You are a recreational boater, and you are lying at anchor of a Sunday evening, enjoying a picnic, relaxation with your family, and the beauty of the little bay you've found. Gazing around you, you see a large ship that looks like an old, dilapidated freighter come into the other side of the bay, and you notice that it is not flying a flag. You've been a boater around here for a long time, and you've never seen this old freighter before. Does it occur to you that there may be drugs on board?
    It stands to reason that if illicit drugs are entering Canada, they could be transported by water. And since we live in a coastal community, some of those drugs just may come through this area, right?
    "We need people to be our eyes and ears" says Cst. Tim Davidson of the RCMP. "Drug smuggling is huge in this country; it's a very large stop-over for drugs going to the U.S."
    That's the reason for the existence of an RCMP program called Coastal Watch. Designed primarily to stem the flow of illegal drugs into or through the country, the program has two goals. It is intended to teach people in the community, especially boaters, what to look for, and to help them transmit the information to the appropriate authority.
    Not here, you say? Only a few short weeks ago, a boat was seized at the Fanny Bay dock, and drug charges laid against several Islanders. We are not immune just because we live in this Oceanside paradise. The RCMP are asking people who live near the waterfront or go boating regularly to watch for: vessels that operate in unusual places or at odd times, run at night without proper lights, don't seem to be carrying the equipment required for the work they are supposed to be doing, or appear to be beyond the owner's means.
    If you do call the police with information for Coastal Watch, try to give a description of the vessel, including any visible markings or registration numbers, persons on board, and observed activity. There may be legitimate reasons for what you are seeing, but "you could also being supplying a piece of a large puzzle, for all you know," says Davidson. "Without you, we just aren't effective. That's why we created Coastal Watch."