What an event!
The official boat count was 42 Ranger tugs and every model was well represented. Then, there were the owners who came boatless to stay in the nearby hotel. They came from Virginia, Texas, and California. Plus, there was a couple of non-Ranger boats who joined this great group to learn about the boats and the owners who share this passion. The factory was well represented with four new boats, their top management team and a host of employees who took great pride in watching their "off spring" that they created gather in one place.
Though the weather was not perfect, it was cloudy and breezy and it shut down the dinghy race and discouraged some from the group boat photo, it did not stop the visiting and laughing that lasted for the entire event.
From our point of view, what made this event so successful was:
The vision and leadership provided by David and Maureen Baker. They: did all the communication and coordination of activities, worked with the marina, created all the registration materials and packets, the gift bags, arranged for the Saturday night dinner at no cost to the participants, arranged for coffee and muffins on Saturday and Sunday, troubleshooted and created solutions on the fly and were the point of contact with the factory team. They were tired at the end of each day and exhausted on Sunday as they prepared to fly out for another week of work. We loved working with them and were pleased to help.
The site was great because it had enough dock space for all the boats to be in close proximity to each other, plus a hotel nearby, plus a do-able commute from the freeway and the airport. The main dock was wide enough to have a large covered canopy that was the central meeting place. This was the second year at Bremerton.
The factory participation. The Rendezvous is clearly an owner's event with the intention of getting people together for fun, learning and making boating on a Ranger Tug more enjoyable. But the factory's participation moved the event to the next level. Not only did they bring new boats to look at, but they brought experts, problem-solvers, gifts and prizes, Ranger clothing to buy, and more importantly their relationship and loyalty to the customers. They also brought customers who were free to wander and ask the owner's questions. Rumor has it that 4 new boats were sold at this event.
Bob's margarita machine. Well, that is just self-explanatory.
The Yanmar seminar by service technician Bobby of MER, Inc in Seattle. He has the great and unique combination being a first class mechanic while being a very effective teacher and presenter.
The potluck on Friday night was awesome.
The crafts that came forward and the veggie cars that slid downhill.
The highlight for us was the laughter and smiles, the jokes and story telling, the lessons learned from skippers who took their tugs to places that we want to go, and the ability to help someone with a solution or a piece of advice. We did not get to meet everyone. There were boats that we wanted to see but did not and there was not enough time to really hear from Mac and Linda about Alaska, from Lyman and Jeanne about the Broughtons and from Steve and Tina about the Sea of Cortez.
We arrived in Bremerton on Wednesday but we were not the first ones there and we stayed through Sunday afternoon and were not the last leave.
Next year's event has not been announced. Who will take the reigns of leading this? If the Bakers take this on again, how can we better support them so all the work does not fall on a few shoulders? There is an expense to making a quality event happen, how can we finance this? Great events need great people who step up early and deliver, who is going to do this?
