They call themselves the Vagabonds. A psychologist, a healing arts practitioner, a traveling millwright, a widowed restaurateur—this is only a fraction of the colorful characters that make up Watauga Lake Sailing Club.
Just west of the North Carolina border in Tennessee, nestled in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest, Watauga Lake is a man-made reservoir turned recreational paradise.
The clubhouse is an open-air pavilion surrounded by old growth taller than any mast and host to sailing-related talks and workshops. But the real magic happens out there, on the 16-mile-long, half-milewide, 50- to 250-foot-deep Watauga Lake. Here,
