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Hang on a day or two until this bunch gets unpacked from Nickajack and let them post there tails of woe, then I will post the rest of the story. I will say that if fall coming in like a lion she will leave like a lamb means anything the rest of the fall should be a cake walk. Bud.

You mean wait until we get dried out from Nickajack :lol: ! I guess I will start because I probably have the shortest story...well, Brian's might be shorter actually. I also don't have any picture because it was always too wet to bring out the camera.

I tried arriving earlier on thursday but didn't get everything done at work until 1pm then had to finish packing. I am a minimalist for these events when going by myself partly because I enjoy the contrast from normal life and because my little convertible doesn't have that much trunk space so that ment a backpackers tent and not much other shelter...It was beautiful last time so I should be fine....right???

This year I decided to take my new, self-designed, 12' dory. Once I got used to the tenderness (I mainly have sailed catboat dimension boats recently), I found this boat to be a wonderful addition to my boatyard. Plum Crazy (dubbed by others due to its purple color and the nature of the builder) is 12' long and 44" wide with enough rocker to let her easily ride up and over waves. She rows wonderfully and is very comfortable to sail with one of those west marine forward facing seats and a push/pull tiller. Only challenge is getting myself turned around to row or sail without falling over the side! I also brought my new GPS to finally get some idea of the speed of this little boat.

I arrived at the campground at 4pm and saw some of our fleet heading out on the lake around the corner and out of view. I quickly (too quickly as it turned out) threw up my tent and then went to launch my little dory. At one point during the launch I had waded down the boatramp only to do a spread-eagle back-flop as my feet went skidding out from underneith me on the slippery slime covering the ramp. Fortunately, nobody saw me, it was warm, and my clothes would dry so I parked the car and headed out to meet the other folks on the water. The wind was fairly strong at times and I am still getting used to this boat so there were a few akward moments but I got her moving. In fact, i reached a top speed of 4.3 knots which is pretty darn good considering the length of the boat and the narrow non-plaining hull.

I sailed around the corner of the lake and saw two boats in the distance. One of them was the beautiful open Weekender of Karls and the other was a two-masted Core Sound 17 skippered by Brian. Brian seemed to be having some difficulty with one of his sails and was going back in forth in a broad cove so I decided to sail over and see if he needed any help. I found out that he had been trying to get around the point I just sailed around to get back to the docks. However, a problem with a snotter wasn't allowing him to trim the sail correctly. I talked to him for a bit and, after receiving assurances that he would be able to at least paddle around, I sailed on to see the eye candy that is Karl's boat. All too soon I turned the boat around and sailed back with the others, Brian having weathered the point, back to the dock.

One thing I like about my sprit rig is the ability to pull one line, the brailing line, and have the sail wrap itself around the mast. So, in a second my sail was "down" and I was rowing around to look at some of the other boats. Unfortunately, i followed Karl into an area between the docks that was inhabited by a Kracken (thick water weeds) which led to my rudder and oars becoming fowled and some moments of truly being stuck. I finally got out and then put the boat on the dolly and got Craigs help in rolling her back to camp.

More to come later...Have to run to a meeting!

So, to continue the story,

The boat was back to camp and I headed over to Buds place for some visiting time. Of course there was a nice fire roaring in the firepit, a feature that goes 24/7 when Bud and Benny are camping. Then we all headed off to our respective tents, campers, and boats for a nights rest. I woke up around 2 am with one wall of my tent being blown in by 18" while the other wall was being sucked out by 18" again as a roaring tempest descended on the camp. I remember congratulating myself on taking my boat out of the water, for surely it would have been bashed to pieces, when I heard a rather large boom just outside the tent. When I looked I found my boat had actually blown over off of its cart hock: . After peering outside for a bit more, I returned to the dubious shelter of my tent to spend the rest of the night wondering when a large limb or tree was going to fall across me.

In the morning I found significant amounts of water coming down from above and welling up from below. My tent is over 20 years old and the last time I waterproofed it had to also have been 20 years ago....guess it is time for a new tent. The water coming from below was very brown and muddy for I didn't study the ground enough when I chose this spot for my tent (due to impatience to get on the water). I put on my foul weather gear and headed out to check on the boats. Mine wasn't damaged and Keith's quick attention had saved Bud's PC and Karl's weekender from harm. Craigs boat was just fine most likely because it was tied up by such expert sailors hock: . However, on a seperate dock Brian's Core Sound was having problems. The bowsprit on which the forward cleat was attached had broken almost free causing the boat to swing around in the wind and hit the docks. No major damage other than the bowsprit but only thanks to Keith sprinting over to save the boat.

