Need a break from the office or conference activities for your corporate event? Want to surprise your business guests when pirates attack your cruise?

How about a unique sunset sailing cruise with your family and friends?

A historical yacht cruise with James Sidney Lanier, a descendant of the man our lake is named for?

Or a romantic Lake Lanier cruise for your anniversary, Atlanta wedding venue, or engagement proposal?

Join us for an invigorating breath of fresh air…and discover the ageless appeal of sailing!

We offer half day and full day charters as well as sunset cruises scheduled at your convenience. Sailing, swimming and sunbathing are always options of the day when you charter your own sailboat and captain.

Join us for the experience of a lifetime as our captains offer you the opportunity to hoist sail, take the helm or just kick back and enjoy the ride. Celebrate an anniversary. Make your Atlanta wedding venue a sailboat on Lake Lanier or on a deserted lake island. Reward your faithful corporate staff.

What better way to mark any occasion than a memorable outing of wind, waves and sunshine sailing the sparkling waters of Lake Lanier!

Prices start at:

• $449 - Half Day Charters “with Captain” (6 passengers) Add passengers $39 each
• $749 – Full Day Charters “with Captain” (6 passengers) Add passengers $59 each
• $299 – Private 2.5 hour Sunset Sail with up to 6 guests. Additional passengers are $40 each
• $40 per person for “3 hour” Sunset Sail, (private “with minimum of 10 passengers”)

Buford Dam, Lake Lanier, Georgia

Learn Lake Lanier History As You Cruise

Who better to take you on a guided yacht cruise of Lake Lanier than Mr. James Sidney Lanier, a direct descendant of Sidney Lanier, the beloved Georgia poet the lake is named for? As your guide, Mr. Lanier will explain the intriguing history of Lake Sidney Lanier and the building of Buford Dam. You will enjoy Mr. Lanier’s knowledge of the past inhabitants of the area that became the lake, and little known anecdotes about the building of Lake Lanier.

Lake Lanier Construction in 1950

Lake Lanier History

In 1946 the U.S. Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct Buford Dam for purposes of river navigation, flood control, electric production, and water supply. $750,000 was budgeted in 1949 to construct the Buford Dam, and on March 1, 1950 a ground breaking ceremony was held. Over 700 families had to be relocated, at a cost of 19 million dollars, to acquire the 56,000 acres needed for Lake Lanier, which when full covers 38,000 acres with water. Lake Lanier’s shoreline is 692 miles long.

Seven years and 45 million dollars later, the Buford Dam gates were closed on February 1, 1956. It wasn’t until May 25, 1959, that Lake Lanier reached full capacity with the water’s surface at 1070 feet above sea level.

Sidney Lanier, namesake of Lake Lanier. 1842-1881

Poet Sidney Clopton Lanier

Lake Sidney Lanier was named for the famous poet who wrote “The Song of The Chattahoochee” about the river that was damned to form Lake Lanier.

Sidney Lanier was born in Macon, Georgia on February 3, 1842. Sidney loved music taught himself to play the piano, organ, flute, and guitar. He attended Oglethorpe College when he was 14 and in 1860 was graduated at the top of his class. He soon was marching in the Confederate Army and fought in many battles in Virginia. He was captured while aboard a blockade runner, “Lucy,” and put into a Union prison at Point Lookout, Maryland, where he became ill with tuberculosis. The disease is a reason he died at the age of 39.

Following the war, he was married and raised children in and near Baltimore, Maryland, but his failing health in 1881 led him on his doctor’s advice to seek cleaner air in the mountains around Asheville, North Carolina. He died in Lynn, North Carolina, on September 7, 1881.

In 1972, the U.S. Postal Service issued an 8-cent stamp featuring Sidney Lanier’s picture.

