Killbear Park, Parry Sound, ON * Fri 26 July – Fri 2 Aug 2013
Killbear 2013 has come and gone. There is a wealth of great pictures on Uncle Al’s Flickr page. With 25 boats and 65 participants, it was a large rally. The 25 boats consisted of 23 Wayfarers made up of woodies, fiberglass boats and one Mark 4. There were two CL16’s. 30 participants came from various parts of Ontario, while 28 came from the United States. There were participants from as far south as North Carolina, as far west as Wisconsin and as far east as Massachusetts. Last but not least we hosted four from England and one from each of Holland and Ireland.
The weather was at times wet, but there were boats sailing all seven days of the rally. Each day the fleet broke up into different sub-fleets to sail to different locations depending on interest and the sailing skills of the crew. There were many trips into Parry Sound including sailing through the Hole in the Wall, Depot Harbour, around Huckleberry Island and to the town of Parry Sound. Some boats went south to Surprise Island and found good landing spots. Many boats returned via the Rose Island Channel. Tuesday proved to be the best sailing day with moderate steady winds out of the west. A three hour sail took nine boats to Regatta Bay and lunch on the rocks followed by a swim. The view and the Blueberries were fabulous. Another 15 boats went to the Pancake Islands to lunch, relax and enjoy the day.
The rally regulars were joined by some new faces. There were some old salties as well as six under twenty. It was a great mixture that resulted in lots of fun socializing. Due to rain the cocktail/ tailgate party was delayed one day. It is always amazing the quality and quantity of food that camping Wayfarers can produce. The Killbear marina set aside their whole restaurant for our banquet. This year our English guests, Ralph Roberts and Terry Cook entertained us with a skit. Of course the black tie evening was the social event of the rally. This year, we had a potluck dinner as part of the evening. Margie McKelvey and Sean Ring were voted the most elegantly dressed woman and man of the evening. Eric Laux wrote and recited a poem in honour of the occasion. The poem will be published for all Wayfarers to read. Monica Schaefer brought song sheets from Ireland and led the singing on several occasions. We found some good singers and some that best sing quietly. Of course there were many ad hoc social get-togethers around campfires.
See you at the next North American Rally at Hermit Island in 2014.
Alan and Mary