The rain was still coming down in the morning so I decided to retire to my tent to catch up on sleep only to find everything I owned was soaked through by now. So, wanting to regroup and wash the mud off, I packed up everything, including the boat, and drove 2 hours back home. Brian also packed up and left for the same reasons but he never did return. Karl was the only tenter left dry in part because he was so good at placing his tent. I missed seeing Craigs boat in all of its glory on Friday but managed to get a good nights sleep. Saturday morning I loaded up my wifes van, taking out a seat to give me sleeping room, and headed back to Lake Nicajack sans boat not wanting to miss out on the fun. As I got closer and closer to the lake the skies got darker and the rain fell harder. Oh Well!

When I arrived I found Keith, Craig, and Karl preparring to launch their boats. They had put them on the trailer due to some dire warnings about high winds that didn't materialize on Friday. I was directed to go on Karls boat, Bud went with Criag, and Keith ended up sailing by himself. For thos lurkers, shows you can have fun and are needed at these events wether or not you bring a boat! Karl and I launched "My World" quickly wanting to clear the ramp for the Vacationers and started sailing around the lake. Finally, about 45 minutes and one very heavy rainsqual later, Keith and Craig got their Vacationers launched. We sailed around in the basin above the dam for awhile then Karl and I turned up-river with some ideas of sailing under the freeway bridge.

This was my first time sailing a Weekender and was very pleasantly surprise with how she handled in the gusty winds we had that day. We went on a broad reach for a long while with the winds increasing hitting a maximum speed of 6.3 knots! We also lived through another rain squal which deposited two inches of rain in the bottom of the boat in a few minutes! Wonderful Weather :roll: . We also had the fun of scooting out of the way of one of those double-wide river barges and were plesantly surprised by how little wake they put out. With the wind increasing even more and a glance over our shoulders showing whitecaps, Karl and I decided to turn back and head to camp.

Shortly after we were passed by Craig and Bud on a screaming reach (I think Bud was doing most of the screaming :wink: ). Keith, being singlehanded, faced with a river barge and ever increasing winds, had dropped his sails and was motoring around the bend in the river. This same bend, the one that frustrated Brian, gave us a bit of a challenge tacking back because of the angle of the wind. We managed to sail back to the launch ramp area without resorting to Karl's beautiful 2.5hp 4 stroke motor. Karl even trusted me enough to allow me to sail the boat up to the dock. Fortunately, his responsive weekender sailed wonderfully in the high winds and drifted perfectly to a stop alongside the dock with her bow towards the wind. (in other words I was very lucky!) We put Karl's weekender back on his trailer so he could ready it for driving the next day.

The rest of the day to dinner was spent in preparrations be they getting boats ready for the road or preparring dinner. As always, dinner was absolutely wonderful and the rains very politely hung back until we had finished and the prized Pusser's Rum had been given. Then, the heaven opened up and we found ourselves getting soaked even under the awning attached to the side of Benny's camper. We all retired early scrambling through the rain to where we were going to sleep. The next morning was spent packing away boats and then I headed back home.

Thanks for a wonderful time BUD and I can't wait until next year!

IT’S TIME FOR A CAPTION CONTEST.


This picture of Scott was taken approximately 1hr after the ceremonial breaking of the prized
Pussers Rum seal.

I don't have a caption but you should have seen his face when he moved that Bumbershoot and the rain ran down his back and into his pants!! 8)

That was classic Craig. I think it was your wife that talked him into moving so the rain would find his back. Man she's evil!

Keith

I was perfectly dry and content until Saralee suggested I move. I think it was a plot! :x

Nice story Scott,

You folks had such a good time, you actually made me feel like I was there. We have had two months of rain, with a rare, partially cloudy sky for comfort. I have been one wet house builder as a result.

I am glad you hard core sailors did not let a monster storm slow you down or dampen your spirits.

Congratulations on an excellent mess-a-bout.

Mike

Great story Scott. i like the umbrella... here we use them to keep the sun off instead of rain however.

i am glad to hear of so many of you getting together and having a great time (with or without the rum)

keep the get togethers up.