2012 Grandbanks Rendezvous Message

Season’s Greetings! from the Puget Sound Grand Banks Owners Association

We hope you are all enjoying a joyful winter holiday season, savoring memories of last year’s boating adventures while looking forward to another wonderful cruising season in 2012. In that spirit, the PSGBOA Board of Directors has already begun the planning process for our annual Rendezvous to be held May 10-13, 2012, once again at beautiful Roche Harbor Resort on San Juan Island.

This annual kick-off to the cruising season is a wonderful chance to catch up with old friends and meet new ones, while sharing experiences and expanding our boating knowledge. The weekend will offer a variety of workshops covering topics such as marine weather, using radar, marine engine maintenance, marine electronics, cruising Northwest waters, onboard cooking, and more. Do you have special expertise that you would like to share with the group, or an idea for a speaker? Please do let us know. We love to have members lead sessions when possible! Additional activities will include the annual Coast Guard Auxiliary courtesy boat inspections, sponsor booths, an opportunity to tour participating boats during “Open House”, as well as a return of the ever-popular “Women-on-the-Water” boat-handling training. Check back on our website for updates to our schedule of events and happenings as we get planning the 2012 Rendezvous.

You can also look forward to lots of fun activities and chances to relax with your friends. With many members arriving on Thursday, we are hoping to schedule a few “icebreaker” events for that afternoon/evening this year.  On Friday night, join us on the party barge for the always-popular appetizer potluck and wine tasting. Speaking of food, we are all eager to see what Chef Shaw has in store for our big Saturday night catered dinner, and can’t wait for him to “wow” us with another cooking demo (hopefully outside, weather-permitting!). Since we will be gathering this year on Mother’s Day weekend, we plan to have some special treats for all the moms as well as more fun activities for the kids. As always, the success of this event depends on the efforts of our volunteers, so please let us know if you are interested in helping out on-site or in organizing one of the many activities.  It’s a great way to meet other members!

So, please mark your 2012 calendars to join all of your Grand Banks friends in Roche Harbor this coming May 10-13. If you’ve never attended a Rendezvous, we urge you to find out this year what you’ve been missing! More details will follow after the first of the year, and we will be posting updates on our web site. We also plan to send out an “e-vite” sometime next month in order to get an initial idea of how many members might be planning to attend. Please look for a message from PSGBOA in your email inbox, and help us out by responding as best you can at that early date.

In the meantime, on behalf of everyone on the PSGBOA Board, have a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy New Year!

Sue and Byron Richards, M/V Eagle’s Gig, 2012 PSGBOA Rendezvous Chairs

360-933-4454 or <gb46eg@comcast.net>