A small Scottish incident with an anchor - what would you have done?

[dylanwinter]

Last week after exiting the Crinan Canal we sailed around to Craignish Loch.

It is a beautiful place and it has some lovely anchorages.

I was explaining to Baz - our American guest - what an enlightened attitude towards property the Scottish have - you can walk, camp and anchor pretty much wherever you like


One of the nicest anchorages is just tucked into a little bay in one of the mid loch islands

we decided to stop for lunch so we prepared to drop the anchor in this sheltered spot

there are two ugly mooring bouys and a dinghy in there

a very angry man came out of the hut

gesturing at us

"do you really have to anchor there" - he shouted in a very posh voice and started sort of dancing and waving his arms in a most unfriendly manner

the kettle had almost boiled and we were hungry, did not feel like a row with him, so we dopped back to the less sheltered spot around the corner where we were no longer in his line of sight



was that the right thing to do?



what would you have done?



I did ask one of the blokes in the Ardfern boatyard about him



he is apparently from Edinburgh and therefore even worse than the English


D

 

[shaunksb]

I suppose I would have started with,

"Why? Is there a problem?

_______________________

 

[dunedin]

I suppose I would have started with,

"Why? Is there a problem?

_______________________

Followed by ....... "So you own the seabed, do you ? That's really fascinating, hold on a moment and we will pop ashore as would love to see these unique deeds, for historical research purposes"

 

[dylanwinter]

I suppose I would have started with,

"Why? Is there a problem?

_______________________

He was pretty angry....

I thought a shouting match across 50 yards of water would have taken the edge off our pleasure at our first sunny cockpit lunch

I fear I have made my first enemy at Ardfern - my boat is now parked in the same marina as his little dinghy

My boat is easily recognisable

most unpleasant

 

[ctva]

Best thing with that kind of person is to ignore them.

If you pander to them by moving, you are just reinforcing his incorrect assumption of his ownership/authority which is a problem for the next person.

 

[dylanwinter]

Best thing with that kind of person is to ignore them.

If you pander to them by moving, you are just reinforcing his incorrect assumption of his ownership/authority which is a problem for the next person.

good point - perhaps by moving I made it even harder for other sailors.

I did some conflict training at the BBC

it more or less amounted to a simple mantra

"when a bloke has lost his rag it is time to back off"

 

[bitbaltic]

Buy a set of bagpipes and, at times like this, set about 'learning' how to play them.

More seriously, +1 to ignoring him.

 

[dylanwinter]

Buy a set of bagpipes and, at times like this, set about 'learning' how to play them.

More seriously, +1 to ignoring him.

I think he was not in the mood for ignoring me and was in a mood for a good rant

I think lunch would have been accompanied by a visit or some shouting from the shore.

 

[duncan99210]

I have to say that in that sort of situation, I simply turn my hearing aids off and ignore the ignorant peasant. I fear that every time someone moves away after his appalling behaviour it simply reinforces his belief that he has a right to demand no one uses the seabed in his vicinity.

 

[macd]

I have to say that in that sort of situation, I simply turn my hearing aids off and ignore the ignorant peasant. I fear that every time someone moves away after his appalling behaviour it simply reinforces his belief that he has a right to demand no one uses the seabed in his vicinity.

+1
Except that before turning the aids off I'd get on the VHF and invite a few other boats to share the scenery.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke
(Yes, bit over the top for one ar*ehole from Edinburgh. Perhaps Dylan could post the lat and long so that anyone else so minded can go and make the bloke's day?)

 

[[70521]]

I usually shout back I can't find my hearing aids. I hope the shouty man is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame here.

 

[dylanwinter]

I usually shout back I can't find my hearing aids. I hope the shouty man is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame here.

almost certainly not a sailor - so I doubt that he will see the thread

 

[Thistle]

"do you really have to anchor there"

"Yes"

 

[EdWingfield]

I would have cleared off too Dylan. We are guests in another country. It is for Scottish yotties to sort this problem, if they want to.

 

[pmagowan]

"Yes"

I would have thought the answer is 'no' but that does not change anything. I don't tend to respond well to shouty people but would find it hard to refuse a polite request. An angry Scotsman is sometimes hard to refuse and of course it is sometimes hard to distinguish between an angry Scotsman and a calm Scotsman until one explodes.

 

[RichardS]

It's a shame that you weren't able to video the ranting and for a while and then get the video onto YouTube.

That's usually the end of people of such limited intelligence as the multitude will go flocking to their door so they have to sell up and move on. :encouragement:

Richard

 

[macd]

We are guests in another country.

Well, that's debatable. But regardless, as a guest I expect to be treated civilly. If not, all bets are off.

 

[oldbilbo]

It wasn't a descendent of the infamous Second Baron Brockett, by any chance? Or one of the nearly-famous 'Seven Men of Knoydart'...?

http://www.caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/1993/sevenmenofknoydart.htm

 

[Romeo]

Smile and wave.


Maybe of course he was trying to tell you about an underwater cable or discarded WW2 ordinance that you were parked on top of.

 

[Kelpie]

I would probably have cleared off too, but then I am fairly conflict averse.
It does wind me up a bit when people take that sort of attitude. Recently I was out walking the dog and the owner of the land I was on marched over the many hundreds of yards from their house to effectively escort me off the premises. Most peculiar, I can only assume that they don't 'get it' as they are fairly new to the area. People walk over my land all the time and I don't give a hoot.