This thing in Oriental has many facets:
- The poor French crew and their disabled boat from Hurricane Sandy creates some sympathy.
- The derelict boat build-up in Oriental in general.
- The French crew panhandling, stealing, and defrauding people in the town. And the argument that they had no other choice (I don't buy that argument).
- The owner of the pink boat on this forum who swears he is planning to depart any day, but either the water is too high or someone did not properly ask him with correct diction and grammar.
- The pathetically passive outgoing town council, voted out of their seats by a frustrated populace.
I myself keep my boat in Oriental and am mostly bothered by just the lack of just common courtesy and the selfishness of the
anchoring boaters.
I don't run a business in town, but I like to buy
hardware and supplies for my boat and a
beer or two there, occasionally a meal. But if I did own or run a business there, I would be disgusted at the selfish people abusing the anchorage. So my sympathies are with the hard-working people trying to make an honest living in a small coastal town whose livelihood is being compromised by the stubborn derelict owners.
Hopefully my rant is not too tedious.
Sorry if it is...