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!