Lake Lanier Wayfarer Rally: June 26-27, 2004
report by Richard Johnson

W.S.E.

1st Annual Sailing Rally and Social

By Richard Johnson
Photos by By Richard Johnson, Bill Waller, Dale Newnham, and Mo Metcalf

 

On the weekend of June 26th  WSE ( Wayfarer Southeast)  had their first ever C.R.S.  (Cruise Rally Social). I’m not sure that any of us was certain what was supposed to happen at a proper Cruise Rally, with a schedule, and such, but it was very relaxed, with no expectations, or disappointments. It couldn’t have been more perfect.   Best of all we left knowing that the next cruise will be at Cumberland Island off of South Georgia. 

This Cruise was originally scheduled for Port Royal, South Carolina, but when logistics became an issue it was wisely moved to Lake Lanier.   Lake Lanier is northeast of Atlanta by about 30 to 40 miles, and is a very large lake by Southern standards.
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Typically North Georgia is hot and humid in the summer, but thanks to a large slow moving low pressure system that passed through on Friday the 25th, Saturday was almost cool in the morning and very pleasant in the evening.  It was still hot and humid mid-day.  Most important of all, we had a good crew and the winds held pretty steady all Saturday.
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This gem of picture was captured by my dearest youngest fastest daughter as I was making deadly certain I’d really packed my rudder and tiller.   


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My traveling companion, Ryck, kept me from losing everything I own over this particular weekend.  Ryck and I had never traveled together before, but I look forward to sailing with him on the trip to Cumberland Island.
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Dale Newnham (above right) brought along his very lovely skiff Varuna.  Dale came to the rally with the goal of becoming familiar with the Wayfarer. 
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Bill Waller & his family  kindly took the lead for this trip when I failed to get all the details nailed down.  Bill deftly steered the rally to Lake Lanier. 
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Finally but not least, there is the unsinkable Morris Metcalf.  Despite the fact he’d been under the weather the week prior, Mo still came and made sure we all got launched and retrieved smoothly.  Mo was the go-to guy and made certain that any ragged details were smoothed.

Ryck and I arrived Saturday morning at about 8:00 am after having bailed out on driving down the night prior in a torrential rain.  The thought of setting up the tent in a downpour and then sleeping in puddles pushed us to this obvious conclusion. But Saturday morning in Atlanta was cool and grey, a pleasant respite from the heat. Better yet, there was wind. Although it was still early, Mo had scouted the boat ramps and had found one that would allow us to launch without taking a beating on the rocks.
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We rigged the Chick'n (W10139) and tossed her in the water, pulled a couple of halyards and we were off. This was Ryck’s first trip in a dinghy, He had previously sailed on a friend’s Beneteau 33, I believe.  Ryck quickly became accustomed to the quick movements of the boat, versus the Beneteau, and we got the boat tacking in good fashion.  Unfortunately, we got lost, yes, on a lake.  Lake Lanier is very large with a number of islands, and peninsulas which jut into the lake.  But they all look the same.  In the end a twenty minute sail took us about an hour and some change. 
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By the time we returned to the campground, Bill Waller and Mo were launching Betelgeuse. And Dale had arrived:
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We didn’t really have a plan for the day, but we had boats, beer and warm wind.  Our agenda, if we’d had one, would have looked like a cat’s day planner: In, out, in, out, in, out, etc… etc. 
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The one certain event of the day was dinner, the Low Country Shrimp Boil put on by Bill Waller and his wife, Johnetta. 


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It is quintessentially Southern, and needs to be done with care and appreciation for the hard scrabble southern coastal lifestyle which inspired it.  It's as much ritual as cooking, and it was wonderful, nothing less.  I’d like to thank Bill, his wife, and family for making us all dinner. It made the day.
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After dinner, it was back to the boats and  the best wind of the day.  Just before sunset the winds kicked up to about 8-10 mph, and the lake developed a very pleasant wave pattern. If you dropped the boat from a beam to a broad reach in the puffs, you could roll it onto a plane.  
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Sunday morning arrived white gray, requiring strong black coffee and eggs. The wind never really developed; a few sucker puffs wrinkled the surface, but no pattern or direction.
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Mo and Bill escaped first in Betelgeuse.   Dale and Ryck started out in the Chick'n and I took off in Dale’s skiff. 
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The skiff is a sweet little boat, very stiff, and beautifully made. She’s quick, and very responsive. She’s really too pretty to be used in the real world.  What was meant to be a quick morning sail ended up being our swan song.  Ryck and Dale took the Chick'n to the ramp, and I sailed back for the car.
 
This trip was meant as a shakedown, not only for boats and sailors, but also for ideas.  What do we want to achieve as a group? Where do we want to go? The Cumberland Island trip was suggested, and after Dale emailed us the chart, it looks all together very “doable”.   I look forward to the day in 20 years when we can talk about old “Sailing Socials” of the past but hate to think we would ever leave one without a germ of an idea for the next trip.

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