EDMONDS, Wash. - Charlie Young doesn't seem the sort to set off alarms. The Boeing retiree spends much of his time on boats, either his own or the ferry that runs between Mukilteo and Edmonds.

Two weeks ago, he boarded a ferry run just hours after a test to check a stent that had been placed in his heart.

Doctors had injected a radioactive isotope into Young's blood stream in conjunction with an x-ray.

"They said it looked pretty normal," he said.

While the test revealed no problems for Young, it had been a trying day on the Edmonds-Mukilteo ferry run.

During the morning rush hour, a note had been found in the ferry's restroom, warning of a bomb, so security was extra tight when Young boarded the boat around 5 p.m.

He soon noticed about half a dozen State Patrol and Coast Guardsmen headed his way.

"Pretty soon, one came over to see me and he pointed about a cell phone-size instrument my way and said, 'its here,'" said Young.

The man moved closer and asked Young if he had any radioactive material with him.

"I said 'yes I do'. I knew right away when he said that what was going on. And so he said 'Where is it?' and I said "It's in my blood,'" said Young.

He rolled up his sleeve to show the Band-Aid still on his arm. His explanation was sufficient to keep the boat moving.

Now Young not only has an interesting story to tell, but he says he has a renewed respect for the security measures onboard local ferries.

"I know they work hard. I just appreciated it," he said.

Young thinks the isotopes in his system have dissipated. He says he's been on the ferry several times since then with no problem.