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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UPDATE on the NEW KISMET!

Having sold our Ranger Tug R27 a few months ago, we ordered a Ranger Tug R29S, we’ll take delivery of our new Kismet in August 2017. So, we are spending the summer boatless! Lots to do at home while we prepare to travel west to Seattle, next month, to take possession.

This tug, with a sportier look and a Volvo Penta diesel engine, will take us to some exciting cruising destinations with a quieter, more stable ride.

Our new tug will be just a little bit bigger, but still trailerable. Yes, Kismet will look good again in that Hero Red hull. Looking forward to a little more room to accommodate our growing grandchildren. One of our new goals is to share our love of boating with them for many years to come.

Construction photos to come soon!

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After lunch, we stayed a couple of hours relaxing in the Burwood Group, it was that spectacular. Our plan was to anchor for the night in Shoal Harbour. En route there, we explored while cruising in and out of Scott Cove and eventually Pierre’s Echo Bay, taking a quick spin around the famous floating marina (we had reservations secured for the next day).

After our exploration cruise, we arrived on the north arm of Shoal Harbour as planned – late afternoon. The harbour is a well-protected, shallow-watered, anchorage. Navigating Shoal Harbour can be a little nerve-wracking, as one needs to negotiate a narrow channel before entering the harbour. It’s called Shoal Harbour for a reason, I would guess, many parts of the bay are “shoaled.” With that said, we found a spot in five feet of water at low tide.

Shoal Harbour has a logging operation located in the south arm and a fair amount of floating homes – it’s an excellent hidey-hole during bad weather. There were several boats at anchor in the slightly deeper south part of the bay, but with our shallow draft, we had the entire north arm to ourselves. Shoal Harbour was the perfect spot for us to anchor at the end of the day, for a short, early morning move to Pierre’s.

As we kicked back for the night and the sun slowly set over the harbour, we watched a fishing rig as it worked the harbour, and we listened to the floating house owners finishing chores. We thought out loud between ourselves, how much work it looks like to live on the water. Basically, the floating home folks come and go by boat only, except for those that have float planes. An interesting lifestyle we admire, but don’t feel we have the determination to live as remotely as these folks do. Being on our boat, and relaxing in the beauty of British Columbia’s Broughton Islands for a short time is good enough for us.

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