Tag Archives: Puget Sound

A message from the PSGBOA President

Dear Puget Sound Grand Banks Owner’s Association Members;

While we are in the middle of enjoying our holidays please be sure to mark your calendars for the Rendezvous this spring at Roche Harbor.  As in the past,  the Rendezvous will be held May 13, 14 and 15, 2011,  with early registration for those who arrive on Thursday, May 12.  We have already met with the people from Roche Harbor and they have promised us spectacular weather as well as a repeat of the excellent food, service, and fun that we have enjoyed in previous years.

This year’s Rendezvous Chair is Greg Richmond, who served as chair last year and who graciously offered to do so again when Lynn Thompson had to bow out for personal reasons.  Greg did a fabulous job last year and we are looking forward to another great Rendezvous in 2011.  At this early stage we have commitments from Bob Smith to talk about diesel engines; Peggy Hall, the guru of marine sanitation to talk to us about… well… marine sanitation; and Chef Bill Shaw for a cooking demonstration.  In the early planning are Women on the Water training, a wine-tasting/appetizer extravaganza and another spectacular Saturday night dinner.  We’ll keep you posted as plans firm up.

As always we are looking for help this year.  We need volunteers to help with planning, preparation, and execution during the rendezvous.  We also need people who might be interested in serving on the PSGBOA board of directors.  Please let Greg or me know if you are interested in helping out in any way. Greg’s email is  grich737@msn.com

We will be a presence at the January boat show this year thanks to help from Grand Banks Northwest.  Please stop by the Grand Banks Northwest area at the Boats Afloat Show where you can pick up current information about the rendezvous while giving the new 53 Aleutian a look-over.

I know that many of you are busy with holiday activities but I hope that some of you are getting a chance to do some cruising during this cold, but beautiful and un-crowded season.  Even if you aren’t out boating now, it is fun to start thinking about spring and the fun we’ll have seeing all of our boating friends again once the weather improves.   We look forward to seeing you at the boat show and at the Rendezvous.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all,

Bill Douglass
President, Puget Sound Grand Banks Owner’s Association

Rendezvous 2010 Recap from PSGBOA President – Bill Douglass

Hello everyone.

We just finished enjoying a fabulous rendezvous at Roche Harbor and enjoyed seeing all of you who made it.  Over 80 boats and 200 people spent a relaxed time in the sunshine catching up with old friends and making new ones.  Highlights of the weekend included wine tasting and hors d’oeurves on the dock, a “margaritaville” themed party with whole roasted pig, movie night for the kids (lots of kids this year!), and a cat and dog show (without cats), among many other activities.  We enjoyed great presentations, Grand Banks discussed their plans for the future and asked for our input, and we all had a chance to get acquainted with the new crew at Grand Banks NW.

A couple of things need some follow up:

I want to correct an oversight in that we forgot to thank NW Explorations for providing a boat for the Women on the Water training – they have been very generous in their support of the PSGBOA with boats, money and time over the years.  They are a huge part of our community.  Be sure and thank them when you see them.

I have also included an e-mail from Bill Washburn at Nobletec concerning what is going on at that company.  Many of us use this product and were aware that Boeing (and its subsidiary Jeppesen) had recently sold the company.  In response to what this might mean for GB owner’s Brian Pemberton at NW Explorations called the people at Nobletec to find out.  It turns out that the sale is a good thing for users of Nobletec as the company now has owners who are focused on the boating market – click on this link: Nobeltec memo

As an example of the kind of help that we get through the PSGBOA and the  people at the Rendezvous let me relate the following; I pulled the canvas off of my STIDD seat on the flybridge (a wonderfully comfortable  seat for those of you who haven’t had the experience) only to find that it had deteriorated over the winter.  This was urgent since our boat is in charter service with paying guests on board Monday after the rendezvous.  I mentioned my problem to  Jerry Todd at Grand Banks NW who immediately put me in touch with Fred Minor at STIDD Systems, Inc.  Fred not only addressed my problem by sending me new seat cushions overnight but he covered them under warranty!  That is fabulous service and deserves our attention.

Special thanks for Greg Richmond for doing an outstanding job as Rendezvous Chair this year.  Lynne Thompson will be our Rendezvous Chair for 2011.  She will be communicating with everyone soon.  We have already reserved Roche Harbor for the same weekend in May in 2011 so mark it on your calendars.

Bill

Bill Douglass

President, Puget Sound Grand Banks Owners’ Association

425.503.4748