Coming Home to Charlevoix, Michigan for the Ranger Tugs Cutwater Boats 2017 Charlevoix Rendezvous!

Charlevoix Michigan was home to the Ranger Tugs Cutwater Boats 2017 Charlevoix Rendezvous. What a spectacular setting for this year’s event. Lisa and I have a fondness for Charlevoix as this was once our homeport. That was before we became enamored of trailering our Ranger Tug all over the United States. So being in Charlevoix again was like coming home.

Arriving on Monday morning, for our 3-day event, we had nothing but clear sunny skies while greeting attendees as they arrived. With 40 people in attendance, we had boaters from Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Washington, Ohio, Kentucky, Ontario, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. Also in attendance were sponsors and representatives of Reed Yacht Sales, Manitowoc Marina, and Volvo Penta. The event was also sponsored by Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats and Global Marine Insurance. By the very nature of being able to trailer these boats, Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats have a broad, ready-made, community spread far and wide.

When we get together at events like this some of the boaters may already know one another, if not, we’re a friendly bunch, we are here because we all want to have a fun time with other tug owners.

We spent the first day getting settled in. For us, being boatless meant first checking into a local motel and then setting up chairs and a table on the end of the dock for the Pot Luck dinner the first night. Day one was a casual affair, making sure people get their ditty bags, and questions answered. For some, it meant finding a parking spot in town for their truck and maybe their trailer.

For 2018 we’re planning on heading to Ontario’s Trent Severn Waterway.

During Happy Hour on the dock, Jim welcomed everyone with an overview of the agenda and introductions of attendees just before we dug into the potluck offerings.

Matt Hartman and Christine Carlson (above), from Volvo Penta, were with us for our three-day event. Although they were working on Public Relations and Marketing projects for Volvo’s “Where Does Volvo Penta Take You” campaign they both did a good job of blending in seamlessly with our Ranger Tugs and Cutwater boats community.

Mark Derene (above), the representative from Reed Yacht Sales, always had a friendly smile, you could tell he was having a good time. He brought the beautiful red Ranger Tugs R29S to the rendezvous, I think so Jim and I could drool over it. It is just like the one we have on order, we’ll take possession in a few weeks. Thanks for letting me crawl all over your boat Mark!

Everyone is enjoying the Ranger Tugs Cutwater Boats 2017 Charlevoix Rendezvous.

We started day two off with a catered breakfast followed by US Coast Guard Safety inspections and a boat crawl. We offer the boat crawl in order to learn about enhancements people make to their boats. It’s also an opportunity to share maintenance tips that can save us time and money as well as keep us on the water.

No rendezvous would be complete without a happy hour on the docks, we had one every night. We had a wonderful view of downtown Charlevoix and Round Lake. The day was capped off with a catered dinner on the town’s waterside park lawn.

Matt and Christine were kept busy most days interviewing attendees. Can’t wait to see the photos and videos they took.

Charlevoix has one very special ambassador in their Harbor Master!

Hal Evans is a legend in the boating community, at least to those who have visited “Charlevoix the Beautiful.” You will never encounter a more friendly greeting when docking your boat. Most often Hal will shout a warm “Welcome Home” as you approach to dock your boat. Hal is a one-of-a-kind individual – one of those rare people whom the sun shines through so naturally and radiates out even brighter to all in close proximity. A genuinely good man. Retiring next year, Hal’s shoes will be hard to fill.

Hal helped to make our rendezvous happen in Charlevoix this year. We invited him and his wife, Mary Ann, to dinner Tuesday night and he, in turn, brought his guitar to sing a few old sailor songs during happy hour. Thanks, Hal!!!

After dinner, we played a short game of LAST PERSON STANDING. The last person standing won a parts certificate from Fluid Motion (Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats).

The Ranger Tugs Cutwater Boats 2017 Charlevoix Rendezvous ended Wednesday on a high note with a tour of John and Zita Winn’s exquisite boathouse and fascinating maritime collection.

Winn’s collection includes unique, and mostly one-of-a-kind boats, outboard engines, seat cushions, paddles, burgees, toys, artifacts and so much more. After crawling around the boathouse, John invited us upstairs to his “Chart Room.” Lots of activities and memorabilia to keep a boater entertained.

John and Zita’s view of Round Lake from their Chart Room.

Later, we had a catered lunch on the dock followed by a presentation about marine insurance by Matt Anderson and Ben Belyea, President of Global Marine Insurance (below). There was also some free time scheduled each day, so people could explore Charlevoix, relax and or go for a cruise out on Lake Charlevoix. The last night we had a pizza party on the dock where many discussed their departure plans for the next day.

Pictures are great and we know not everyone can always attend, however, we hope this gives you a small taste of what a Ranger Tugs Cutwater Boats Rendezvous is all about.

A fun time was had by all! Thanks to the attendees, the sponsors, the marina staff, the dealer representatives, the City of Charlevoix, and John and Zita Winn for a one-of-a-kind tour of their boathouse and maritime collection.

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Charlevoix the Beautiful!

In stark contrast to our time cruising the North Channel this summer was our five-day stop in Charlevoix, while on our way home, for the 2012 Venetian Festival. One of our all-time favorite festivals. We called Charlevoix’s harbormaster, Hal (below-right) to receive our slip assignment soon after we arrived in Round Lake. Before we knew it we were tied up snug on B dock ready to partake in the festivities. Thanks, Hal!

Our dock mates, Jan and Jean (above), spent considerable time and effort planning a weekend-long dock party on B dock complete with a tiki hut and decorations. Nice job guys!

