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From the time I was born 'till I was 18, over half of those years were spent on boats. In fact, at 15 yo I owned my own 42' sailboat very similar to the one I set as this page's profile picture. Growing up that way gave me an unbelievable sense of freedom, with the boat I had I could literally sail off to anywhere in the world ! I was motoring up the intercoastal waterway around Wilmington N.C. one day when over the VHF radio I heard " Sailing vessel Yesterday's Dream, this is the United States Coast Guard. Heave to and prepare to be boarded". I looked behind me and saw one of their 25' "Coast Guard cutters" with .50cal on the bow pointing at me. They came alongside, after an almost comical struggle to get aboard with my four foot freeboard. There stood two men on the deck of MY boat with M16s pointed at me, as well as the .50 covering them from a distance. One was in his mid 20s. The other looked like he was 18, and was visibly shaking.The older guy went below to perform a safety inspection, while the kid held me in the cockpit. Real fun being held at gunpoint by a kid who is scared and shaking. The reason I was stopped, was very simple. I was on a large sailboat in a port area. They had received intel that bad actors might be using sailboats packed with explosives to attack ports. I was a bad guy till proven innocent !From that day on, that freedom I once felt was partly gone. I had done nothing wrong, obeyed all the laws, all my safety equipment met or exceeded specs, yet I was held at gunpoint out of fear I might possibly be a bad actor. I thought fine you are going to do this to me I'm out of here. Figured I could find some small country I could sail to and set up home port there. Real good plan till I started doing the research. Name one country in this world that has the same freedoms we ignore ?*Freedom : nounthe power or right to ACT, SPEAK, or THINK as one wants WITHOUT HINDRANCE or RESTRAINT*. We are the last bastion of freedom, yet what are we doing with it ? Generations have fought and died on long forgotten battlefields so that their families would continue to have the freedom they enjoyed. Now, instead of continuing to protect freedom as the fragile and fleeting thing it is, we are going around and cancelling anything that we don't like or hurts our feelings ? Cancel ! It brings up facts we don't like ? Cancel ! Cancel, cancel, cancel ! GO BACK AND REREAD THE DEFINITION OF FREEDOM !!!!!Then, get tough. This is a time for us to grow up fast before we lose everything. If hearing Prince Harry talking about "the firm" or "the institution" that is controlling the British monarchy doesn't send a cold chill down your spine, then we are in way deeper than I thought !