Have you ever been unreasonably angry? You know you have no cause to be angry, thus “unreasonable”, but you still can’t shake it.
Maybe not angry; just f…ing irritated.
So I’m sitting on the wrong side of the last locks before town and Neptune’s Staircase.
Maybe because while I understood that I would not get out of the Caledonian Canal system today, I had looked forward to being in town. In the last week I have spent too many days, nights, alone. No one to talk to, no internet, no Wi-Fi, no nothing.
So, I sit here, looking at the beautiful scenery, but disappointed that I’m not in town.
And it’s certainly quiet out here.
The View From Dauntless
But hark; I hear a sound, I go investigate. Alas, it is but the refrigerator compressor.
Welcome to my world.
So, since we last talked it’s been 4 days and 400 miles.
The two day crossing of the North Sea became three days.
A long three days, exactly 72 hours.
I’ve been too tired to write about it. Maybe tomorrow.
Tomorrow is here. Now I’m really tired. Neptune’s Staircase took it all out of me. And then we still had another three locks and a bridge or two to go.
Finally, at 14:00 hours Dauntless is on the sea heading for Oban.
And being at sea you know what that means? Winds of course. 25 knots on the nose. Knocks about a knot off our speed, but I am keeping the rpms higher than usual, 1800 rpms, because the engine has been running cool the last few days have spent basically two days at idle.
I wanted to get this posted, but the pictures had not uploaded and you need pictures to understand what I write some times. I’m not the best when it comes to descriptive detail.
My hands ache from handling cold, wet lines for two days.
We got up early to take advantage of the calm winds and little boat traffic. Dauntless rolled a bit last night on the mooring ball, so I put the paravanes out. They decreased the roll a bit, certainly dampened it, like shock absorbers on a car, but these particular fish (or birds) are made to be moving through the water for maximum effectiveness.
Cirrus South of Scilly
As we got south of the Scillies, I realized that while it was 90 nm to Plymouth, France was but 120 nm. With fair skies and still under the influence of the Azores high, it made sense to me to press on across the channel to the continent. I discussed our options with Karla and Larry and they concurred. A direct route to France also meant we could avoid the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) off the English Channel and the area north of Brest.
So instead of turning due east for Plymouth, we set off ESE towards the north coast of France. The port of Trebeurden is our goal, with anticipated steaming time of 22 hours.
After a few hours of beautiful weather and looking at our expected arrival time, I decided to lower the engine rpms to 1500. Not only will that save us about a half-gallon of fuel per hour, but our ETA would have been 04:00 at the faster speed, and is now, about 05:30. A better arrival time, as it will be light.
It’s 18:00 now and as the day progressed diurnal heating produced some stratocumulus clouds and winds from the WNW at 15 gusting to 23. So the almost flat seas we had in the morning, gave way to wind driven waves of 3 to 5 feet hitting Dauntless on her stern starboard quarter. We have gradually increased our rolling from plus or minus 1 to 2 degrees to +/- 4 to 6°
Still, that’s half of what it was for the last few hours of our cruise into St. Mary’s Harbor in Scilly.
For dinner, I made a tasty dinner of hamburger and crudité. The hamburger ground by my butcher in Waterford. It’s hard to imagine that I spent 8 months on and off in Waterford and now won’t be back for four months. But I did meet an Irish sailboat in St. Mary’s. We had gotten into a discussion about the “legs” on their boat which was beached on hard sand, held vertical on its keel by said legs. That gave me some ideas of how I could make that work on Dauntless. Probably just 4”x4”s with a notch for the rub rail, then bolted through the hawse pipe. A project for next winter. They were taking her to the west coast of Ireland and will winter over in Dingle, so I promised to come visit next winter.
Unlike yesterday, time today has seemed to fly by. And yes, I kept the patch on.
For the past two hours I have been watching the parade of ships heading for the TSS north of Brest. I have also managed to figure out the Raymarine radar a little better and finally noticed after two years that the gain also had an adjustment for wave state. I could keep the gain much higher, if I also adjusted the wave state. A win win. And to think, some say I’m a slow learner! (win-win turned out to be tie-tie, as I adjusted it not to see waves, turns out it also didn’t see fishing boats).
The Dauntless Helm with Radar, Chart & AIS Information
A beautifully flat day, azure sky and sea, with just some mare tails cirrus. As the afternoon and evening progressed, the winds started picking up slowly, but surely. By evening, increased westerly winds had produced 3 to 5’ waves and the roll was 6° to each side. As one of the lessons learned from the Atlantic Crossing, I now run off the tank on the windward side of the boat. The lee side seems to remain heeled for slightly longer times, so I don’t want the engine sucking water through the vents. Yes, I had not gotten around to moving the vents yet. I did think about it a lot though!
