Friday 31^st December 2015

By the time we woke this morning, the bay had begun to fill with boats of all types and sizes.  Anchoring was made difficult by the fact that the wind had swung around in the night, and with it the boats that were already there, meaning that the new arrivals had no idea where the existing boats’ anchors were.  It was made more interesting by the variety of sizes and types of boats, and the differing levels of knowledge and experience regarding anchoring.  It all made for some interesting fun as we took up on our chain, moving backwards as we did so.  Two small motorboats had anchored together, too close to us to begin with, and were then a little put out by the fact that we were getting very close to them.  They couldn’t understand why we had 30 metres of chain out, but they also had no idea that the water we were both anchored in was 10 metres deep!  And they also couldn’t say how much chain they had out, except that it was, and I quote, “a lot”.

Beginning to fill up – by early evening you could probably walk right across the harbour across the decks!

Recording an interview for TV?

But we were all there to enjoy the fireworks, so we just monitored the situation and adjusted the anchor chain if and where possible, and in the end no damage was done and everyone saw the absolutely brilliant firework display.  The bridge was the main focus of the fireworks, but there were also two firework barges either side of the bridge, and the sky was ablaze with light and colour from one end of the harbour to the other. The bridge finale was spectacular! 

What a fantastic experience!