January 30, 2012Dear Sir,Today the research/expedition yacht Lone Ranger from Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) is leaving Bermuda. At this point the ship and her crew had the honour to have been guests of the town of St George for almost half a year.I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the Mayor, the Corporation of St George, the people of St George and all Bermudians for the warm welcome we received. In the last six months the captain and the crew experienced so much friendliness, help and assistance, that we considered this beautiful place already our second home.I’d like to point out that this wouldn’t have been the case if we had been unable to stay alongside the yacht terminal at Ordnance Island. The professionalism and kindness of the Bermuda Yacht Service (BYS) team enabled us to achieve all work and projects which we had to cope with during our lay time alongside.I might mention that we were not the “normal” yacht, usually berthing at the terminal at Ordnance Island, but had demands far beyond the requirements you would expect from such a ship. And still our needs were served in the best way we could only imagine.Taking the various services required by a ship as ours, as mooring operations, processing of cargo, provisioning, crew transportation, sourcing of spare parts, etc. I couldn’t have imagined a better facility.As a captain I appreciate the availability of such a safe harbour and the facilities given here on this Island far out in the Atlanti, and I know my colleagues think the same. If I could express a humble wish for future operations, I would wish to see more developed waste processing facilities, to separate and recycle domestic and ship’s waste.My gratitude goes to the Corporation of St George and their partners with their unique enthusiasm and spirit. This makes this place a truly special port.I wish the Mayor, the Corporation and the people of St George and the service provider for the facility, Mark Soares and his team, all the best for the future and may Ordnance Island and the bay of St George become an icon for the professional handling of yachts and super yachts.CAPTAIN BERND BUCHNERLone Ranger