Specialty Yachts Hunter Rendezvous 2009

Telegraph Harbour is one of the snuggest little bays in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands but on the weekend of June 13 it was home to the biggest Hunter rendezvous in North America. A total of 72 boats carrying more than 200 people filled the Telegraph Harbour Marina on Thetis Island for the nineteenth annual Hunter rendezvous held by Specialty Yachts of Vancouver.

The first Hunter rendezvous was in Plumper's Cove in Keats Island and attracted only 12 boats. This year's rendezvous drew Hunter owners from all parts of Southern British Columbia. The weather was perfect, scorching hot with a good wind on Sunday to send every one home. Many of the boats came from Vancouver and the sail back across Georgia Strait was a treat.

The event was an unprecedented success for Lawrence Fronczek - the owner of Specialty Yachts who hosted the event. He and his staff had worked for months organizing seminars, planning the menus for the Saturday barbecue and the Sunday brunch, and collecting prizes for the various contests and the gifts that boaters received. "We started planning it in January," said Lawrence. "But by the time we get back to the office on the Monday after the rendezvous we already have a pile of emails from people wanting to book their spot for next year, it has become so popular.

"Why does he do it? "The biggest reason is it gives us an opportunity to reconnect with people who have bought boats from us. At the beginning these people are customers but they very soon become friends. It's a chance to see our friends some of whom we don't see for the rest of the year and it's great to get away and go sailing," said Lawrence. "People gussy up their boats, and they look great! Each owner is obviously very proud of their boat and wants it to look its best at the rendezvous. We don't go there to sell boats but people certainly look at all the boats that are there. "We bring boats for our staff to stay on. This year we brought a Hunter 36, 38, a 45 deck salon and a 49. It's a team effort - everyone from sales to service to accounting pitches in. Everyone has to give 100 per cent or it doesn't work, and they do," he said.

The first boats started arriving Friday afternoon and by Saturday night they were double rafted along the outside fingers.On Friday night it was a pot luck supper and many Hunter owners who hadn't seen each other since the last rendezvous used the time to get reacquainted. Things began in earnest Saturday with a number of events -- the blindfold dingy races is always a hit – as are seminars on sail handling, boat and engine maintenance. Joe Torres, diesel mechanic extraordinaire of Stem to Stern Marine in Vancouver was again prevailed upon by Lawrence to give a talk on keeping Yanmar diesels ticking over and drew his customary crowd of boat owners eager for advice on everything from fuel additives to singing propellers.

John Hutchinson, a former pilot with British Airways, gave a talk on his career as a pilot beginning with flight training in Canada with the RoyalAir Force to the end of his career flying the supersonic Concorde. An entertaining conversationalist, John had his audience in convulsions with some of his inside tales of the rich and famous he ferried around the world. Did you know the bathrooms in the Concorde were quite small? Apparently too small for Pavarotti. "A dear man," said John. "But too big to fit into one of our toilets. He had to make sure he had a pee before he came aboard." It was obviously just as well for the great tenor that the Concorde would only take a few hours to get him from London to New York .

Other speakers were Dave Miller or North Sails, Sarah White of Specialty and Mark Gilbert of MG Yacht Services, Hunter Factory representative Greg Emerson, Ken Morisette of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and Chris Donison, Music By the Sea. For the kids and the young at heart, there was a big thrill taking tours in the Coast Guard Auxiliary's high speed rescue boat and at the dock, the Coast Guard volunteers carried out safety inspections for the many who signed up for the service.

Following a complimentary wine and cheese bar, Specialty Yachts treated all their guests to a lamb and pork barbecue. Four lambs and two pigs were slow-roasted by Jim and Connie Molton under executive chef Andy Scharffetter who make everything from apple ginger chutney for the port to tatziki for the lamb. One of the helpers was Dr. Mark Van Selst, a professor at the University of San Jose -- a friend of Lawrence's who has come to the rendezvous for eight years running. "He's like my shadow," he said. "Everything I forget to do he does. He flies in every year and I've really come to rely on him. He's just a great guy."

On Sunday the whole gang gathered for a full buffet breakfast before saying their goodbyes and heading home. "We've already started planning for next year. We've got the date and I hope we can squeeze everybody in," said Lawrence.

Did you attend or organize a rendezvous this summer? Send us your stories and pictures and we will post them on the Knotline blog!

Charis’ Excellent Adventure - Part Four: A Sailboat Once Again…

Waterford, NY is where the Erie and Champlain Canals intersect, and tying up for the night at the town dock along “the Waterford Wall” is a rite of passage for boats traveling either canal system.

