* WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
Well, if you look very carefully you will see a large (50’?) sailing vessel high and dry on the rocks at the entrance into Silva bay.
Now, I know that in North America we have a saying to remind us as to which side of us buoys and marks should be, and it goes like this:
“RED, RIGHT RETURNING”!
There is a huge concrete beacon at the entrance (Just visible behind the rock to the right of picture) marked with a big GREEN square on a white background on top of it that should tell us that, if it isn’t RED and you are returning, then it should be on your left, or for those sailors and seamen among us, to port. These people obviously tried to pass the mark on the wrong side to get to their nice private yacht club’s docks and really should know better.
Silva Bay this day needed no TV or staged comic routine to entertain us because another 40 odd foot power boat went and ran over a mooring buoy (the white one in the centre of the pictures) and spent an inordinate amount of time slamming one engine in gear after another plus bow thrusting in every direction in his efforts to free himself. Eventually he was freed by the local diver but still found he could not dock the boat, so had to be rescued again by the kind folks at the shipyard. Apparently his rudder wouldn’t work and it was too windy. Well, with two engines AND a bow thruster, you do not need rudders.
A busy day in Silva Bay but it does amaze me how some people manage to get themselves into such a pickle. The sail boat at the entrance may have had an engine failure (but he motored into his dock happily later once he came off) but I have seen the same thing happen many time in this lovely bay. I think that maybe there are some very good sailors out there who are just not very good seamen. You really do need to bone up on your rules of the road, who gives way to whom, and to what. It will save a life one day.
As for the mooring buoys, well, they have become so prolific in the bay that it is hard to navigate through them nowadays. I have barely inches on either side as I come in to my club’s outstation sometimes, and it is putting people off coming here as they feel they cannot guarantee an anchorage spot anymore. And the food in the pub is really good now!! If you haven’t tried it recently, you should, but they are losing business.
Who organizes these things? Who polices it? I cannot be the only one who could advise on how to get the best possible use out of an anchorage using mooring buoys, but still allowing plenty of anchorage space, and this is not how I would do it!
One of the few patches of clear water at the south entrance. Maybe it was the full moon?
CAUTION: Neither Coal Harbour Media, Evan nor any of their employees, hold any responsibility for the following “rants” and do not necessarily agree or condone the content. These are free expressions of individuals and should be taken in a light hearted manner.
