Header Photo: Happy New Year from Sugar Island

I was poking around some images on my computer when I came across this one, a photo that actually said Happy New Year on it. This photo is of a group of canoeists on Sugar Island, watching the sailing canoe races from the shade of the trees, their chairs perched on a smooth rock face that makes up much of the island. Year is mid-1930's, probably 1934 or 1935. I googled the name on the lower right, Geo. F. Lewis, and found out he was from Massachusetts and also in charge of the musical entertainment for the week. It would be a safe bet to assume that this is Geo. F. Lewis watching from one of the chairs. Here's wishing the readers of Earwigoagin the best for 2019.

Old Timey Ad: St. Lawrence River Skiff, Canoe, and Steam Launch Company

From Forest and Stream, June 30, 1894. The La Gloria model is what "small boat" sailing was considered back then. (There was also the "canoemen" with their tiny cockleshells and piles of canvas - but they were a special breed - still are.)

Honey, Did you enjoy your cruise across the lake?

In one of the strangest political, cultural and human psychology missteps, the United States banned the sale, manufacture, and transportation of liquor from 1920 to 1933. What resulted was probably the largest civilian disobedience of a national law in recorded history. Moonshine, brewing beer at home, underground bars - the speakeasy, bootlegging; Americans were going to get their hooch one way or the other.

I've written about the American Canoe Association encampment on Sugar Island, an encampment that achieved great popularity during the Prohibition, not so much for the canoe competitions as for the fact the Island sits about 1/2 mile inside the Canadian border on the St. Lawrence. During the two week encampment, canoeists from up and down the Eastern Seaboard could drink, and drink, and drink. It got so bad, the governing body of Sugar Island set aside a peninsula  on the Island for drinking and all the gambols that are inextricably linked to booziness, the gambling, the running around nude, the decibels, the peeing in the bushes, the fights. They named the peninsula "Buck Point".

And as the following video shows, even the cruising sailboat crowd got into the action.

Let's imagine the skipper's conversation with his wife after he got back from his "cruise" across Lake Michigan;

Wife: "Honey, did you enjoy your cruise across the Lake with Tom, Dick, and Harry?
Skipper: "Yes it was very nice."
Wife: "Well you look very exhausted. Was the weather rough?"
Skipper: (wink, wink) "Oh yes, there were some very rough days"
Skipper: "Listen Dear, how about you and I go look at a new car tomorrow. I've got some extra cash burning in my pocket"

Some Prohibition Footage from Steve Unkles on Vimeo.

What I didn't get to do this summer; Sugar Island Encampment

One of the events I missed this summer, to my immense disappointment; I didn't do my annual camping/boating trip to Sugar Island during the American Canoe Association Encampment. Though I've retired from International Canoe racing, Sugar Island is my yearly chance to reconnect to the IC guys still hammering around in these pure, balls to the wall, sailing machines. My post on my 2009 Sugar Island campsite is over here (for some reason that video has my co-workers cracking up).

I filmed the 2009 Round Sugar Island Race (traditionally only raced once during the week but, in 2009, the IC sailors enjoyed it so much they ran it a second time). The course is twice around Sugar Island. After the first lap, you reverse direction. Start and finish is off New York Bay. I caught the action from Hurricane Point which, in the prevailing westerly's, has the most wind and a tricky cross chop bouncing off the shore.

The class has changed it's rules since I raced. The new rules International Canoe is much thinner (30") and much lighter than the ones I raced. In the video, Bill Beaver is racing "Lust Puppet", an IC I owned during the 1990's.

Round Sugar Island, 2009............

I ran into Paul Miller, another retired IC sailor this past week and he directed me to another International Canoe video, this one of the 2010 North American's in San Francisco (capsize city!).

Shot by Gail Yando, significant other of Del Olsen (Del, USA 243, who I must reluctantly report is my age, and still racing these beasts hard in a breeze).

Did you notice Erich Chase's partial wardrobe malfunction at about 7:38 into the video?

