Observations

As I am hanging out waiting for Mary and Maggie to show up tomorrow I thought I would climb up on the soapbox and pontificate for a bit.

It appears that I am the last cruiser relying on oars to propel my dinghy around. This has been a slow transition that I have been seeing play out over the last 50 years. And I find it rather pathetic. I feel sorry for all these folks, dealing with expensive, filthy, polluting, gas guzzling, noisy outboard motors. They have to maintain these horrible things, store dangerous gasoline onboard to feed them, and worry about being sliced to ribbons should they have the misfortune to fall overboard when these aquatic cuisinarts are in operation. Plus, their limbs atrophy from lack of exercise, and they obviously haven't heard about global warming. And I wonder if there will even be a rowing competition at the Regatta in Georgetown. And I also wonder what it is like if they need to run a second anchor out at 4 AM with an inflatable and an outboard. Cause you sure as heck aren't going to be rowing an inflatable in a stiff breeze.

Next topic, megayachts and the unequal distribution of wealth in the cruising fleet. This situation mirrors what has been taking place on land, but boy, is it noticeable here on the water. A few feet away from my boat is a motor vessel of around 175 feet in length, which I would expect to have cost somewhere in the 20-30 million dollar range. And this is just one of many. Fortunately, these aberrations are so big that they can't fit in to the smaller nooks and crannies of the Exumas, but they are having a deleterious impact on the sport as they slowly elbow out the low budget cruiser such as myself. For example, Highborn Cay, a once rustic place where anybody was welcome, has morphed into a facility that caters mainly to megayachts, with correspondingly high prices.  Ditto for Nassau, as marinas try to figure out how to accommodate ever bigger boats, while pushing aside the smaller ones. And this is a trend that has really taken off in the 8 years since I was here last.
What about the environmental impact of these yachts? I know we are all complicit to some degree, but these things are very big contributors to the carbon situation. I remember when I was at the dock in Charleston and the attendant laughed because I only got 6 gallons of fuel, while the megayacht next to me got a thousand. Oh well. I guess the boats are just getting bigger as the uber rich continue to lavish ever more money on to their exalted selves. Hope they are getting enjoyment out of them. Personally, I would be embarrassed to be seen on something so ostentatious and reeking of self importance.

I will be quiet now! All the best to my fellow sailors and followers from the proletariat!

Charlie