The annual August Rendezvous of Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA) was back again this past August at North Pender Island. Many sailors excited to untie the lines and head south attended the flurry of activities planned for this gathering at Port Browning Marina. In total, there were 36 boats and 67 sailors in attendance. The weather gods seemed to approve of this gathering by providing a full weekend of beautiful weather.
The weekend was filled with fun activities, such as visits to the Sea Star Estate Vineyard and Winery, delicious breakfasts of pastries, fresh fruit, and hot drinks provided by the Marina, dinghy races, boat visits and fabulous potluck dinner and happy hour!
Floating Lunch
Once again we gathered in rafted dinghies, tied to a mooring ball to enjoy delicious finger food and bevies while chatting about future travel plans. This fun events has become a staple of the BCA August Rendezvous.
Dinghy Race
The fiercely competitive yearly blindfolded dinghy race, a.k.a. the “where-the-heck-am-I-going?” and “NO!-your-other-starboard!” race took place again this year, under beautiful sunny skies. Here’s a video of the start line:
The race attracted 6 elite teams this year with Blue Rose taking the honorable first place.
These were the standings for this year’s prestigious event:
- Blue Rose, with Ken Christie and Diane Milne
- Pelerin with Mike and Shirley Hiscock
- Indigo Wave with Cheryl Crowther and Donna Sassaman
- Inside Passage with Wendy Bryan and Ken Robertson
- Salish Sequel with Jane Goundrey and John Todd
- Ragtime with Don Brown and Don Hutchison
And here are the undisputed winners:
As you can see, emotions were running high! But in the end there was no divorce!
On Sunday night, we got to enjoy a fabulous potluck dinner, just like before COVID! The food was delicious as always, and it was great fun to sit together to enjoy a shared meal.
After dinner, many gathered around to sing along with the most wonderful Bluewater Shanty Singers band, composed of fabulous musicians: Blake Williams (Sea Fever) on the bodhran, Peter McMartin (Cookie Cutter) on guitar, Anne Woodson (Full and By) on ukulele, Chris Stask (Inceptus) on ‘ugly stick’, Don Brown (Ragtime) on concertina, Pamela Holley (Tillikum) on keyboard and Christian, visiting crew on Blue Moon on mandolin. Here’s a sample of what the evening had in store:
Leaver Packages and Offshore awards
Ed Choromanski and Tanya van Ginkel of Seadra, were presented their Offshore Award in absentia, for their journeys from Mexico to Hawaii and then back to Vancouver.
Three leavers’ packages were presented to the crew of three boats who were all leaving in August:
- Cambria – Rob and Sharlene Cormack
- Pelerin – Mike and Shirley Hiscock
- Wanuskewin – Michael and Dawn (absent) Terides
Gratitude and Testimonials
Bravo Zulu and huge thank yous to Blake Williams on his boat Sea Fever and Sally Holland, crewing aboard Arahura II, for organizing a great event yet again this year.
On the Monday of the long weekend, we gathered for breakfast and were treated to a beautiful song to bid farewell to one and all, wishing all the leavers fair winds and following seas as they departed on their adventures.
Here’s what some of you had to say about this year’s August Rendezvous:
“So glad we made the sail trek to the Port Browning Rendezvous! Familiar faces, scrumptious foods and jolly Sea Shanties with Blake and the crew! We topped the weekend off with a stop at Clam Bay, and a smooth sail across the strait to our spot at Milltown. Looking forward to the next “in person” get-together” (Pam Holley from Tillikum)
“This year’s rendezvous was an absolute blast! The weather was fabulous all weekend. It’s always exciting and wonderful to see everyone who shows up, and this year was no exception. I could describe the feeling as being like a big family reunion, except that everyone there wanted to be there! The blindfolded dinghy race was super fun and a lot of laughs. The potluck supper was fantastic; everyone seems to have some wonderful dish to share. And another highlight was allowing myself to be pressed into leading the singalong in a rendition of Barrett’s Privateers. Despite my lack of any decent singing voice, the crowd joined in and we all had a lot of fun.” (Heather Marshall from Tucana)
Photos of the event are available at the BCA photo gallery. Check them out.
Thank you Rosario for capturing the fun, magic, music ,and engagement of the BCA members gathered at Port Browning with under fair weather. The video captures are hilarious and as usual the photography and writing flawless!
Fair winds and following seas,
Blake
You are welcome Blake. It was a great event, and so awesome to see so many friends there. The excitement of the leavers is contagious!
Rosario
Oh and by the way, there are many more videos of sea shanties on my YouTube channel. Search for bluewatercruising rendezvous 2022 and you shall find them all! Thanks to all the musicians and singers for a great evening!
Rosario
What a wonderful summary of the “goings-on” at the August Rendezvous, Rosario! And to capture the super fun Blind Fold dinghy race on video just tops it off!
Thank you so much for your great photos, that show just how much fun the whole weekend was!
Best regards,
Sally