EDITED BEGINNING.
Boating in US waters has required certain things for decades. There are a few layers of local, state, and federal laws that apply to boaters all over the country. Thousands of boardings are conducted every year, have been for many years...and many years before 9-11. When the Coast Guard was under the Department of Transportation, when there was no Patriot act, there were thousands of boardings conducted each year...with weapons. The mandate to consentually board vessels for random safety inspections is old news, old law, as is the power to forcibly board vessels for probable cause.
And we have a Nazi comparison too, how original
I don't know if these people just bought their boats or what, but it's really not a big surprise to be boarded. The one guy claims he let the team search his boat because he thought they needed to talk to him about a case? Talking over the rail just wouldn't cut it? Sounds like his own dumb fault to me.