Under these conditions, it’s not an issue, and possibly only an issue under heavy seas with only paravane in the water.
I had also adjusted the ComNav Autopilot to be less sensitive, so that it made fewer corrections constantly. I will have to call them someday and discuss if my interpretation by reading between the lines of their user manual is correct. Basically, under open ocean conditions, meaning no need to keep a rigid heading constantly, I set the sea state to very high (rough seas), so that it doesn’t try to adjust heading every second. Under these conditions, I will hear it operate every few (3 to 6) seconds.
Our Planned Apprach to Trebeurden
On the other hand, under truly rough, 12+ seas, I set it to totally flat conditions, so that as soon as it senses the stern coming around it acts. Then the adjustments are almost constant, but it does a great job of steering the boat through the worst conditions. I have tried to hand steer under such conditions and frankly the ComNav does a better job. In the 20+ foot seas on the last day into Ireland, as I cowered on the bench in the pilot house, the ComNav reacted so well, I never saw any green water over the rails. Maybe I should ask them about a sponsorship!
During the early evening hours we had a little excitement as we were crossing the main eastbound traffic lanes. While not in a TSS, the ships having come around Brest in the TSS 30 miles to our west, will reenter the TSS about 30 miles to our east. Therefore they pretty much stay in the same track. Makes it easier for us, as one can figure out where the main traffic lane is and the direction ships will be heading.
We only encountered a few west bound ships, but an hour north of the east bound lanes, our AIS and Coastal Explorer showed the parade of ships heading east. They were cruising at 14 to 18 knots, while we were doing 6.5 knots. That gave me plenty of time to plan our crossing. There was only one ship that was a factor. It was a big Chinese ship that the AIS said it was doing dredging operations (something must have gotten lost in translation), but to me looked to be one of those floating dry docks. Massive bridge at the bow and a massive stern and almost nothing in between.
What it really Looked like
I adjusted our course to be perpendicular to his course and I could see that he adjusted his course a few degrees to starboard also. The picture is what CE depicted. The closest anyone got was about a mile, though later on we passed a fishing boat about a quarter mile away, but I had been watching him for more than an hour so…
By midnight winds were westerly at 15 gusting to 22, seas 4 to 6 feet and roll 7°. This kept up until we reached the harbor.
Dawn was breaking as we approached. We had to stop to get the paravanes in, while it only took a few minutes, it was disconcerting to be stopped just hundreds of feet from the large rocky outcrop. So I was much relieved to get underway again even though Dauntless hardly drifted at all.
Previously, I had carefully plotted a course into the basin based on our pilot charts, and my C-Map and Navionics charts.
The Basin Entrance with Underwater Sill
But the reality ended up being a bit different. Our planned path was full of moored boats. So on to Plan B, I kept our speed just above idle, about 4 knots, to minimize the damage if we hit anything. I picked up the three green lights our pilot charts told us meant the gate was open. But our pilot chart had also told us the gate was always open during neap tides and as I remembered seeing the waxing (light on the right) quarter moon last night, I knew it was a neap tide.
The Gate We Passed Through. D is just past the gate on the left.
Creeping slowly forward, the sign board seemed to indicate 2.5 meters, but always leery that I am missing the obvious, I was still worried about the mysterious sill. We passed over the sill into the marina basin and didn’t scrape anything, but it was an anxious moment.
A big assed catamaran was on the one available “T”. I went past him to see if we had any options, we didn’t. I turned around and headed for a slip just inside the gate. The slip is short, only 20 feet, so our rear half is hanging out.
The wind was behind us, so that was a bit of a mistake, it made the docking more stressful then it needed to be, but finally, 23 hours after engine start at St. Mary’s, we were finished with engine and had landed on the “continent” for the first time by boat.
Dauntless at DockThe Trebeurden Harbor from Above. Dauntless is docked in the basin to the left, out of the Frame.
All’s Well that Ends Well
Closeup of Our Crossing. Those are 30 minute Heading Vectors.
Maretron Data for the Previous 24 hours. The Telltale says the Highest wind was 24 Knots, but I reset that frequently.
Woke up still on the hard at New Ross boatyard. Stephen the owner, like virtually every Irish person I have had contact with in the last 8 months, was great. Helpful, prompt; got me two fuse blocks I had decided I needed for the solar panels.
