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That's right, 50% out of a sample space of maybe 15 people. I hadn't many run-ins with the Coast Guard in that time but not a few of my friends did. Things were pretty wild in Jack London back then. In my little marina of 80 berths, there were 30 live-aboards. The place was a dump, the people were nuts, and the USCG was just starting to enforce new rules about holding tanks and flying helicopters to find diesel spills from bilge pumps, and I dimly recall one incident about bottom paint chips from the boat yard, and no, it wasn't just me. The Port of Oakland was (apparently) using those rules and Coast Guard enforcement to run off the undesirables (most of us in old wooden boats), bring in more new plastic boats (happier yacht brokers), and rebuild the marina (which they did). Remember, this is the Bay Area.

I'll tell you about another incident. I had a 1941, 32' Sheldon motor sailer, equipped with a rasty DAMR-273 Buda diesel with a Bosch inline pump (a military motor from an old gig). I had obtained it as a $600 wreck and spent 7 years restoring the boat. It was immaculate, half a dozen new ribs, major cabin reconstruction in appetong, new 22' X 30" skeg (I bored the shaft hole), rebuilt motor (not the pump) and new tanks, gold leaf drop-shadow lettering, 22 coat varnish job, the hull was like glass, it had a dinghy and varnished hoisting tackle. On its second run over to San Francisco, (really its maiden voyage after an early shakedown or two inside the Estuary) it went air-bound. I must have cleared the lines at least 20 times and it would start, and then quit. I gave it up right in front of Pier 39 when it was still not yet officially open. A tug came by, and hailed me asking if I needed aid and I so acknowledged. He stood by until the 41 footer arrived. That's when they nearly tore apart my railings with their boat handling. A 20 something crewman (I don't remember the rank) boarded with notepad in hand yelling, "Where are your vents!!!" No, he didn't say, "What's the problem?" or even "Are you OK?" much less introduce himself, he started looking about the boat and asking to see the required equipment and when he found out it was all there and that I didn't need the bilge vents because it was a diesel, THEN he asked what was wrong. In defense of the crew a more mature fellow boarded and told our gung-ho enforcer to tone it down. He decided that there was no point in doing anything to fix it so they gave us a tow to the unfinished marina so that at least I could drop off my passengers (who were headed for SF anyway). The Coast Guard bid their adieu's and left. I went back to work and figured out that it was an air leak inside the injector feed pump that had worsened as I consumed fuel and had to suck a taller liquid column off the bottom of the tank. I transferred fuel from my other reserve tank, it started and idled fine, so I went home. Then I got the pump rebuilt.

I am sure things are different up in Coos Bay, where people tend to be more serious about their boats than in the Oakland Estuary. If your aquaintances up there are anything like the people I met in Brookings on the Chetco, they are probably fine people. I can only go by my personal experience down here and it wasn't as you portray.