The Song of The Chattahoochee

by Sidney Clopton Lanier, 1842-1881

Out of the hills of Habersham,
Down the valleys of Hall,
I hurry amain to reach the plain,
Run the rapid and leap the fall,
Split at the rock and together again,
Accept my bed, or narrow or wide,
And flee from folly on every side
With a lover’s pain to attain the plain
Far from the hills of Habersham,
Far from the valleys of Hall.

All down the hills of Habersham,
All through the valleys of Hall,
The rushes cried Abide, abide,
The wilful waterweeds held me thrall,
The laving laurel turned my tide,
The ferns and the fondling grass said Stay,
The dewberry dipped for to work delay,
And the little reeds sighed Abide, abide,
Here in the hills of Habersham,
Here in the valleys of Hall.

High o’er the hills of Habersham,
Veiling the valleys of Hall,
The hickory told me manifold
Fair tales of shade, the poplar tall
Wrought me her shadowy self to hold,
The chestnut, the oak, the walnut, the pine,
Overleaning with flickering meaning and sign,
Said, Pass not, so cold, these manifold
Deep shades of the hills of Habersham,
These glades in the valleys of Hall.

And oft in the hills of Habersham,
And oft in the valleys of Hall,
The white quartz shone, and the smooth brook-stone
Did bar me of passage with friendly brawl,
And many a luminous jewel lone
-Crystals clear or a-cloud with mist,
Ruby, garnet, and amethyst-
Made lures with the lights of streaming stone
In the clefts of the hills of Habersham,
In the beds of the valleys of Hall.

But oh, not the hills of Habersham,
And oh, not the valleys of Hall
Avail: I am fain for to water the plain.
Downward the voices of Duty call-
Downward, to toil and be mixed with the main,
The dry fields burn, and the mills are to turn,
And a myriad flowers mortally yearn,
And the lordly main from beyond the plain
Calls o’er the hills of Habersham,
Calls through the valleys of Hall. ]]> http://www.lordnelsoncharters.com/2010/06/lake-lanier-lake-cruise/feed/ 0 http://www.lordnelsoncharters.com/2010/06/lake-lanier-charter-sailboat-sunset-cruise/ http://www.lordnelsoncharters.com/2010/06/lake-lanier-charter-sailboat-sunset-cruise/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:59:58 +0000 Lord Nelson Charters http://www.lordnelsoncharters.com/?p=515

Nothing’s more relaxing than sailing at sunset on Lake Lanier

Relax as our captain takes you on an adventure. Enjoy the quiet, soothing sounds of the wind flapping our sails and waves washing our sailboat as we seek the beauty of the sun setting on Lake Lanier, Georgia.

Your sailboat cruise departs from the beautiful Lake Lanier Islands Resort, where you may enjoy fine dining at the resort restaurants following your cruise, unless you prefer to bring your own picnic aboard the sailboat.

Lake Lanier Sunset Charter Sailing Cruises

We have sailboat charters of various sizes to accomodate couples and small and large groups. You may enjoy your own private sailing cruise for your loved one or family, or for your corporate or organization group. Or call us to see if we may partner you with other sailors who wish to share a sailboat charter with others, or attend our Saturday night public cruises.

• $40 per person for “3 hour” Sunset Sailboat Cruise, (private “with minimum of 10 passengers”)
• $299 – Private 2.5 hour Sunset Sail with up to 6 guests. Additional passengers are $40 each

We can also offer sunset sailing cruises on pontoon boats, call for details.

Sunset Wedding on Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia

Can you think of a more romantic venue for an engagement or Atlanta wedding than aboard a sailboat on Lake Lanier at sunset?

Or how about your Atlanta wedding on a unique Lake Lanier island venue with your guests brought there aboard our fleet of sailboats?

Or make your wedding venue the Lake Lanier Islands Legacy Lodge Resort followed by a floating reception aboard our sailboat fleet on Lake Lanier. Your wedding guests will forever talk about their adventure at your wedding.

These are a few of the way to use using our sailboat fleet to have your wedding of a lifetime. Just call or email us and we’ll make your dream wedding a reality.