Just a wonderful experience form beginning to end.
We were splashed at 12:30 just after high tide. Of course, I was not ready to go, so we tied up alongside and I spent the next hour, putting tools and stuff away that had been out over the weekend. Also go the boat sea ready, which means getting all the stuff off the counters before it goes crashing to the floor.
Almost successful. A few hours past Dunmore East in the open ocean, seas westerly at 2-3 feet, winds NNW at 15, I hear a crash and glass breaking. I had forgotten to put the restraining clothes pin on the wine glass rack, thus a glass walked off to its doom. But as Julie and I often say, you can never have too many $1 wine glasses from IKEA.
All in all a beautiful day. Decided to take advantage of the light winds and not stop at Dunmore East, but to head directly for St. Mary’s in the Scilly Islands, just off Land’s End.
I neglected to do a few things which I had actually thought about, but then in this weird sense of I know better than myself, I out thought my own plans, and didn’t:
Prepare the paravanes for deployment ({paravanes, why would I need paravanes?) and,
Put my Scopolamine patch on, (sea sickness, I’m sure after 8 months on land, I don’t have to worry about getting seasick).
Passing Dunmore East, I was already feeling strange. That feeling got worse until I realized I was getting sea sick and put the patch on. That was at 16:00. It’s now 21:00 and I can write this because the sea sickness if finally gone and I feel normal. I would have felt fine all day had I stuck to my well thought out plan and put the patch on before we left New Ross because I know it takes hours to take effect on me.
And of course, we feeling the worst, I realized we needed to deploy the paravanes. As we got into the sound, we started rolling 5 to 8° in each direction. So, feeling like crap, I am up on the fly bridge with Larry, trying to show him what we need to do.
Only took 15 minutes. Had I prepared beforehand, it would have taken 2!
Karla will have the late night watch, from 21:00 to 02:00; Larry from 02:00 to 05:00 and I’ll sleep on the bench in the pilot house, knowing it will be a more restful sleep there.
Do not expect much traffic and all systems are working well. The AIS did warn us of one fishing boat just off the coast.
We got up at the crack of dawn so to be able to start engine at 06:15. The last line was thrown off at 06:45 and our Summer Adventure officially began.
Today, Sunday, 24 May, 2015, I awoke to the visage of Claudia III out the salon window, quite a change from Waterford. But how did we get here?
The Krogen’s Salty Bow & a Few Irish Boats
Casting off yesterday morning, with our bow pointed into the flooding tide, Dauntless left Waterford with hardly a ripple. A little left rudder, forward gear at idle, she glided smoothly into the oncoming 2 knot current.
I can’t begin to tell you the feelings of getting underway, cleaving the bonds that tied us to a particular place. The steady purr of the engine, the big wheel turning a big rudder, Dauntless becomes frisky. Krogens are made to roam the seas and can bring their lucky owners to virtually any place they dare to go.
We had arranged to go to the New Ross Boatyard for haul out. 12 months and 4,000 miles after our last haul out, I figured it was time again. The Waterford boatyard’s lift was too narrow for our Krogen, but they recommended the New Ross Boatyard. Our departure from Waterford was predicated on two factors: the need to depart into the current and the necessity to arrive at New Ross close to high water. That meant an hour downstream against the current and then an hour upstream with the current. Turned out there was also a swing bridge to traverse, but we had three feet to spare.
On the Hard in the New Ross Boatyard
Arriving at the boat yard, with a two knot current still running, made for an exciting entrance, finally on the third attempt, Dauntless was safely cradled in the lift.
The bottom was in much better shape than I had anticipated. The previous haul out, half the anti-fouling paint was gone. This time, there were just small areas where the old ablative paint was showing through. So we, actually Karla and Larry, spent the rest of the afternoon touching up our bottom. Now it looks a bit like a moth eaten leopard, but only the fish will know.
The two zincs were half gone. I replaced the one on the rudder. The one of the shaft is a combination steel cutter attached to a clamp on zinc anode. It costs only $62. It’s the second one I’ve put on and it works wonderfully. Half eaten, it tells me it’s doing its job and no pieces of line wrapped around the shaft as had happened in the past. I got it from the Zinc Warehouse,
It’s about half gone, but I did not have a replacement, I’ll buy in bulk the next time.
We’re ready to go back in the water, but today is Sunday, so we will have a day of rest and just small jobs. I must service and grease the Ideal Windlass and probably replace one of the solar panel controllers.