We even had entertainment as Hal lead the way playing his guitar and singing some popular songs. We sang, we ate, and we had a great time with our friends.

Jim is talking about boats with “Iceman.”

The Friday night band was none other than Herman’s Hermits. We enjoyed the old hits and Peter Noone’s humorous side. We listened to the concert while sitting on top of one of the statues in the park with friends, Denise (below-left) and Jeff (below-right).

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Boating activities in Charlevoix Michigan.

Winding down Memorial Day Weekend in Charlevoix Michigan with a dinghy ride around the little island and an afternoon at anchor in Oyster Bay (below). These are just a few of our boating activities when visiting Charlevoix when it was our home port.

We drove up to Petoskey to visit our friend, Martin. Lunch at Whitecaps and a visit to Martin’s home.

Monday started with a Memorial Day parade and presentation at the bandshell. Nothing quite brings home the meaning of this holiday weekend more than the five-gun salute to close the ceremonies.

On our daily walk, we came across this ice shanty (below). Interesting!

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Just as the Chamber of Commerce slogan suggests… Charlevoix The Beautiful.

Charlevoix was our homeport for many years so we consider it a home away from home. It seems this friendly little town exists in its own little bubble and embodies all that small-town America promises. With concerts and festivals in the downtown park during the summer and a high-tech fountain for the kids to play in… all found right on Round Lake. An idyllic and picturesque town if there ever was one, a people’s place, for land lovers and boaters alike.

Here’s Kismet (above) very right next to her old slip, that now our friends Jean and Gary (below) reside on First Sight.

Charlevoix used to be our homeport, now we try to visit at least once a year. The Charlevoix Municipal Marina is one of the best around.

On our daily walk, we picked up a few pots of chivse (below) from a garden club summer sale. Fresh herbs for dinner.

The harbor in Charlevoix lit up like Christmas on a warm spring night. Charlevoix the Beautiful!

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Every time we see Rob, on Keri ‘D’ Away, we’re reminded how often he reads our blog and seems to know what we’re up to on our boat. On our recent visit to Charlevoix we ran into Rob, and his wife Keri, at the downtown marina; Rob was a little perturbed that the blog wasn’t more up-to-date. (We were a little behind in catching up with our adventures in the Florida Keys this year. There was so much to write about it seemed to take forever to do the posts.)

Rob will be glad to see we’re almost caught up to our current cruising on the Great Lakes this summer. We’ve been to Charlevoix, West Grand Traverse Bay numerous times, and Torch Lake so far and have plans to do an extended trip to Canada’s North Channel soon.

See you on the water, Rob!

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Missing our old homeport!

Today we trailered our boat up to Charlevoix and launched her at Ferry Avenue Lake Charlevoix Municipal Boat Ramp. This ramp is just outside of Round Lake, on Lake Charlevoix by Irish Marina.

As you can see (below) we were operating in a cloud of bugs that were hanging out at the boat ramp. The most bugs we’ve had on our boat at one time EVER!

We have all known people who possess what seems like a magnetic force of attraction because of their outgoing personalities, broad smiles, and positive demeanors. They are the type of people that we are often attracted to, desire to have as friends, and make good examples for the rest of us. Charlevoix’s harbormaster extraordinaire, Hal Evans, is one such person and, in our humble opinion, is the best possible ambassador the City of Charlevoix has.

Upon a long overdue return, by boat, to CHARLEVOIX on our Ranger Tug, Kismet we were greeted, by Hal, with his often-heard shout, “Welcome home, welcome home Kismet.” Big thanks to Hal, for making us always feel warmly welcome in our old homeport, which we still consider our home away from home.

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Jean and Gary cooked us an amazing dinner with crab cakes and salad along with marinated and grilled seafood and sausage kabobs.

The next get-together was on Stock Island. A little boat tour of the surrounding waters on the new Kismet followed by drinks and snacks under the tiki hut at the marina. We ended the day with dinner at Hogfish before we took everyone back to Key West.

During a little after-dinner walk around the restaurant and adjoining marina, we passed by the office of  Dwight (who had just been to our boat a week ago to fix our air conditioning). To see what the guys are laughing about (below) you have to read the small print on the sign. Apparently, he keeps a few pictures of some of his past patients.

We’ve been going downtown to see the sunset and to enjoy Happy Hour at Turtle Kraals a couple of times a week. They have great specials, our favorite being the BBQ ribs, a very meaty, healthy portion served with lots of different BBQ sauces. We met Denise and Jeff there one night during their visit. We decided that Turtle Kraals, located just up from the dinghy dock, the upstairs deck is a great, laid-back, spot for viewing the harbor and watching the sunset.

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CHEERS… Here’s to Here & Here’s to There.

Whenever we meet up with boaters from our homeport of Charlevoix, Michigan, we have a special toast, and it’s always the same. The HERE is always where we currently are and the THERE is always where we love to be and it’s always the same… Charlevoix. We’ve been meeting up with Hal and Marianne (above) in Florida for the last few years. (Hal is our harbormaster in Charlevoix, Michigan and they are both dear friends.)  This year they decided to try the Cape Coral area so it worked perfectly with our schedule.

Before we left home, we were in touch with friends Bill and Mary (below – also from Charlevoix), and we weren’t surprised that they would be in the Naples area during the week we planned at Moss Marine for the Ranger Tugs Rendezvous. We thought it would be fun to get a group from Charlevoix together to catch up far from home.

First drinks on the boat and dinner at Bonita Bills after.

Okay, Hal is completely missing everyone kissing his wife. It was so good to see all of these guys that hugs and kisses were numerous.

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