11th Annual North American Wayfarer Rally
Killbear Park, Parry Sound, ON * August 7-14
Update #1: 23 Feb 2010
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----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 11:59 AM
Subject: Aug. 7-14 - 2010 North American Wayfarer Rally - Notice #2

This will be a short note to remind potential participants in the rally that the March 6 camp site registration time is fast approaching.  Why do I say March 6 when in notice # 1 I said March 7?
Thanks to Margie's good work, we now realize that you must book both Friday and Saturday nights and that means 5 months in advance of Friday August 6.  

"I was trying out our new computer and trying to re-familiarize myself with the Killbear reservation system since we will be traveling when we need to make our reservations, and I discovered a potential wrinkle for all of us.  Under the new Ontario Parks system (at least I think it is new), you have to reserve/stay both Friday and Saturday night of any given weekend in August.  So we have to arrive on August 6 and leave August 13 or stay until Aug 15 (Monday).  They still have the rule that if you do not show up the day of your reservation (or check in no later than 8:00 AM the day following), you lose the site (but still have to pay for the first night and 50% of the total you would have paid).  At $35-$40 per night, this is not trivial so a go disincentive to gaming the system.  I confirmed this Fri/Sat thing with a live human being in the reservations office since I thought may be one could take from a Saturday night (Aug 7) to the next Friday night Aug 13) - NOT! 
I  checked the availability of a few of the campsites that we had liked from before and discovered that lots of stuff is reserved through the end of July thanks to the possibility that anyone can reserve for up to 23 days!!  Hopefully there will be something left when we are ready to try to reserve. 
It might be a good idea to alert everyone that we have to reserve starting no later than March 6 (rather than the 7th as I had marked on my calendar ages ago). "

I have confirmed this situation by phone with Ontario Parks.  Arriving or leaving on Saturday is the problem.  Friday 6th to Friday 13th, Sunday 8th to Friday 13th or Sunday 15th all work.  You can leave Saturday 14th but they will charge you for that night.

Note that in other years people have found campsites even in June and July but not always their choice site.

The Ontario Parks registration site is http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/reservations.html .

I will also add some additional registration information.  Mostly my interpretation of Ontario Parks regulations.  I advise all to check www.ontarioparks.com .

Registration
First time users must register to make a reservation on the Ontario Parks Internet Reservation System. You will be asked to complete a registration form to create your user profile. You must create a new profile to reserve a site on the new Web site. You will create a unique login ID and your own unique password. Each time you make a reservation, you will be prompted to enter your unique login ID and password.  You are best to do this now at http://reservations.ontarioparks.com/en/index.cgi?sid=9727650731310219575135274429580135282324 .  Then you will be ready for March 6.

Kilbear Park
Information on Kilbear park is at  http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/killb.html .
Camp site maps etc can be found at http://reservations.ontarioparks.com/en/park.cgi?sid=9727650731310219575135274429580135282324&p=162 .  We try to find sites in the Lighthouse Point Campground. If you double click on the Lighthouse Point Campground icon you will see a map of the sites there. Harold Point Campground is an alternative if Lighthouse is full.

Camp site   Sharing a site is an option as:
No more than six people can occupy a campground campsite unless these people comprise a single-family unit consisting of parents, and their children.
Where space permits, you are allowed up to three pieces of shelter equipment plus one dining shelter/tarp on your campsite. Only one piece of shelter equipment can be a tent trailer, house trailer, motor home, or self-propelled camping unit.
The fee for one vehicle is included in your campsite permit - all other vehicles must purchase an "Additional Vehicle Permit" at the time of registration. The number of additional vehicles permitted on a campsite is limited by the park and vehicles may have to be parked in a separate designated "parking lot" located away from your campsite. Consult the ‘site description’ on the Reservations website to find out how many vehicles can be parked on-site.

Sailing
I have been told that some captains are looking for crew and some people are looking to crew.  I am sure that arrangements are possible so that all will be able to sail as much or as little as they desire.

Coming and going
Toronto area traffic is the shits particularly Friday night and trying to go north to Parry Sound.
As you do your planning, you should not that the North Americans are in Toronto on August 14 and 15.

Keep Informed

Please adviseme of your plans and I will set up a document to share with all planning or even hoping to attend.