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On November 5-6, five Catalina 22s participated in a cruise to the Sugarloaf Mountain area of Greers Ferry Lake. Four of the boats met at Heber Springs Marina on Saturday morning and began with a wing-and-wing 7-mile downwind run to the Narrows section of the lake where they met up with the fifth boat. Sailors included George Yerger on Sirocco, Bill Lammers on Cool Change, Frank and Kim Maggard on Summer Breeze, Steve Jones on Windchaser, and Terry Reifeiss on Tinkerbelle. The fleet dropped a hook in Hurricane Bay off of the Narrows, George attached his grill to his stern to cook chili and hotdogs, and the group had a relaxing lunch. After lunch, we all sailed under the Narrows bridge with plenty of room to spare. It was not long and a full view of Sugarloaf Mountain was in sight. Because it was getting late in the afternoon, the fleet decided not to stop at the mountain and to head straight for the cove behind Sugarloaf Marina.
The cove is one of the most beautiful areas of the lake, especially when the lake level is low. The stone cliffs and large boulders are etched with interesting designs resulting from thousands of years of erosion. We set our anchors in the cove. The light winds, protected nature of the cove, and George’s concern about getting his expensive anchor stuck on the bottom, prompted George to use his small anchor. Terry on Tinkerbelle shuttled the group to his slip on the dock and we made our way up to a campsite that he, Christine, and their daughter Jacqlyn had set up. We soon had a campfire going, a grill cooking hamburgers and hotdogs, and a campstove heating a large pot of baked beans. As the sun set and the stars came out, we sat around the campfire finishing our meal, roasting marshmallows on sticks we whittled for just that purpose, and enjoying conversation among sailors.
Bill, George, Frank, and Kim snuggled into the bows of their boats at anchor while Terry, Christine, and Jacqlyn spent the night on the dock in their cruiser with their space heater turned up to “crazy hot”. Rumor has it that Christine slept well in their toasty cabin, Terry had to move to a cooler area of their boat, and poor little Jacqlyn had to open a porthole and extend her arm outside just to avoid getting overheated. Those at anchor in the cove had a peaceful night until a breeze picked up and a bump in the night aroused George on Sirocco and Bill on Cool Change. Both through on some clothes, opened their respective hatches, and realized that their two boats were alongside each other with their bow pulpits interlocked. Bill moved to the front to inspect the situation. It was clear that Sirocco’s small and less expensive anchor had let loose and that, fortunately, Cool Change was still holding. George pulled in his anchor, Bill separated the boats from their embrace, and George motored his boat to an empty slip at the docks. The moral of this story is that if George anchors upwind from you, make sure he uses his good anchor!
In the morning, we all gathered again at the campsite. Terry once again played the wonderful host by heating water for coffee and hot chocolate and frying up some bacon and eggs for our breakfast. After breakfast, we thanked Terry, Christine, and Jacqlyn for everything, set sail, and headed back past the mountain. As the sun peeked in and out of the early morning clouds, the fall colors on the mountain showed their brilliance and a glance above the mountain showed a group of buzzards and one bald eagle soaring on the morning updrafts. As we approached the Narrows, we knew the southeast wind would be funneling down the channel and that an hour of tacking was in order. None of the proud sailors on these Catalina 22s was going to put their iron genny in the water and do it the easy way. After conquering the narrows, we pointed east into the main area of the lake and the whitecaps that lie ahead. As one strong gust hit Cool Change, Bill turned his head around to see Summer Breeze get hit by a fall gust, turn into the wind, and proceed to do a full 360-degree turn before regaining control. Without further incident, all boats had a spirited sail back to their respective marinas. Many thanks to George Yerger for organizing this memorable cruise for Fleet 145.
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