Dauntless Gets a Light Touchup
The Delorme InReach is now on, and my intention is to keep it on until Dauntless returns its 2015-6 winter home October 1st. Therefore, you can find us at, https://share.delorme.com/dauntless But unlike the Atlantic Passage, since we will have somewhat normal email and cell, I have alimited plan in the number of text messages I can send or recieve. So, if you want to contact us, the best option is email, wxman22@gmail.com, or cell phone.
If there is not a current update on the InReach, either the boat has sunk or I have neglected to charge the InReach.
Thanks for coming along with us.
Dauntless as She Came Out of the WaterCutter on the left, abuts the Prop. SALCA 2000 Anode is half goneTHe Krogen’s Salty BowThe Krogen Prop and Rudder after 12 months and 4,000 milesOld and New Anodes (Zincs)
We took a half hour cruise yesterday, first time Dauntless has moved since my arrival October 1st.
Sunset in Waterford with the Moon and Venus Looking on.
It felt so good to be out on the water, if only on the River Suir, in front of Waterford. As you can see from the pictures of our docking situation, I needed to wait to leave the dock until we had a current against us.
So we untied and left the dock about a half hour before low tide. Did a few figure 8’s, just to test all the systems.
No leaks, no problems, no strange odors or noises.
The Lazarette is empty and clean for the first time thanks to Larry.
The Lexan storm windows are cleaned with new rubber gaskets applied in a far more systematic way then previously, thanks to Karla. I like the insulation they provide in these cool climates.
D is good to go.
Current plans will be to depart Waterford early Saturday morning, as we will be going to a boatyard at New Ross, one hour down river, two hours up another river, for haul out.
Hopefully, if all goes well, we will be ready to
Waterford Sunset
leave Tuesday at latest to begin our summer adventure.
So far, as I learn something new every day; I’m sure to keep on learning and even on my last day on Earth, I know I’ll learn something new; like how I die!
Having kicked the cans down the road of Greece and the Ukraine, we can now talk about boats again.
So, what have I learned up to now living on Dauntless in Northern Europe:
Waterford has turned out to far exceed my expectations and at this point, it is hard to think that I could find a better place anywhere in Europe for next year. I have 10 minute walk to the bus that whisks me to the airport in Dublin for only 20 Euros. In NYC, it takes 90 minutes to go 12 miles and that includes three train changes, which means many staircases, up and down. (We got a man to the moon 50 years ago, but NYC still cannot keep an escalator running more than a day or two before it breaks down for three months).
The Waterford City Marina, being right downtown, has given me the best of all worlds. On one hand, I am five minutes from downtown and only a 15 min walk to my favorite bakery and butcher. Yet the dock itself is very secure with a gate that is electronically activated, but it also has a chain and lock, making it really secure. The first few times I left Dauntless for any length of time, I was really nervous, but now only a little bit.
The people in Ireland are very nice, like Midwesterners, but with a NY attitude, meaning they are loud, talk fast and curse a lot, and really nice in doing it and helpful all the time.
Having Julie in NY, Dublin is only a 6 hour plane ride away and the tickets are about 60% of the cost of flying to the continent. So it’s terribly convenient and already, while I like exploring new places, for our next and last winter in Europe, I will be hard pressed to find someplace that has all that Waterford and Ireland offer.
I’m fluent in the language, for the most part. There have been a few times, that not understanding something and having them repeat it three times, I am still clueless and just hope for the best at that point. The first time this happened, one of the passengers on the bus could tell that I did not understand and explained in words I could understand.
I haven’t gotten run over yet crossing the street, only because I look in both directions three, that’s 3 times, before I step off the curb. And every time I do, I think of all of those who thought crossing the Atlantic was dangerous. I’m far more likely to die crossing the street here.
The Lexan storm windows that Julie, Richard and I made and installed in the last days and hours in Rhode Island, have really made a difference. While on the ocean they gave us peace of mind, since I have been here, I am so pleased that they really insulate the boat. Dauntless is far warmer, having the double pane up. In addition, I so not have any condensation problems, as the glass windows stay just warm enough. Two of the storm windows in the pilot house are 4 inches short, and it that one spot, I do get some condensation on really cold days. Well, I did, but have not seen any in two months.
Even without the Wallas heater, this Krogen stays warm and dry. I have been using a little 2000 watt electric heater when I am on the boat. But I have been so pleased that I do not have the dampness and condensation problems I have read about by many who live on their boats in the winter.
