Sunday, April 07, 2013

There goes another neighborhood...

The sort of lawmaking I'm in favor of, Brilliant at Breakfast gets it right, and did you know of 97 countries we rank 68th in access to and affordability of civil legal service...

I just noticed that the World ARC for 2014/15 has added another option taking the Brazil south to the Beagle Channel route.

Off hand it does not exactly make me a real happy camper. Partly because we have been seriously considering an Atlantic circle from the Caribbean to the Med and back via the Canaries and Cape Verde islands towards Brazil then south through the Beagle in pretty much the same time window.

Now I'm not exactly knocking the hive mentality that makes the ARC business model profitable and I'm sure the folks who feel the need to posse up in an ARC type event will have an interesting and enjoyable go-round. As my very opinionated mother used to say, "Horses for courses..."

That said, this horse does not want to be anywhere near an ARC event if he can help it (root canals being preferable)... It's just not the course for me.

We have experience being around the ARC (following its wake two years running) and it is an experience I'd rather not repeat. If, for no other reason, than they pump up the prices and cost of cruising for everyone anywhere they go. The other stuff (the Them/Us posse thing and how any stopping point for the rally becomes their private members only club) does not really bother as they're mostly boring so not the sort you want to get too up close and personal with.

My main desire of going the southern route has a lot to do with getting off the beaten path after our years in the over-crowded Caribbean, the lure of flyfishing for monster trout in some pristine Chilean fjord, and getting some climbing/skiing in. The idea of a mini ARC fleet in the Beagle Channel is about the same as a Hooters and a Burger King on a pristine trout stream...

Listening to Waxahatchee

So it goes...