This is My version of the lake Hartwell messabout with the South East Fleet.

 Ok, I am going to try this again as I just wrote this whole page completely, and hit the wrong button, and Bam! I lost everything.

 I woke up kind of late Thursday morning, as I had gone to a friend's house the night before with a bunch of my coworkers to put his garage in a dumpster as it was destroyed by a tornado a few days before. I went shopping and got my provisions for the messabout, packed the truck at about the crack of Noon, and hit the road around Two.

 I arrived at Hart State Park at around Five thirty or Six and walked to the shoreline at the site Keith had reserved for me and hollered in the direction of the Whipoorwill "Hey Mclean" and Keith popped his head out of the cabin of his boat ( I think I woke him up).

                           He Invited Me aboard and we had one of his awsome homebrews. We walked up to the trucks and began unloading my gear when it began to rain a little(but that was all for the weekend thankfully), After the few drops stopped, we set up my tent and unpacked my gear...                                                   then  And Then Retired to the Whipoorwill to swap Stories and Ideas.

I woke up early Friday morning and Keith and I were on our way to the dock to go sailing when we came accross a little boy.  The little boy asked Keith "Is that green boat yours?" "Yes it is" Keith replied. Then in a hushed voice the little boy said, "Thats a pirate boat"  and, as we smiled and boarded the Whipoorwill, Keith replied" It sure is". So Off we went sailing...

 We hit some good wind all day, I think our top speed was some where around Four-Point-Something and Five knots. With some really puckering gusts.

Here are some of the antique boats that were arriving at the Marina and/or Cruising the Lake for the Antique Boatshow...

 

 As We Crused up the Lake Amongst all the antique boats, We were feeling a might bit peckish, so we grilled Brats to perfection while we were underway...

It just doesn't get any better than this.

As the afternoon advanced, we decided to go see when the Antique Boat Show was going to be.

When we tied up to the dock we were greated with a loud "Welcome!"  by the Chapter President of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Antique Boat Club.  He invited us to be in their Boat Show the following day and even waived the required fee to participate.   While Keith and the Chapter President Worked out the details, I saw my chance!  I was going to take the Whipoorwill! Mutany!...

 But Not to be taken Lightly, The Fierce Captain Keith took back his yacht...

Took my hat and sword he did! ...

 And Sailed Away...

 We got back to the Site and I Cooked up a large rack of ribs.  We ate them and had a few more of Keith's awesome home brews.  Keith can do some incredible things with beer!  Almost Dangerous

 

Then we proceeded to light a Campfire using An Old South East Fire Starter, Some Liquid corn...

"Hey Watch this"...

 Hmmmm Interesting.

   The next morning I came across the Fearsome Captain Keith as I walked down to the shoreline, trying to catch breakfast?

Why else would he be using uncooked toast for bait? 

 When the geese and gosslings exhausted the bread supply off they went...

And off we went to the Boatshow...

OOps, How'd That get in There?

Then I happened to look across the lake and there was Ed Jones...

 So we heaved off the dock and sailed across the lake to help Ed with Fairwind. As Keith and I arrived at the dock, that little boy, (Conner I think his name was), was on the dock with his father, he began to question Keith for the second time, "Where did you get that hat and sword?" he asked.  Keith told him that he stole it from Capt. Jack Sparrow, and Conner said that he is not real.  Keith replied, "Yes he is. How do you think I got this boat?  It was his and I took it and left him stranded on a beach".  And you could see the wonder and amazement in Connors eyes.  So Keith invited Connor on board to check the boat out, let him wear the pirate hat and hold the sword for a picture that his Dad took.  And as they were walking away, Conner asked his Dad, "Is Jack Sparrow really real?" and his Dad replied "Yes he is." And Connor asked "Promise?" and his Dad said yes I promise and off they went.

 So we went on to help Ed get his rig set up so that we could get out on the water for the afternoon.

We got Ed all set up and we made way across the lake to the Boatshow again, to spread the word about the BYYB. Note to self... Bring some sort of literature next time.

 We walked around and checked out some more of the antique boats,

After spending some time at the boatshow We all decided to get to sailing, so Ed and I manned Fairwind, While Keith single handed Whipoorwill.

We sailed till the sun was geting Low in the sky, Ed and myself hit the dock, and I went to check on the smoked BBQ that had been cooking all day and happned to catch The Dread Captain Keith making a run by the Site...

The sun began to sink low in the sky 

 

and we all had a great meal of BBQ, beans, corn and salad. We had so much that we invited other campers to join us and enjoy our feast.  When our bellies were full, we retired to the dock and hung out on the boats. Oh and I have to mention Keith is a mean harmonica player too. There were meteor showers that night, and it was just absolutely perfect. Here is a poor attempt at catching one on film.

Oops thats the moon! (told ya it was a poor attempt) But we had some more homebrews and some Capt.Morgan, I was just to far along for Pussers. After many stories and such I decided to turn in(When I heard Keith say "Are You Snoring?") What can I say, after all that, I was just plain tuckered out, and I retired to my tent for the night.

 The next morning I awoke and as I crawled out of my tent I saw these two fine yachts.

Keith and I had a breakfast of steak and eggs Ed had his Grapenuts, and we decided that the wind just was not with us today, so we decided to pull the boats out and sadly end this outing. When We got to the dock, there was Conner again, and he looked at Keith with a skepticle look on his face and asked, "Are you really a pirate?" and Keith replied "Yes" and then Conner asked "But you're not a mean pirate are you?"  And Keith said "Yeah I'm mean alright" And Conner looked at him and said "You'er a pirate, but not a mean one" and walked away. So we proceeded to pull the boats out of the lake and pack up.

 I really had a fantastic time guys.  Fun was had by all who attended. I wish more folks could have made it, but there's always next time. I hope we can come back to Hartwell for Sailstice, and I think the staff does as well,  but we will have to see. I think the BYYB,SE, Fleet has a pretty good claim on this Lake so far.  What say you?

Brian.