I have like 10 lines on the boat, all 5/8” thick. The Fastnet boat docked behind me, a steel boat used to ferry crew to the oil platforms, about the same size as Dauntless, has 4 lines, and they are not even ½”, probably 3/8”.
I suppose that’s the difference between docking a boat that is also our home and a work boat.
As I laid myself down in bed, this intense loneliness came over me. Hadn’t talked to any friends in a few days, and was reminded again that so far the only down side of this boating, moving home life, is being seemingly cut off from those close to me at times.
And as I’ve lamented before, even those close to me seem fewer, are fewer.
But then as I write this, being objective, I am forced to remember the wonderful times I just had in Italy: an abundance of time, connecting with those whom I have known more than half of my entire life, the true intimacy of friendship. People I can be so open with, because they have truly seen the good, the bad and the ugly in my life. But I wasn’t thinking of that last night.
No, last night, I had a terrible headache and just thinking about why seemed to make it worse, as it usually does. Especially since I knew it was due to drinking red wine and eating dark chocolate.
Then finally I said enough of the pity party.
I’ve just a wonderfully hot shower, I lying in a warm, cozy bed and I have enough fuel to go 2300 nm, 4000 km, that’s all the way to Nova Scotia, or north of the Yuzhny Island (Banana Island for those in the know), or the Cape Verde Islands, or the west coast of Africa.
The world is my oyster and I only have to open it.
So, give yourself a pat on the back and go to sleep.
I did.
And this morning the Lyric FM, a wonderful Irish classical music station,
Already the plan has changed; not significantly, but it will give me more time in Ireland.
I’ve realized that it makes more sense not to depart Ireland, until I’m ready for the Schengen clock to start (my 3 months out of every 6). Therefore, we will use April and May to explore Ireland. Julie only has the 10 days Easter break during that time, so actual cruising will depend up who is aboard.
To that end, I’ve also put a posting on Cruiser’s Forum, for a Crewmate/roommate/conversation mate for winter and spring. We’ll see, the winter months I don’t have much to offer, but April and May could be nice. I have a number of projects that need to get done this winter and realize I just work better, more efficiently, with someone to bounce ideas off, help pull wires and just be around to help.
I have a few friends who have expressed interest in leaving Ireland with me in June as we start our odyssey on the continent. We’ll see. Dauntless is pretty well booked for the high summer months of July and August, but by September 1st, I expect to be back west, in Denmark and will need someone to help me get the boat back to Ireland, via Norway, the Shetlands, the Orkneys, Scotland and finally Ireland by month’s end.
As I am in Italy for another few days this holiday period, today, the 4th, Befana starts. Every town had built a big bonfire, 30 feet wide, 40 to 50 feet high, that will be burned tonight to symbolize the burning of the witch. Even small towns. One of the pagan rituals that has survived Christianity. I wish I could see a satellite shot. Maybe I can find an IR satellite picture tonight, but it would probably need the resolution of a polar orbiting satellite, not the ubiquitous GOES.
But the real point of this story is that I get so excited talking about our future plans with Dauntless, 2015, but also 2016 and 2017. This is where I must manage my expectations, so that I do not take away from the present Baltic trip, because I am thinking of the Pacific crossing. On the positive side, by having a plan in the back of my mind, it allows me to refine and think of contingencies well before we ever execute it.
Currently Dauntless is wintering over in Waterford, Ireland, a wonderful town in the southeast of the country, full of really nice, interesting, outgoing people. Ireland has so exceeded my expectations, it will be hard not to return next winter, but we have six months of exploring and cruising before that decision must be made.
Dauntless in Waterford November 2014
As of now, I am subject to the 90 days out of 180 days Schengen Visa requirements. Worst case, this means I can only be in the Schengen area for 90 days and I would then plan those 90 days to be 1 June to 1 Sept. There is a possibility that the Schengen area countries will offer a 180 day Visa in the near future. That clearly would solve my issues and I could stay in the Schengen area for April, May and September.
Ireland, Scotland, the U.K. and the Channel Islands are all out of the Schengen area.
So worst case, only 90 days,is once I leave Ireland in the spring, stopping in France and Belgium only for a week or so, before retreating to the Channel Islands. Then by the end of May, start heading east, first into Holland, then Germany ending up in Gdansk by mid-July, starting our Baltic explorations as described below.
