| the 2006 North American
Wayfarer Rally Thousand Islands, St. Lawrence River, Cedar Point State Park, Clayton, NY * July 28 - August 5, 2006 an illustrated report by Kit Wallace |
|
Impressions
of the 2006 Wayfarer Rally at Cedar Point
Patsy and I
kicked off the rally by picking up Ralph Roberts
from Toronto airport on Friday and were
entertained all the way to Cedar Point with his
great stories of Wayfarer cruising in Europe and
Nova Scotia. We stayed for five of the seven
days and managed to get in four wonderful days of
sailing with conditions varying from a drifter to
a reefed down stiff blow. We had a fantastic time
at this year's rally. Many thanks to Dick and
Margie, and Tom and Nell for all the preparation
that went into it, and of course to all our
friends who we so enjoy meeting every summer at
these events.
Here is our
modest collection of photos, which I hope will
supplement the large volume expected from Al.
...
|
| Sunday By the time we
crossed the St. Lawrence River shipping channel and
slipped down the south shore of Wolfe Island past
Hickory Island on the Canadian side, our first day
of sailing had turned into a drifter under baking
hot sun.
 <<02 Tony - Mary
drifting.jpg>>
 <<01 drifter with the fleet in the distance.jpg>> The
planned destination of a beach at Potter’s Bay on
the west shore of Grindstone Island seemed
impossible to achieve. The fleet had separated, we
weren’t going to catch up to the leaders and Tom
Erickson was turning back. A little rocky island
(later discovered to be Canadian) close to Arabella
Island looked like an inviting place to swim, so we
hailed Tony Krauss and Mary who were sailing with
Lori Beehler, put down anchor and had a wonderfully
refreshing dip in the warm waters of the St.
Lawrence. We were joined a bit later by Bill Harkins
and Margie. Concerns about landing on Canadian soil
without contacting Customs, proved unfounded!
 <<03 Patsy - Arabella Island backdrop.JPG>>  <<04 our swimming place.JPG>> |
| Monday The
destination for today was downstream from the Cedar
Point to the town of Clayton for lunch. The group
all kept in sight of each other making for an
impressive fleet of small boats led by André and
Monique. En route, passing a Great Lakes freighter
heading upstream made for an astonishing sense of
scale of the craft using this waterway. These big
boats travel surprisingly fast.
 <<07 Clayton Harbour.JPG>>  <<05 Freighter.JPG>>  <<06 Blue Mist approaching Clayton.jpg>> We
quickly ran downwind with the current into Clayton,
all 11 boats tying up at the public dock, to the
amusement of the locals. Clayton has an interesting 19th
century main street, where the backs of the
buildings overlook the river. Some, like Bella's,
where we re-grouped for lunch have taken advantage
of this relationship.
Later, walking around town we discovered the
Antique Boat Museum, which hosts the annual boat
show - Clayton's main claim to fame these days.
  <<09 Bella's.jpg>>  <<10 at Bella's.JPG>>  <<11 at Bella's.JPG>>  <<12 Clayton.JPG>> |
| Tuesday The day was
looking ominously blustery with the wind building
from the west off Lake Ontario. Today was the day to
head upstream to Cape Vincent. Not only were we
battling the current, but also beating into the
strongest winds of the week. I had to promise Patsy
that "it wasn't a race", before she tentatively
agreed to head out onto the water. As usual once
sailing, one feels more confident and Patsy handled
the conditions with aplomb, sheltering the helm from
most of the spray. After an exhilarating sail of
about five miles up river, we hove to in the lee of
Carleton Island to put in a reef as we were getting
overwhelmed by the effort of trying to keep the boat
level. This was an interesting sail, because despite
the wind, the fleet maintained close contact,
frequently crossing on alternating tacks. Another
mile or so further on, we noticed André and Ralph
putting into a sheltered cove and along with all the
others (except Dick Harrington who sailed on to Cape
Vincent with Chuck Jordan), we discovered a perfect
little harbour, for six Wayfarers. Our hosts were
amazed by this surprise visit, but were delighted to
meet us, and tell us about the history of the St.
Lawrence Seaway, and the ecological damage done by
invading species (not us!) brought in by ocean-going
ships. We set off back to Cedar Point under jib
alone, for a fast ride home.
 <<13 Safe Haven.JPG>>  <<14 Kit-Ralph-Tom-Brian.JPG>>  <<15 Julia-host-Tom-André.JPG>>  <<16 Julia-Al with refreshments.JPG>> |
| Wednesday A threat of thunderstorms was in the forecast (this was the day several tornados touched down in Central Ontario, creating havoc), so a brief outing was proposed to Potter's Beach on Grindstone Island. The wind was calmer than the previous day, though still made for an exciting sail. In the afternoon Patsy and I drove to Clayton to visit the Antique Boat Museum. This is well worth a visit - especially the extensive exhibit on the development of the St. Lawrence skiff. We could have even gone sailing again (included in the general admission), if we had had the energy, in two beautifully restored catboats belonging to the museum.  <<17 Two Catboats.JPG>>  <<18 Rushton Catboat Rebecca.jpg>>  <<19 Rebecca.jpg>>  <<20 Rebecca 2.jpg>>  <<21 Rebecca 3.JPG>>  <<22 Beetlecat.JPG>>  <<23 Beetlecat 2.jpg>>  <<24 St. Lawrence sailing.JPG>>  <<25 St. Lawrence sailing 2.JPG>>  <<26 'Postcard'.jpg>> |