DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous

 The day had finally arrived for our DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous. A short hop to Anacortes from the San Juan's, Jeff wanted to arrive early in order the wash down the boat and get her looking shinny and nice. Coincidently the day before I had received an email from a former gold looper who asked if we would be attending. Ironically our boats were docked right next to each other at the rendezvous and we were anxious to catch up. Jeff worked hard all day and was done in time for our first event- docktails. We shyly walked over to the activities float not knowing what to expect and quietly took a seat at the only table to be found. Within minutes a lady came over and said hello and told us it was her first rendezvous. We started to respond when suddenly I realized I knew her. Debbie & George own the boat Ethos and we met them in Petersburg, Alaska (their homeport) then again in Juneau. I told her who we were and Jeff and I quickly felt relieved to be with someone slightly familiar. Soon after George came over and the four of us sat talking the entire time not once getting up to meet any other people. Just as Jeff and I like it. We had dinner reservations that night and said our goodbyes to George and Debbie and told them we would see them at the seminars in the morning. Nonna Luisa lived up the hype and we enjoyed a large Italian feast. 

First Event - Docktails

Dinner at Nonna Luisa

The next morning at 0800 we walked over to the Anacortes Yacht Club where all of our seminars for the rendezvous would be held. We listened to the history of the DeFever, the current market for buying and selling boats now and how to take the best footage with your drone. All very informative and interesting. Despite that my mind was on open boat. We quickly headed back to the dock so I could stage the boat and make sure it was ready for the open boat invasion. I turned on lights, opened doors and made sure everything was ship shape. We grabbed our sack lunches from the activities float and scarfed them down to get ready. There was a gale warning and Jeff measured the wind which was blowing 46mph. The boats were all over the place and rollers were coming in at the end of the dock. I was happy to not have to go out again. Open boat went well and we met a ton of people who came through. By 4:30 it was done and so were we. A quiet raining windy night aboard was just what we needed. 

Cap Sante Marina

Anacortes Yacht Club

Seminars

Once again at 0800 we were at the yacht club ready for another morning of seminars. Today we learned how to cruise Mexico and beyond, the advantages of adding a bulbous bow and electrical issues on a boat. Today we ended at noon and walked around the Anacortes farmers market which had a drum circle and several cute booths. Jeff and I had lunch in town on our own and got our flu shots at Safeway. That evening we had a pot luck and I needed to get back to the boat to start cooking. We were a little (5 minutes) late and Jeff was nervous. When we arrived George and Debbie were there and had saved us seats. We were so happy to sit together and continue our conversation. We ate and drank and then had them over to the boat for a nightcap. 

Potluck with George and Debbie

The next and final morning of the rendezvous was a panel discussion of Q&A for the attendees to the senior members of the group. Jeff and I decided sleeping in and watching football would be more beneficial to us. A little hungover and groggy we made a big breakfast and watched football in pjs. We grabbed sacked lunches again from the float and then went to a couple open boats. We saw several 53s and a 60. So interesting to see the different layouts and how people have customized their boats. The final evening was a big banquet dinner with a pay bar, appetizers and a buffet dinner. We arrived on time and quickly got a drink. We spoke to some people and I actually met another couple from San Diego who keep their boat where we used to. So that was fun. We sat but George and Debbie again and some other now familiar DeFever people. We listened to a fascinating talk by Hank Haeseker our chief pilot about his adventures in Belize and Guatemala. It was so interesting and inspiring and I kept nudging Jeff telling him, "add that place to the list." After the talk we thanked Hank for sharing and said our goodbyes to the organizers and took a ride from George and Debbie. We got a treat on the way back, several deer were in the grass grazing and hanging out. It was a great capper to a wonderful rendezvous.