Spring and Summer 2015 Cruise Plan
When
Where
What
March
Waterford, Ireland
Prepare Dauntless for the cruising season
Early April
Depart for France/Belgium
Channel Islands, enter French Canals, Dunkerque-Escaut, in NE France or go to Belgium direct
April, May
France/Belgium or Channel Islands
Explore NE France & Belgium Canals, subject to our Air Draft of 4.5m
June
Head NE, Belgium, Holland and Germany
Find the most interesting route to the Kiel Canal, the Baltic adventure begins
End of July
Germany and Poland
Eastern Germany and Poland, Gdansk last two weeks of July
I just got back to NY last week, but I have been somewhat discombobulated, in that I have not had my laptop computer because we had a little accident.
It’s dark; it’s 05:15 a.m., the Dublin bus leaves at 5:30. I’m hurrying; suitcase is top heavy, because I put all my electronics in the top compartment, for easy removal at the airport.
It’s dark; I lean over the rail of Dauntless to stand the suitcase on the dock. I let go and am stunned to see it topple over into the River Suir. I jump off the boat onto dock, get on my knees, not worrying about my suit and fish the suitcase out of the water before it gets carried downstream in the swift current and floats off into the Atlantic.
I was pleased it hadn’t sunk and was not in the water more than 10 seconds.
Hopeful that my electronics had not gotten wet, laptop, tablet, Kindle and iPod, I didn’t have time to check as I had to literally run to catch the bus to Dublin. Only 500 meters, so the driver was able to see me scurrying up the last block, so he waited and I boarded the almost empty bus.
This was the milk run, taking an hour and half longer than the direct run, but finally, four hours later, at the airport, I open my suitcase.
Well, there were no fish inside, but everything was wetter than I had expected, though not dripping water, just wet, but not dripping water 🙂 I wiped everything dry and hoped for the best.
I was hopeful all would be OK.
When I got home to NYC, I let everything dry for two days before attempting to power up.
Wrong, right, wrong, almost wrong.
The laptop is still away having the mother board replaced. $200.
The tablet was fine.
The iPod needed a new hard drive $59 and then it took me a full day to get it to sync (I had to re-index the music files).
The Kindle took another three days to recover, but was then OK.
So, my lesson learned, even packed away, I will pack all electronics devices in plastic bags from now on.
But I must say, having crossed the Atlantic has changed my perspective of everything.
Incidents like this that would have caused all sorts of major anguish in the past, due to my own stupidity, are now just minor annoyances.
And for all those four hours on the bus to Dublin, I thanked the Fates for getting me to Ireland safe and sound, for landing me in such a nice land with wonderful, friendly people, like the bus driver who waited for me, which is so typical of the people in Ireland and lastly, I was thankful that the stupid bag hadn’t sunk or otherwise been swept away.
Basically, I’m much less hard on myself.
Life is Good and I can’t wait to get back on the water.
Irish Water wants to go private, so this will mean that everyone has to pay for water. The Irish Water protests were headline news in Ireland over the weekend. Waterford had almost 1000 people standing with umbrellas in the pouring rain to protest the announced water charge. As I watched, I wondered if anyone thought to collect all the water that was falling and try to sell it back to Irish Water. But that’s the way my iconoclastic brain works.
At first blush, it is a bit difficult to see what the fuss is about; after all, most of us are used to paying to have water delivered to our faucets. But on closer inspection, there are some real issues here that would resonate with almost any American who isn’t in Congress. Ireland it seems has always provided free water. Much like the Alaska Village Water Program, one of the better government beliefs that people are entitled to safe, clean water.
So back to Ireland, here you are, the little Irish family, cute from freckles to Brogue, and you get this notice saying from now on you will be charged “X” amount for your water every month. But then you discover that the “X” amount is basically to pay for the people to administer the program. Yes, you are really not paying for water, hey, the pipes, and infra-structure are unchanged, no, you are paying for the bureaucrats to stuff that bill in the mail every month and send it to you. And there are a lot of bureaucrats. Seems you are also paying for their families and their kids and maybe even the kid’s kids.
OK, that’s bad enough, but you’ve been in the EU for 50 years, so you’re used to paying bureaucrats for the time of day, so you think to yourself, everyone has to eat, even the bureaucrats’ kids.
But then, you discover that the chiefs of this money transfer get a bonus, not based on performance mind you, for that would mean developing a system that actually listened to the people and maybe even answered the phone, no they get bonuses based on what other fat cats get. This is a scam worry of the US Congress. I wonder why they did not think of it first??.
The simple fact is when government takes 50% of your income to feed itself; it’s too much, no matter what the excuse. Rich don’t pay; poor don’t pay; only the working people pay. What a scam.
Dauntless at Sea 