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North
American Rally #22
...Killbear Park, Parry Sound, ON * Sat 6 Aug - Sat 13 Aug 2022 Alan Asselstine's report updated: 3 October 2022 at 2103 hrs |
| For the first time in three years, we
were able to have a North American Wayfarer Rally with
participants from Canada and the United States.
There were 36 participants and 14 boats. Along
with the regular rally goers, we had some first-time
rally participants; Heidi Winterhalder at 9 years old
the youngest, Julia from Germany, Serge Toropov,
Francisco Caamano, Heather Allardyce and Ruth Roe.
Alex, a Ukrainian teenager, joined Bob Stevenson for a
day sail. We now have a potential new
Wayfarer cruiser in Mark Taylor. Dan and Diane Campbell
also joined us for some social activities.
Overall, the week was a great success with a combination
of sailing and social activities. The weather was a mixture and provided some challenges. We had some dry conditions for setting up and taking down the tents. However, in between there were wet days and some heavy winds. On the sunny days, the cold water of Georgian Bay combined with the warm inland temperatures gave us strong afternoon in shore winds that reached as high as 20 knots. Saturday and Sunday's (Aug 6 and 7) dry daytime conditions allowed for easy camp set-up and boat launches plus some pleasant sails. Some, who had arrived early, took advantage of the conditions with more sailing. On Saturday evening, people wandered from campsite to campsite renewing old friendships and making new ones. With rain in the forecast for Sunday evening, the Mixer/ Ice Breaker was postponed to Monday evening. The rain persisted into Monday during the day so the Long Distance Race was postponed to Tuesday. Patty Kuntz and I did take advantage of a break in the weather to sail up and around Scott Island. While we were coming back under spinnaker, the rain returned. The rain eased off for the evening Mixer/ Ice Breaker with great food and many story exchanges. Thanks to Robin and Heather Allardyce for providing their site for Monday, Tuesday and Friday social activities. Tuesday saw the Long Distance Race that will be covered in a separate report. Tuesday evening, we had the pot luck supper/corn roast which ensured that all could gain some extra ballast for the sailing. Thanks to Henry Rose for picking up the corn and Bruce and Katrina Idleman for boiling it. The results of the Long Distance Race were announced and awards given. Most participants actively displayed their crazy hat creations. Annette Grefe was the winning lady and Steph Romanluk took the men's prize. The evening ended with a sing-song. Annette Grefe added a German version of the Wayfarer song and Dan Campbell brought two instruments for accompaniment. Wednesday proved to be the best sailing day and all thirteen boats were on the water. Nine boats made it to the Pancake Islands, where they found a good landing place for lunch followed by a good sail back. The other four boats had enjoyable sails closer to the park. The ad hoc evening social scene was yet another time to visit other campsites. Thursday turned out to be an eventful sailing day as the onshore afternoon winds built to near 20 knots. In the late morning with good sailing conditions four boats headed to Mclean Island and five boats headed to the cove near Oak Island. The sail out was great. Some boats carried full sails; others reefed. Three of the Mclean Island boats returned to the Lighthouse beach under jib alone. When their rudder shattered, Sue and Steph with four on board, used sails and a paddle to get to Harold Point. The five boats on the longer sail to the cove near Oak Island arrived safely for lunch. As the winds built up, it became clear that there was no safe way to tack out of the cove and there was a real possibility of spending the night there. With Sue's help and Bob's cell phone a rescue motor boat was found that pulled all five boats out and back to Lighthouse beach.. Of course, we had to go through the Rose Chanel so the cottagers could see us being towed. The dinner at Blake's at Killbear Marina was a success even as many arrived late after being towed home. The restaurant and staff were very cooperative. The pan fried pickerel was very popular for good reason.  The main sail planned for Friday was to go through the Hole in the Wall and return to the park to take the boats out. The late morning started with variable east winds that at times were no wind. Shortly after noon the winds started to switch to the west and build as in previous days. By 2:00, it was a very hard beat from the Hole in the Wall back to the park that took 3 hours for some boats. In the evening, we gathered for the traditional left-over and empty the cooler meal. The food was so good that I question if we were eating leftovers. Saturday morning was sunny and dry, ideal for packing up the camp and heading home. Yes, it was sad to say good bye to good friends. However, we plan to get together at Wellesley Island in 2023. As always it was a pleasure to work with such a cooperative and enthusiastic group. Alan W7346 Killbear22 coordinator The Killbear22 Participants
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