Another Boat Nut (and Good Friend)

My good friend, Fran DeFaymoreau came down from Long Island two weekends ago for a visit. Fran is another long-in-the-tooth International Canoe sailor and at Sugar Island Fran brought his latest brainstorm, an older Chrysler MFG Sidewinder he picked up for $100 or so. Fran's idea is to put a canoe stern on this boat, a sliding seat and make it into an older gents EZY canoe. For Sugar, all Fran had the time to do was plop an International Canoe rig into the Sidewinder. He quickly found out the Sidewinder leaked like a sieve and the jury rigged IC sail plan was just this side of pulling something out and falling overboard. Fran is an excellent boat builder and given time, he'll have a working concept.

I have two pics of his drifter sail in his Sidewinder/IC at Sugar Island.

New York Bay, Sugar Island and Decked Sailing Canoes

As the 12 meter yachts will be forever linked to Newport, Rhode Island, the North American decked sailing canoe and its modern incarnation, the International Canoe, will always be inextricably linked to a tiny inlet on Sugar Island called New York Bay. Bay is a grandiose term for a body of water you could easily throw a baseball over, but it has been the center of decked canoe sailing for over a century. During the July ACA encampment, the International Canoes race for trophies that arguably are the oldest in small boat sailing; the Crane, the Mermaid, the Butler, and the Championship.

The campsites for the decked canoe sailors and families ring New York Bay. There is a constant bustle of kids swimming, kayaks coming and going, boat tweaking for the next race. On one side of the Bay are the wooden floats where most of the IC's are kept. On the promontory, just beyond the floats, is the Steve Lysak cabin with a expansive view of the St Lawrence. There is a small beach where kayaks and IC's on dollies reside. New York Bay is tucked away out of the prevailing southwesterly's, so much so that one can leave the sails up during the day with no excitement.

Some photos...... As always you can click on the photo for higher resolution.

From the Edwin Schoettle book, Sailing Craft, published in 1928, there is a photo of the floats on New York Bay filled with 16X30 decked sailing canoes. The tent on the left occupies the same space the Steve Lysak cabin sits today.



Canoe floats on New York Bay over 80 years later. Some of the fleet at this years Encampment..........



Looking out from New York Bay onto the St. Lawrence. Marilyn Vogel sailing her ACA rigged open canoe. The Canadian town of Gananoque is about 2 miles in the distance.



Finally, International Canoes launch for the afternoon races. Note the varying techniques to navigate out of the windless New York Bay.


Note; There is an error in one of the titles of the video. Sugar Island is in Canada, not New York.

2009 Sugar Island Encampment

I was off last week, camping on Sugar Island, Canada. Sugar Island is part of the Lake Fleet chain of islands in the Thousand Islands and is owned by the American Canoe Association (since around 1903) and they have been hosting the Annual Encampment even before that time. In the 1920's and 1930's, the Encampment was a big deal; canoe clubs from up and down the East Coast attended, paddling and sailing competitions were held over the two weeks, there was a large dining hall and a ferry stopped over at Headquarter Bay to take on and offload passengers. Plus, during the Prohibition, Sugar Island was just inside Canada and you could legally imbibe alcohol, something that was readily enjoyed by American canoeists.

Today the Annual Encampment is on a much, much smaller scale, most of the canoe clubs from the past are long extinct, the dining hall either burnt down or was razed and the Island has returned to a wilder state, replete with raccoons, mink, deer. The International Canoes (I know they don't look like canoes but their heritage is very definitely grounded in the sailing canoes of yore) race the first week for some very old trophies. I haven't owned a race boat Int. Canoe since the mid 90's so I attend as a Int. Canoe alumni and help with race committee, connect with old sailing buddies, kibbitz with the current crop of International Canoe sailors and paddle my surf ski hither and yon.

More about the Encampment later but here is a video of my campsite.



Oh, I forgot to say that they cliff dive (into the water) off of Island 48. International Canoeists are masochists but they usually don't throw themselves off cliffs to the ground below.