US Wayfarer Cruising

Cruising Logs, Cruising activities & Technical Cruising Notes.   

To all Wayfarers:

The North American Cruising Rally returns to the marvelous beauty of the St. Lawrence River-Thousand Islands region in 2009.  Rally dates are:  Arrival-Saturday, July 18th; Departure-Saturday, July 25.  The location is:  N.Y. Wellesley Island State Park.

Wellesley Island is located only a couple of hours by Wayfarer (half an hour by car) east of Cedar Point S.P., where we were situated in 2005.  However, Wellesley Island is more attractive than Cedar Point and is centrally located in the most attractive part of the Thousand Islands.  This location offers numerous fantastic cruising opportunities in both US and Canadian waters.  Thus, for the most part we will get to experiences a whole new week of sights and adventures from those terrific sails we enjoyed in 2005.

If you plan to attend you need to make campground reservations at midnight this Friday, i.e., one minute after on Saturday morning, October 18th.

Please read all of the following email messages from Kit & Patsy, and Tom Graefe, for complete details.  We are indebted to Kit and Patsy for working so hard to pull this event together.

Sincerely,

DICK H.

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Land Tenting or Camping on Board. The Wayfarer can be cruised in the same fashion as that of a small yacht--that is to say living on board. Many single handed sailors will cruise this way for convenience and to avoid the effort of hauling out upon a beach. This is especially true when the shore is rocky or marshy, or where tides are a factor. When the boom is raised and a boom tent erected a small but comfortable cabin is created. Well constructed canvass boom tents are available that are insect proof, weather-tight and offer amenities such as windows, zippered doors, etc. These also come in various design configurations from a simple "A" shape to more spacious and elaborate shapes. A small backpacker's Coleman gas lantern hung from the boom will provide plenty of light as well as warmth on a cold damp day. Since the Wayfarer has flat floorboards with a bilge beneath, water doesn't collect making sleeping on the floor (alongside the centerboard trunk) comfortable. Some people, particularly if they are larger, feel constricted by the narrow space underneath the center thwart and don't like sleeping on the floor. Usually these people place a platform on top of the seats as an alternative sleeping arrangement. Many kinds of creative sleeping arrangements have been devised, including slinging a hammock beneath the boom.

Dick Harrington is the US Wayfarer Cruising champion and lead for the "Wooden Wayfarer Interest Group." Dick can be reached via e-mail by inquiring on the contact page.

Check out this great article by Al Schonborn on  Efficient Sailing for Cruising.

US Wayfarer Technical Cruising Notes

Technical Cruising This is a link to technical cruising articles from our US Wayfarer members. All dingy cruisers will find these notes very useful. Contributions are welcome!

Wayfarer Cruise Logs

Cruising Logs & stories from our fellow Wayfarers ...