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Parkinson’s naval vessel now operational

March 4, 2015
Sheriff Ian Parkinson

Sheriff Ian Parkinson

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson has unveiled his 27-foot Defender Class boat that will allow sheriff’s personnel to step up their battle against drug smugglers frequenting local shores.

Parkinson showed off the approximately $350,000 boat on Tuesday near Avila Beach. He acquired the vessel by attaining nearly $500,000 in federal funds in order to deal with the influx of panga boats arriving in San Luis Obispo County.

Last year, Parkinson told the board of supervisors that he needed the defender class in order to tow pangas, and that it was costing the county nearly $10,000 to tow each of the smuggling boats. However, officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and Homeland Security department said they never charged the county for towing the drug boats, nor for taking part in criminal investigations relating to them.

Sheriff’s personnel are now saying that they will also use the boat to intercept the pangas before they reach county beaches. The federal funds Parkinson acquired likewise included money for night vision goggles and a thermal-imaging camera to detect pangas at sea, sheriff’s officials said last year.

The new boat has two motors with 300 horsepower each, and it can reach speeds up to about 60 mph. The sheriff’s office plans to usually station the boat in Morro Bay.

Approximately 15 pangas have beached in San Luis Obispo County in the last three years.


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Another example of using “free money”. Remember that on April 15th when you pay your taxes and every time you pay a fee at either the county or one of the seven incorporated cities. Remember, it’s their “free money” to buys toys and increase perks and benefits. They spend and we give.


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Someone in the Sheriffs office should have spent some time on the central coast ocean before spending half a million bucks. No way they are going to hit 60 miles an hour with our weather and seas. If they really wanted to go after pangas, they should have invested in airborne drones and then intercepted on land.


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“Sheriff’s personnel are now saying that they will also use the boat to intercept the pangas before they reach county beaches.”


Well, maybe that’s why they need those military auto rifles — shootout on the high seas. This should be interesting!


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15 pangas over three years? That would have been over $23,000 per tow if they had this craft then. I’ll do it for $10,000 each…Admiral Parkinson…


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What an obscene waste of money………..


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What a terrible boondoggle. What a terrible waste of taxpayer $$$ Shame on you, SLOC Board of Supervisors for approving this expenditure.


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what was funny was when the BOS approved this they said and I quote “it’s not our money, its federal money”.


LMFAO.


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Yep. Thank you for mentioning this.


We can blame Sheriff Ian BUT shame on our Supervisors who voted to approve this waste of taxpayer $$.


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Will be very interesting to see just how many pangas are now intercepted offshore.


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It would be great to see:


How much this craft cost to operate (including staffing, training, etc.) and maintain its first year.


What it was actually used for its first year.


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A wealthy (and misogynistic) man once offered this advice, “If it flies, floats or f*(ks, rent, don’t buy. The maintenance and depreciation will break you.


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My guess is not many more than were discovered on the shore, before the purchase of the shiny new boat.


One boat, ???? miles of shoreline…the odds are not in your favor Parkinson.


Let’s hope the costs associated with this boat are tracked so we know the true expense associated with it.


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I hope the Sheriffs boat is equipped with machine guns and rocket launchers, blow the panga’s up.


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I guess the US Coast Guard and Morro Bay Harbor Patrol who always have their boat in the water and are ready to go….just wasn’t enough.

We needed to spend more money on equipment and training because it’s Fun.

I live on a boat here in Morro Bay and had to laugh when I saw the new boat being loaded on the trailer yesterday at the Morro Bay Boat ramp.

I feel safer already….


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So Rich, what you are saying is that you are, literally, Rich in Morro Bay?


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