| 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>> |