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So.. there we were, at the end of the very successful 2005 scavenger hunt. We had won. We cheated, but got more points for doing so. Only with the Austin Sailing Society would this be acceptable behavior.. but, in hindsight, we got what we deserved. If we were willing to work hard enough to cheat, we definitely deserved the “honor” of planning next year. So we started envisioning what we were going to do. We wanted to do something different.. something fun. We wanted it to be memorable. Heck.. was it!

But first, a little background:

Who – the Austin Sailing Society http://www.austinsailingsociety.com

When – Yearly in the Spring

Where – Lake Travis

What – 

It started in 2002 as a scavenger hunt around Lake Travis. We were given clues to locations, then we got points for solving those clues and reaching the location in question. Each year, the organizers try to add a twist to the scoring. For example, we have been given points for the following:

Locations visited, best tv show theme, costumes, number of shanghaid victims, inventory, trivia, best poker hand, largest piece of foam recovered, picture of a sailboat towing a powerboat... the list goes on! At the afterparty, the scores are tallied and winners announced. We also do numerous raffles provided by sponsors throughout the year.

The number of participating sailboats is usually between sever and twelve.

Why –

This the Austin Sailing Society's premiere event of the year. It is the only event that we try to raise money to support the club for the year (members do not pay dues). And it's darn fun.

This year, we wanted to take the term “Scavenger Hunt” a little more literal. Our idea was to start a war between competing fleets. The fleets would be armed with waterballoon launchers and bread. The would spend the morning protecting/taking treasure. During the war, we were going to arm a powerboat with a wristrocket and loads of bread. His job was to harass the boats. Midday, we would call a truce between the nations, then have a “scavenger hunt” after the pirate. At this point, a mock pirate (Captain Buttock) would be positioned on a towed dinghy, and we would let the sailboats fire upon it for points.

Well.. it was a good idea.. but umm.. maybe overly complicated.

So.. they day began. We laid out the treasure chests (foam filled trashcans with trinkets in them) and began setting up our commissioning platform on Sometimes Island. The captains began trickling in to get their final orders (rules and point system), their rations (a bottle of rum), ammunition (bread), and allegiances (their country of allegiance and the map, pictured here, of the basin).

The teams:

After a slow start, the war began. The rules were very specific as to how the launcher's were to be attached to the boat. It created a broadside type attack that was fun to watch. Soon after the start, our committee power boat noticed that 2 treasure chests had been looted. We think someone, not in the scavenger hunt, found the trinkets appealing and took them. We made due.

After about an hour, the first boat petered out and limped back in to just enjoy the view from “The Republic of Texas” (Sometimes Island). The entire congregation gathered at 3pm for our armistice.

At this point, the day became fuzzy for a few participants. Some blame the beer. Some the rum.. others the heat. I think everyone was just having a good time :-)

Did I mention the fuzziness? At 4pm-ish, we brought out the pirate and let the boats try to shoot on it. I don't think we got a single picture of this. Did anyone actually hit him?

And now the part everyone enjoyed.. the party! We ate brisket, sausage, and chicken that had been smoking for most of the day at Marshall Ford Marina. They have wonderful facilities that they graciously allowed us to use. We brought the smoker and keg (supplied by Sailtime) almost down to the party and played until the wee hours of the night.

And the winner is...

It was close, but the American's had the highest point total as a team. Individually, Rob Rich and crew were the team with the most points. So, come out next year and support Rob Rich and crew as they plan next year's Hunt!

The night ended late, and most participants stayed the night in the marina. Those who stayed woke up to wonderful breakfast tacos cooked by Capt Barger.

Special thanks to those helped plan:
Janna Keever
Babsie Sullivan
Kim Paternoster
Chris Larsen
Mike Hovis
Jen O'Neil
Amy Ragan

Until next year (as a participant)!

FYI, in firefox, you can right click the photos and click "view image" to see the full size image. In IE, you must save the picture first. Another great reason to use firefox!