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

Quick call to plod. Mention the threatening behaviour and as far as you could tell from where you were he appeared to have a weapon possibly a shotgun. Scottish armed division don't get much action they could do with some fast response practice. That would put his gas at a peep.
 
Spyro said:
Quick call to plod. Mention the threatening behaviour and as far as you could tell from where you were he appeared to have a weapon possibly a shotgun. Scottish armed division don't get much action they could do with some fast response practice. That would put his gas at a peep.
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That suggestion could run & run! :cool:

I think I would want to know exactly why I could not anchor there before I moved. A version of Google Earth does show some possible fish farms slightly north of the bay.
 
Giblets said:
That suggestion could run & run! :cool:

I think I would want to know exactly why I could not anchor there before I moved. A version of Google Earth does show some possible fish farms slightly north of the bay.
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I think the fish farm is a long way off

his demeanor and his question "do you have to anchor there?" made it clear to me that he did not want us to clutter up the view he had already cluttered up with his gubbins
 
dylanwinter said:
there were two large red ones - maybe 60 cm in diameter and small white one

way out of proportion for the job of mooring a small dinghy

]
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Within reason, I do not see how the size of buoy relates to size of craft moored. Surely the buoy needs to be suitable to support the mooring properly in the conditions likely to prevail at various times & to be suitably coloured & buoyant so that other craft can see it thus having the chance to avoid hitting it.
 
LittleSister said:
How many yachts do you think one could anchor in that inlet if there was, for example, a YM Scuttlebutt meet up there?;)
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BBQ on the beach, perhaps some dinghy racing with Seagull engines and a nice invite for any locals to join in.

A mention of the right to anchor which was won by the English Crown could lead to a theme for the rally. Ooh just a thought, doesn't Dylan have red and white sails ?
 
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Send him a present from the head via special drone delivery.

Open your fuel filter and pour in some sump oil, then motor up and down a bit.

Start stripping off.

Wave a bottle of booze about.

Beep out any of his swearing with your air horn.

Attempt a conversation in semaphore.
 
I'd have shouted back," Who the f#ck are you calling a w#nker ya morningside bastardin bochle? Wanna square go, ma shun?"
 
shame you met a twat like him

duly noted for a visit with noisy kids

shouting in public is a public order offence, especially if he worries or frightens you. a little vid of him shouting would be helpful to the Police etc. unlikely to go to court, but would remind the twat of teh law, which is pretty clear re anchoring

the local council have land access officers - clearly for land, but presumably he is trying to restrict land and sea access?
 
dylanwinter said:
Last week after exiting the Crinan Canal we sailed around to Craignish Loch.

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

ardfern1-1024x603.jpg


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

bay-4-1024x620.jpg


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

anchorage-1-1024x576.jpg


a very angry man came out of the hut

anchorage-3-1024x576.jpg


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
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You ought to have pretended being deaf, cupping your ears and pretending you could not hear.
Then you ought to have disappeared below and prepared a baseball bat just in case.
Then eventually you should have emerged to your cockpit with a mug of tea in one hand and the bat in the other, and that should be enough. I hate bullies. Will not tolerate them and give as much as I am offered, if not potentially more.
 
rbmatthews said:
Perhaps he was just warning you away from the midges that were afflicting him? :)
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From Dylan's description of the gesticulating sporran scratcher I believe he was saying:

"You daft git of an English yachtsman, I was watching Braveheart on my DVD player and just as Mel Gibson was about to seduce the French queen your anchor cut my power cable from the mainland. You deserve to die but please be so kind to weigh anchor after dark and electrocute yourself when the diurnal wind will waft the smell of your fried english flesh away from my island".
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There are so many beautiful spots that perhaps moving on was the easiest and best move - but what if everyone starts behaving like this? So I'd suggest folk drop their hook at 56 08.33N, 005 33.35W when they get the chance. Visiting yachts are part of the beauty (and income) of the West Coast and locals appreciate these points.
 
As another "local" I am really sorry this happened to you. I have never experienced this kind of behaviour , and have been sailing the area for the last decade. My response to the question you were asked would have been "yes" and I would then have got on with lunch. It may be worth querying the legitimacy of the moorings - drop a note to the WHAM (http://www.whamassoc.org.uk/) guys, they regularly chase down moorings laid without authorisation, and work to control them so that anchorages are not infested with unregulated moorings.
 
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