Despite a gale warning in the days leading up to the event, thirty BCA boats carrying around sixty-two members made the journey to Telegraph Harbour Marina on Thetis Island for the May Rendezvous, BCA’s first such event of the year.

Telegraph Harbour Marina, Thetis Island

Representing a departure from our location of the past several years, Telegraph Harbour was a new marina chosen by VI for this year. As coordinators on host boat Luja, both myself and my husband, Toryn Sundstrom, were very happy with the choice—a sentiment echoed by many over the course of the weekend. New marina owners Reid, Jamie and Jen, along with all the rest of the staff at the marina went above and beyond for us, all weekend, providing private gathering spaces, live music, and delicious cinnamon buns and other treats baked fresh each morning.

The Rendezvous included a number of tried-and-true favourites, such as continental breakfasts, member-driven musical open mics, a well-attended potluck, and a scavenger hunt, which was enthusiastically completed by some eleven boats!

I would be remiss in failing to share some of the creative items collected for the challenge, which included human hair (something purple), a vintage New York Times Crossword Book (something from 2004), currency and flags from the world over, an immense amount of rum (something every pirate needs), a stuffed toy snake tied into a fancy knot, and—slightly stressful—an egg (find an item for every letter in your boat’s name).

This year we also aimed to include some features and events with BCA’s new value (Caring: Respecting our environment, the communities we visit and each other) in mind.

14 intrepid broom pullers at the end of the afternoon’s work

For example, in partnership with the Thetis Island Nature Conservancy, we identified two projects on the Island that could use BCA’s help. On Sunday afternoon, five members walked to the People’s Apothecary Garden to help with weed whacking and site clean-up, while another 15 BCA members went to work clearing invasive broom from public land near the marina. Several residents from the community stopped to give their thanks to our helpful members, which I would like to echo here—the forty or so person-hours of volunteer time we were able to provide to the Island did not go unnoticed by the community, and I really appreciate everyone’s willingness to contribute some of their holiday time to these projects!

The VI Watch, as hosts of this Rendezvous, has also committed to donating three life jackets to the Kids Don’t Float stand, currently being built at the marina, a partnership between RCM-SAR and Telegraph Harbour Marina. That donation is in-progress, but BCA will be visually recognized on the stand once everything is complete.

Once again, Dr. Elaine Humphrey led a microscopy session on the dock, gathering small samples that were viewed at great magnification. This year, for the first time ever, Elaine hosted a post-Rendezvous Zoom session for all BCA members and interested parties, to follow up on the spoils of the dock walk. Those tuning in were able to watch Eden, one of the cruising kids on Freeranger, use a Portable Scanning Electron Microscope (PSEM) virtually controlled from their boat, even while it was located at UVIC. With Elaine’s guidance, Eden was able to zoom in on the specimens Elaine had prepared following the dock walk, and once interesting views were discovered, he was able to direct the PSEM to take a photo of what was seen, providing amazingly-high definition images of microscopic sea life in mind-boggling detail.

Dip-luck evening and beach clean up creations

Sunday afternoon was marked by several new activities, including a ‘dip luck’, where BCA members were invited to bring their favourite dips and BCA provided everything to dip into them, as well as an optional, catered dinner provided by Invitation Indian Cuisine in Chemainus. Many thanks to Jamie at Telegraph Harbour for using his Axopar boat to ferry Toryn over in style and at speed to pick up the food. Approximately 40 members enjoyed a delicious Indian buffet, comprised of three curries, rice, naan, pakoras, and pappadam.

A ‘Beach and Sea Debris Sculpture Contest’, was another first for the May Rendezvous.  Nanamuk’s amazing “Bone Hag of the Sea”, built from a large wayward float and other detritus, was our most substantial sculpture, and an impressive one at that! Dual entries from our youngest cruisers on Freeranger, as well as a beautiful boat created by those on Chantey V rounded out the sculptures, with prizes kindly donated by Level Ground and dot.Naturals, continuing the eco-conscious theme.

That evening, Telegraph Harbour Marina hosted well-known local musicians Daniel Lapp and Adrian Dolan for a night of open-air live music on the lawn. Members from all three clubs having their Rendezvous at the marina, as well as the local community were all invited to enjoy the music. The fiddle and folk music (to say nothing of the perfect weather!) was thoroughly enjoyed—and appreciated—by all in attendance!

Leaver package presentations to (from left): Larissa Clark and Duncan Copeland with the crew of Freeranger; Rikkert Vos and crew member Victor Weizmann, Susea

Fortified after a weekend of great food, even better company, and lovely music, cruisers cast off on Monday morning to head home or on to further adventures. Indeed, two boats at the Rendezvous are off on much further adventures in the near future, as the crews of both Freeranger and Susea were in attendance to receive their Leavers Packages, along with a hearty dose of well-wishes, from Commodore David Mitchell.

I’d like to extend my thanks to the many people who helped make the weekend possible, including Trotac Marine, Level Ground, and dot.Naturals for providing prizes, Telegraph Harbour Marina for going above and beyond in so many ways, Invitation Indian for the delicious meal, Thetis Island Nature Conservancy for helping organize a great afternoon, Jennifer Handley and Campbell Good for helping make breakfast in the early hours, and my husband Toryn, who was “voluntold” into the position of co-host and happily jumped in to do everything he could to help. Of course, most important to the weekend were all the BCA members who signed up, came along, and enjoyed a lovely weekend with us—thank you, and see you at the next one!

An album of photos taken by Rendezvous attendees can be found here.