contacts - ARI Network Services

they play every night for the lowering of the colors. So as the flags of
Canada, Great Britain and the USA are lowered they play, respectively,
“Oh Canada”, “God Save The King”, and “Stars & Stripes Forever” followed
by a solo trumpet playing “Taps”. The music and flag folding is
followed by the firing of a small but very loud cannon, the exclamation
point to the evenings here at Roche.
Friday, June 2nd
A leisurely morning on the island. Roche Harborʼs green-shirted
employees scurry about running water taxis and doing routine
maintenance. New OA boats arrive and are guided into their berths. A
gaggle of hotel employees methodically set up chairs for a wedding
on the hotel lawn. And the gulls and terns are
wheeling overhead, eyeballing the donuts set out for the early risers.
And so the scene is set for the first of the Rendezvous seminars with
Jim Caspers dealing with commercial vessel communication and general
maritime “rules of the road”.
Jim is a very engaging person and a fine speaker, so he had
no trouble holding everyoneʼs interest. In fact he held the stage for
around three hours, split between the aformentioned commercial
communication talk and another on electronic charting & radar. The
secret behind his ease as a public speaker was exposed at the beginning
of the second hour, where he talked about a former career in the
Seattle Opera, and kicked everything off with an acapella version of
“Old Man River”.
After the morning seminars everyone took a break for lunch.
Sometime around noon the sun came out, just in time for the afternoon
Kaʼapuni – the tour of all the boats. Most of the boats had the
welcome mat out, and everyone who poked their heads into the cabins
of their neighborʼs boats saw some new ingeneous techniques of organizing
space on board a custom motoryacht.
Dave Humphries showed off the impressive Papa Moon, The
Pageantry, a 78ʼ beauty and Todd & Charlene Smithʼs Comanche were
also on display for all to admire.
Around 05:00 Happy Hour was starting up, and the tent was
rocking in a glow of late afternoon sun. But before long the party barge
resembled an airport VIP lounge, with people lining up to board the
water taxi to go across to the opposite shore for the evening events:
the spam carving contest submissions, the hula hoop contest, and the
Aina Ahiahi – a Hawaiian BBQ dinner.
11
Everyone was decked out in Hawaiian garb, some really
went all-out. Chuck borrowed a faux-grass skirt from Emiko and
really turned some heads.
At the makeshift banquet hall, Johnny and Irene Chueh
could be seen at a back table being peppered with questions from
an enthusiastic group of owners and brokers, only breaking up
when the wonderful dinner spread was declared ready to go. After
dinner, magician/comedian
Charles Kirk, held over from last
year, entertained for about an
hour and was a big hit.
One had the sensation
that though the festivities were done, the night was still young
and people communed on each otherʼs boat until late in the evening.
Others went to the Madrona Grill, the only bar in town, and
kept it rolling until late. As sated owners tottered back to their
racks, some portholes still could be seen glowing amber from the
cabins and salons in the wee early Saturday morning.
Saturday, June 3rd
Sun was out early, and so were the people despite the late
night revelry. A couple of late boats came in to enjoy the last
day of the Rendezvous. Lots of Saturday morning maintenance
– decks swept, launches launched, fenders fussed over, the usual
drill. More donuts and coffee for the bleary-eyed were provided,
but some opted for the little cafe on the corner of the miniboardwalk
that only opens on special days.
The highlight of the morning was Chuck Crockerʼs ladiesonly
seminar. With charts and diagrams, smooth operator Chuck
went over the finer points of boat handling with the ladies. Not
too many dull moments with Crocker!
The rest of the afternoon for the adults was very laid-back,
mostly highlighted by here and there open seminars by Jon Pokela
and the finance and insurance specialists. Granville Marine set
up shop behind the Papa Moon to show what they can do with
custom aft sections of existing OA designs. And the open house
continued on, with everyone crossing off their lists the boats that
they missed on Friday.