Mutinous Ferry Roils the Waters

"The biggest danger is getting a cold," he said. Excitement comes mostly in the form of big chunks of debris across its path, such as floating trees that have to be cut loose with chain saws.

It's the setting that he loves most. He has seen bald eagles, ospreys and beavers -- and lots of frolicsome muskrats.

"They look like they're drunk: They roll down the hills into the river," he said.

At Christmas, customers press $100 tips into his hand and bring so many plates of cookies that the crews share them with other passengers. "And bottles -- but I give them away because I don't drink," he said.

But Bittner said he was worried about whether the Coast Guard might come after him for piloting the boat, and he was annoyed, too.

"They got better things to do than come down here bugging us," Bittner said. "We got immigration problems. We got terrorism problems. We got piracy problems. They should have their hands full."

The Coast Guard could seek criminal penalties and fines of as much as $32,500 a trip for violating a direct order by the Coast Guard's captain of port to cease operations, Deputy Cmdr. Jonathan Burton said.

"Frankly, everything is on the table, including the civil penalties and the criminal penalties," Burton said. Burton, who has served in the Coast Guard for about 20 years, also said he had never encountered a more flagrant example of someone flouting the law.

Other possible penalties the business faces include $27,500 a day for allowing an unlicensed mariner to operate a ferry and $11,000 a day for disobeying an order to terminate a voyage, officials said.

White's Ferry has been under scrutiny by the Coast Guard since 2002, when it was cited for allowing an unlicensed mariner to operate the ferry, officials said. On Aug. 18, inspectors discovered that a ferry captain was unlicensed and an order was issued directing the firm to ensure that its operators were licensed, Coast Guard officials said. But the ferry was allowed to operate under the order until Wednesday, when inspectors returned and found the same captain at the helm, officials said.