Places/countries you would *not* visit again

Equador? Never will I set foot there again, my wife and I were kidnapped there, manhandled into the back of a vehicle, drove for hours and hours, eventually to the top of a deserted mountain plateaux where to occupants dragged us out, unloaded some heavy weapons from the boot and used Coke bottles for target practice. Eventually they drove a different route back to the hotel then ordered us out of the car, not that it took much persuasion.
Same thing happened to me in Lima, Peru, but they were bandits. First time I saw two pistols at 10cm distance from me.
(edit ok apart from automatic rifle during my military service year)
 
I learned a lot of my sailing in Milford Haven. We were there a few years back in Milford Haven Marina. I won’t be hurrying back.
Casablanca isn’t top of my list either (it officially closed to yachts..!)
I had a mooring just outside the marina on Hakin point for years, Ideal base for sailing around. I agree about the town, pretty depressing.
 
Same thing happened to me in Lima, Peru, but they were bandits. First time I saw two pistols at 10cm distance from me.
(edit ok apart from automatic rifle during my military service year)
Peru?
Not even Peruvians like Peru.
Big Benny turned up at Salinas / Puerto Lucia in May.
Peruvian bloke had bought her in Panama.. sailed to a northern Peruvian port. Given such a hard time by 'authorities' he just buzzed off north to Ecuador.
'You can't leave , you haven't checked out!!'
'I haven't checked in, get stuffed'

I have yet to hear of anyone having a good experience - on a yacht - in Peru.
 
I’m struggling to think of a place we’ve been to that I was pleased to get out of. There were places where we had a rough night for one reason or another, but even then there was usually some redeeming feature of the place, probably why we went there in the first place. There are places that I was indifferent to. I would be thinking of places such as Le Treport (France’s answer to Ramsgate), Brixham, Borkum, Uska, but my days of extended travel are probably over, so they only exist as part of my learning experience.
 
Lymington now has a Wetherspoons.
'
Actually I'm surprised that such a bastion of died-in-the-wool, extreme conservatism* was not one of the first places to have one.

Not for the use of the upper echelons of Lymington society of course, but for the innocent enjoyment of the 'other ranks' of the Tory faithful: salt-of-the-earth chaps who know their place and what is expected of them when it comes to election time.


*New Forest West (UK Parliament constituency) - Wikipedia
 
'
Perhaps that explains why there are no yachts in this photo :ROFLMAO:
View attachment 146890

Sadly I didn't see that ! Our armed guard escort took us straight from the airport to the Vodacom RDC offices, thence to the hotel and then back to the airport - I quit my job a few months later, they didn't pay me enough for that
 
The river (estuary of ria might be more accurate) is interesting enough and I have no qualms about visiting it again. It’s the Marina and town of Milford haven itself I won’t bother going back to. My memories are of a run down dreary place full of boarded up shops that have closed. The ones that haven’t closed have steel shutters.
Fair comment. although the marina and docks area has much improved recently, the town up the hill is still ‘financially challenged’.
Once outside the lock gates the area is excellent for day sailing or extended cruising further afield. I’ve had an annual berth there since 2004, after trying Falmouth, Salcombe and the Clyde, all pretty much the same distance and travelling time from Chesterfield as MH.
 
I can't think of anywhere I don't want to go back to as a port, though I won't be going into Ormonville la Rogue again if there's any east in the wind.

As for Not "I never want to go back there" but a number of places in Cornwall visited out of season. "Wow, this is lovely, I want to move here" After a day or two of closer acquaintance, "No I don't, and I don't want to come back in the summer either"

One place I won't ever go back to is Tintagel. One big tourist trap with no redeeming features.
 
The one I would not return to if I can avoid it is Hartlepool. Must be the least welcoming harbour I have visited. I can’t say anything about the town as I left at first light.
In defence of the welcome in Hartlepool, I found people exceptionally friendly. While sailing solo on a UK circumnavigation in 2018 I got a piece of fishing rope wrapped around my propeller as I waited for the lock gates to open. Subsequently directed to an easy pontoon space, a Jet Ski rider who had seen what was going on and was wearing a wet suit jumped in and untangled the rope. He then retired to an enormous motor yacht, killing two previous prejudices in one go. The drive still had a wobble and a local marine engineer came out the next morning - Sunday - to fix it for a nominal charge. You can’t really ask for a better welcome for a visiting sailing boat.
 
Top