GA New Letterbox: Wildcat Island...Wherein you learn about The Arthur Ransome Society

For a webpage with map showing the Island location, go to:

http://po8.com/letterbox/wildcat/

Letterbox Name: Wildcat Island

Location: GA, Allatoona Lake, nr. Galts Ferry Marina, Cherokee County

Difficulty: High degree...requires access by water if the Lake is at normal summer level. During winter drawdown of water, it might be possible to walk to what would now be "Wildcat Penninsula" if you could find the necessary roads. You also need to access two websites to get some information needed for clues.

Date Planted: August 20, 2002

Planted by: Jimmus and SpikesMom

Clues:
1. Wildcat Isand is named after an island, supposedly on a lake in the the Lake District of England, where Arthur Ransome grew up and sailed as a child. Ransome wrote a dozen wonderful books about children having adventures, books which have been reprinted many times. The Island is described in "Swallows and Amazons",published in 1930, which was the first book of the series. I encourage you to look for these books at your local libraries and bookstores.

2. The "Wildcat Island" to which I direct you is across from Galts Ferry Marina on Lake Allatoona. The nearby Galts Ferry Day Use Area has a boat launching ramp. I shall leave it to you to work out the manner in which you get to the Island. The Island is not very big and is littered with many old tires and some styrofoam which apparently have escaped from the wave barrier at the Marina.

3. To get information that you will need, go first to the Arthur Ransome website at
http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/
Explore the website, and record the name of the discussion forum for adults.

Next, go to the GA TARSUS website at
http://www.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/tarsus/tarsus.htm
Explore the website, and record the name of the sailing canoe that we bring to the summer outings. Moreover, if you're in the Atlanta area in the summer around mid-June, come out and join us on the Lake.

4. Assign a number value to each letter of the alphabet beginning with a=1, b=2...z=26. Use the resulting numbers to encode the two names you recorded.