> It turns out the bitbucket issue tracker has a feature - I cannot make it automatically add me 
> to the watcher list of all new issues.
> 
> So when you create a new issue, I think I get one message about it, and no more.
> 

I retested this and I confirm that for new issues I am not a watcher "by default". If I reply to an issue,
the system enters an inconsistent state - it thinks I am a watcher, the best I can tell, but it also
says "0 watchers".

K.O.