It’s been said there are no strangers among cruisers, just friends you haven’t met… this was proven yet again as soon as we landed. Almost before we had the docklines secured, we’d been offered a beer, exchanged greetings and home ports & destinations with several other boaters and got the low‐down about the best‐place‐in‐town for breakfast.

Our good friends (and intrepid cruisers) Bob & Carol who live nearby came to welcome us to the Hudson River – bearing congratulations, good wishes, flowers from the garden and some of
the gourmet concoctions that Carol is so famous for.

Somehow, between “sundowners” on the boat and a late supper at a local Irish pub, we forgot to get a picture of the party… so here’s one instead of the “crew”, wondering when they get to go ashore again.

We took a little time the next morning to stretch our legs, and explore the Waterford town landing and the grounds surrounding the 1st lock of the Erie Canal. This is a massive structure, supporting a 30 foot rise! Right next to it are the remains of the original Champlain Canal, built in the early 1800’s. We had a nice chat with the lockkeepers, and the dogs made some new plywood friends!!



After leaving Waterford, we came to the Federal Lock at Troy… where we made one last descent to sea level and the tidal waters of the Hudson, not to mention another chart change.

We left this lock behind with a wistful feeling that this part of the adventure was over… as well as a huge sigh of relief: the mast never touched a lock wall, and Charis came through all twelve locks unscathed!

We quickly realized that we were in a very different waterway… the Hudson River flows right through downtown Albany, and we saw some sights along the river that you will never see on Lake Champlain…

( Yes, that is a U‐Haul truck perched on top of that roof, and a Navy destroyer parked out front!)

This next stretch of the river gave us our first serious look at “commercial” traffic… and a real
understanding of why they clearly have right of way.

Our destination was Hop ‘O Nose Marina, where we would have the mast raised the next day. As we reached the Hudson lighthouse, just 7 miles or so north of Catskill, looming storm clouds and the ever‐increasing rumble of thunder had us convinced we were going to get clobbered, but our luck held out and we made it to the Catskill Creek before the skies burst.

Our arrival at Hop O’ Nose was a bit of a challenge, since at first glance – and second glance, too – it looks nothing like you might expect a place to look that is going to raise a 55 foot mast. But we trusted the advice of friends who went before us, urged on by the advancing storm and secured the boat to the dock just before the thunderstorm arrived with a deluge of rain. Our trust was rewarded with an incredibly vivid rainbow.

After the rain stopped, Sean, the owner of the marina, came back to the dock to proudly point out the 100‐year‐old crane, and explain how things would work the next morning. We tried not to think about the crumbling condition of the bulkhead wall, and wondered how the next day would go?

The next morning, it was time for Ted to catch the train back to Whitehall to retrieve his car, and we sent him on his way with hearty thanks for his help keeping Charis safe from harm, and for sharing in a part of the adventure with us. Next came the raising of the mast. The weather had threatened all morning, as we watched the mast come down on a northbound Caliber.

Sean, the master of the 100‐year‐old crane, was willing to keep working when it started raining
(“What’s a little water?”), and up went our mast off the crutches. All of a sudden, progress abruptly stopped, with the discovery that most of the standing rigging (the wires that support the mast) was caught underneath the wooden support crutches. A mad scramble to disassemble the supports delayed things just long enough for a thunderstorm to creep up on us. At the first visible flash (“Rain, OK. Lightning, not OK.”), we all agreed it was time to duck for cover…,
so there we sat, hunkered down in the cabin, painfully aware of the mast dangling precariously
above the deck from the 100‐year‐old crane. Again, the picture doesn’t come close…

The thunderstorm passed and the 100‐year‐old crane didn’t fail. The rain subsided to a faint drizzle, and progress continued. While wrestling with the headstay, the crumbled remains of something called a centering clamp fell onto the deck. Not a critical part, but clearly something to track down and replace. We were just securing the last shroud (a piece of that standing rigging) when we heard a strange sound. Looking up the creek, we saw a squall approaching; the
sound was the noise of the raindrops hitting the water several hundred yards away. Another mad dash; we barely had time to get the bridge canvas zipped in place before a literal wall of
wind and water hit us. At least this time the mast was securely in place.

The next day dawned clear, we finished the rest of the reassembly without incident, and Charis was a sailboat once again, ready to continue her adventure.

To be continued…
The crew of s/v Charis: Pam & Bruce…, and Shadow & Shelby

Knotline is Now on Facebook

Become a fan of Knotline - Hunter Marine Owners Group on Facebook.

Participate in discussions, share photos and stories.

Search for Knotline on Facebook and hit "Become a Fan".