Rally Participants,

 

Best wishes to everyone for smooth sailing in 2008.  It is snowing and cold here on the southern shores of Lake Erie.  Soon I should be able to get out again to do some more cross-country skiing.  The balmy Florida weather we enjoyed last week that melted everything away is but a memory.

 

I trust that all NA participants have received their campsite confirmation via a bill from Hermit Island.  If you have not I suggest that you phone Donny Wallace, Campground Manager, at 207-443-2101 ASAP or you can contact me.  Regarding overseas participants whom have already been assigned campsites--Jaspers (Branch 6), Scraggs (Branch 8) and Bruneaus (Branch 10)--I have paid the initial $125 deposit fee for your sites.  The total charge for each site for the week is $265, thus there is a remaining balance of $140 which you need to pay upon arrival.  Rather than worry about reimbursing me the $125 deposit now I suggest waiting until I see you at the Rally.  

 

I chose to title this message 'Count Down to Hermit Island' because rather than attempting to tackle all of the rally planning tasks at one time it will be easier for me to send out individual emails pertaining to particular issues.  Today I want to discuss two items: a)  Camping spots for Anne Kell and Ralph Roberts; and b) getting the maximum number of boats to the rally and boat dockage/moorings.  But first, here's the latest recap regarding rally participants.

 

Margie and I knew Elof and Karen Andersen from several of the European Wayfarer rallies we attended.  We counted them among our group of close Danish friends and they would have made a great addition to the Rally.  Unfortunately, I have to report that they are unable to attend.  Otherwise the list of participants remains the same as before.

 

Asselstine*, Alan & Mary - Ottawa, ON

Beehler, Lori - Ottawa, ON

Bruneau, Giles, Jill & William - Palaiseau (near Paris), France

Douma, Andy - Beachburg, ON

Erickson, Tom & Diane - Gardner, MA

Girard, André & Monique - Ottawa, ON

Graefe*, Tom & Nel - Norwell, MA

Haill, Andrew - Thunder Bay, ON

Harkins*, Bill & Margie - Arlington, VA

Harrington*, Dick - Euclid, OH

Heffernan, Jim & Linda - Chapel Hill, NC

Hirsch, Gary & Stephanie - Saint Joseph, MI

Jaspers, Ton & Connie - Sint Michielsgestel, North Brabant, Netherlands

Kell, Anne (husband Den is unable to attend) - Copdock, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK

Krauss*, Tony & Mary Abel - North East, MD

Richie, Brian & Karl Vanek - Belleville, ON

Roberts, Ralph - Surlingham, Norwich, UK

Schonborn*, Al & Julia - Oakville, ON

Scragg, Ray & Jill - Wareham, Dorset, UK

Wallace*, Kit & Patsy - Toronto, ON

* Indicates that they are a buddy

 

So far, everything regarding the rally planning has progressed exceptionally smoothly.  Tom and I are very grateful to all of you who have volunteered to be buddies to overseas visitors.  Also others who have contacted me about bringing extra camping gear.  (I'll be getting into that in the next email.)  So many helpers makes our task much lighter.  I'm  relieved and feel confident we are all going to have a really enjoyable Hermit Island experience.

 

Unfinished Business.  We have two single overseas participants, Anne Kell and Ralph Roberts, that up to now haven't been assigned camping spots.  There is room to fit them onto one of the group of buddy and European sites along Branch.  However, several of you indicated earlier a willingness to serve as buddies but were not given the opportunity.  So before I make assignments for Anne and Ralph, I would like to hear from any of you who would like to offer them a spot at your site.  Please get back to me soon as I'm sure that they will be be grateful to know where they will be situated.

 

Boats.  For obvious reasons I would like everyone to help us get as many boats to the rally as possible.  I'm hoping I can convince one or two of our local USWA Maine members to loan us a boat for the week.  I will be very happy to go fetch and return the boat and look after its care and safety.  For this reason I have gone ahead and rented a slip at the marina to be used for a loaner if we can get one.  I'm asking everyone who is attending to make sure every vehicle is towing a Wayfarer and to consider driving an extra car if possible.  Contact me with your suggestions or questions.

 

Dockage/moorings.  Be advised that based upon past experience there will not be sufficient space on the campground dock or moorings for all the boats.  (There will be other campers' boats besides ours.)  I plan on bringing my own mooring anchor and ball set up for the week.  At low tide the channel is narrow and with 10 foot tides space for swing on a conventional anchor is very limited.  (There also seems to be debris on the bottom that can foul an anchor.)  If you don't want to deal with these issues you can rent a slip at the marina from the campground manager, Donny Wallace.  This week when I talked to him he had two slips left.

 

That's it for now.  Thanks for your patience.

 

DICK