889 miles (1,431 km) to 1,248 miles (2,008 km), depending on how the river is measured.

Six boats patrolling 889 miles is almost 150 miles of river per boat, assuming they're all operational.

"Course, they are probably pretty quiet.