A Record Turnout for Blake Island
and More New Members!
What a great weekend at Blake Island. Fourteen HAPS boats showed up Thursday and strategically moored to enable dock space for more boats. By the time the weekend was over 21 boats had come and gone...a HAPS rendezvous record short of last year's well planned 24 boat one week South Sound Cruise.
One Hunter, Sundancer a 2008 H33 owned by Elton and Marilyn Farley just happened to be in the marina on Thursday when we arrived.The unsuspecting Farley's joined HAPS on the spot after 12 or 13 HAPS members walked over and said, "Say, have you thought about joining HAPS?". They left for their homeport of Poulsbo later that day. (Was it something we said or their plan all along?)
Mike Mariano convinced his Shilshole neighbors Mike and Heather Gentile (pr "Gentilly") aboard their Hunter 375 Serine to join us just for the rendezvous. They brought their 2.5-year-old daughter Sofia, and said that they would apply for membership as soon as they got back home.
This was also a first rendezvous for guests Leon and Karen Hummel, who arrived in their H35.5 Perspective, which you may remember as being Rick and Ann Giles' former boat. New HAPS members Dave and Susan Tideman also arrived in their H36 Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. (Mike got away with hailing her as "Humma Humma" on the VHF.)
Welcome aboard, everyone!
Thursday night was mostly a "nice to see you again" evening, with folks preparing their own meals. We had planned to use the covered fire pit that evening but we were so enamored with greeting and mooring each new arrival we neglected to secure the fire pit and a group of youths from the S/V Carlyn used it. Friday saw a few more boats moor and we did have the fire pit that night.
Saturday Bob and Kris set up a geo cache which, I understand, had several "challenges." Ruth and I could not participate as we had to depart at noon to attend the Poulsbo Yacht Club Commodore Ball. One of the social obligations Ruth and I incur during my tenure as commodore of Bremerton Yacht Club.
I understand that the rainy weather only closed in on Sunday morning, for everyone's trip home.
Kudos to Rendezvous hosts Bob and Kris Ridenour and Brain Dahl and Kim Stagner. Brian's chili Friday night was a big hit. S'mores later topped off the chow. I spoke briefly on the upcoming Specialty Yachts Hunter Rendezvous at Telegraph Harbour, Thetis Island, BC June 9-12. Registration is still available. We will email a list of those members planning to attend in order to enable buddy boating, if you'd like.
The entire HAPS 2016 rendezvous schedule is here. We are off to a great start!
Hope to see you in Canada and around the Sound.
HAPS
Nice people in nice boats having a nice time.
Fair Winds,
Mike and Ruth Murray
