Georgia - Back Yard Yacht Builders

In South East Georgia a group of sailors who build their boats at home will be congregating at Hart State Park to celebrate the Sailstice. This is the second year in a row they have joined us to celebrate and they begin the festivities on Thursday the 21'st (the actual solstice) and exemplify the true Summer Sailstice spirit by beginning during the workweek!

  During the day a sail has been planned on Lake Hartwell where sailors can reconnect with there pirate roots, complete with pirate battle and cannon fire! Keith McLean, Summer Sailstice participant and BYYB member says " it seems like every time I take my boat out the kids comment on it being a pirate ship. So this weekend I'm raising the skull and cross and cross bones, drawing my cutlass, and firing my cannon at fellow sailors". Kids will also have the chance to assemble handmade, wooden toy boats and race them on the Lake. The fun hasn't stopped there though, a BBQ pork dinner is planned for Saturday night to wrap up a day of fun " just messing about in boats". 

Lake Hartwell lies on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Hart Sate Park covers 56,000 acres and has 962 miles of forested shoreline. The Park houses many recreational areas where visitors can camp, fish or go boating. It sounds like a place where the BYYB sailors can have a lot of fun!  The sailors that build their boats in the backyard are a group dedicated to promoting the fun and reward to be found in building and sailing plywood boats. BYYB is a club designed for traditionally styled pockets boat and is organized around all Stevenson Projects boats.  Members build boats including Pocket Yachts, Sailing Dingies and Fast Daysailors. Still, they welcome anyone interested in building boats.

The Sailstice event is part of a virtual worldwide BYYB messabout, as the club has members around the world.  For more information, email mailto:byyb-rc@earthlink.net or check out the BYYB website at http://www.byyb.org.  We welcome all BYYB members to join in the Summer Sailstice festivities and can't wait to see them out on the water in their hand made boats!