Ferries must cut wakes

August 15, 2007

Dear Sir,

I was a recent visitor to Bermuda for an enjoyable week and loved visiting your beautiful island and meeting your welcoming citizens there. Please let me explain that I am not one that normally complains about things, especially while visiting another country. However, I am quite upset about a grave, irresponsible destruction of the environment I witnessed every day while I was in Bermuda.

I love boating and as a lifelong boater, I enjoyed watching the boats in Hamilton Harbour. To my disdain, I saw commercial Ferry boats throwing an unnecessary and destructive wake every time they went into and out of Hamilton Harbour. It appears as though that if they would slow down, they would no longer be damaging the seawalls and shoreline inside of the harbour. I noticed that all of the other boats in the harbour avoided making a wake while inside of Hamilton Harbour. I cannot imagine that any schedule the Ferry boats are running can be more important than the damage they are causing. I hope that someone in Bermuda has the authority to convince the Ferry boats to slow down to a no-wake speed while in Hamilton Harbour.

Sorry to complain, but I felt a responsibility to point out that the fragile environment of Bermuda is being destroyed each time a Ferry boat throws a large wake in Hamilton Harbour. I am certain that it is just a matter of time before someone corrects this problem. For the sake of preserving Bermuda's beauty and environment I hope that this is corrected sooner than later.

ROBERT PHANEUF

Florida