Following is a press release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard. I find it interesting that "small vessels may be approached by Canadian Maritime Forces with US Coast Guard personnel on board." <<<Gary Ritzman>>> M/V Dharma Alban 40 Mercer Isalnd WA QUOTE: Community Participant, This is an Announcement from the AMSC Puget Sound community. Announcement: Dear AMSC Members and Maritime Stakeholders: As you may have read in press releases, Monday, October 19 through Friday October 23, U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Maritime forces will be conducting exercise Spartan Rings, in support of the upcoming Vancouver, B.C. 2010 Winter Olympics and Para-Olympic Games. During this period you may notice Canadian, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels practicing maritime security in the northern Puget Sound area, with some aspects of the exercise visible to the public in the waters off Bellingham WA and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Expect: 7 A Full Scale Exercise 7 The boating community and public citizens will be able to see and hear multi-agency assets on the water, with tactical communications taking place with the use of IWN radios 7 All correspondence will be preceded with Exercise-ExerciseExercise 7 Large vessels may transit without regard to the traffic separation scheme 7 Small vessels may be approached by Canadian Maritime forces, operating with U.S. Coast Guard personnel onboard, and Coast Guard small boats and crews. Public affairs interest within the United States regarding this exercise is expected to remain low, increasing when U.S. vessels may be approached. Direct public affair inquires to District Thirteen Public Affairs office at (206) 220-7237, or visit their website at: http://www.d13publicaffairs.com/go/site/21/. If you have any AMSC related questions regarding this exercise, please contact Mr. Mark Dady at (206) 217-6694. To access the announcement, please log on using the community URL https://homeport.uscg.mil/community/AMSC_Puget_Sound

Actually that's something you might see anytime not just during the Winter Olympics. Or the RCMP on US Coast Guard vessels, etc. Part of FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON INTEGRATED CROSS-BORDER MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/le/_fl/int-cross-brdr-martime-eng.pdf CHeers Mike Eedy > Following is a press release from the U.S. Department of Homeland > Security, > United States Coast Guard. I find it interesting that "small vessels may > be > approached by Canadian Maritime Forces with US Coast Guard personnel on > board."