GLANTOA!

2012 Rendezvous - June 20 - 23, 2012

Overhead

The 2012 GLANTOA Rendezvous was held in St. ignace, MI at the Municipal Marina on Thursday June 21, Friday June 22, and Saturday June 23. We had 13 boats this year including a 34 American Tug, "Heart Tug" from Canada (Randy and Audrey Guzar); a genuine 42' steel tug, "Albin" (Cathy and Dale Albin); an Island Packet 420, "Exhultation" (Roger and Kris Kennedy). Bob and Katie Stone without their 32, "Floating Stone" joined us from Cincinnati, and "Wings", a 35 Nordhaven (Bob and Jan D'Alcorn). Bay Breeze Yacht Sales brought a 26, 37, and a 42 Nordic Tug. The event was reported by the St. Ignace News - see link Nordic Tugs Return

This year's event began with a reception at the Mackinac Grille with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and provided everyone an opportunity to meet past acquaintances and meet first timers.

Thursday, after welcoming remarks from Dave Jones and Jay Kraft and a brief review of the agenda,

Jeff Halblaub, of the Gaylord National Weather Service (NWS) Office, gave a general presentaton on the role of the NWS and the specific NWS products available to support us on the waters of the Great Lakes. Jeff explained how to access these on the NWS web site. A summary of his presentation can be found at this link - NWS Presentation.

 

 

Ryan Valerio of Bay Breeze followed with the start of a short seminar "Boat Handling for the Admirals" that continued throughout the Rendezvous with the Admirals learning some basic boating rules, line handling and on-the-water skills including docking a 37.

The Captains used this time to quiz the representatives from Cummins Bridgeway, Dan Zammitt, Paul Slotsema, and Ed Hislop on all matters diesel engine-related. Ed, with a lifetime of experience repairing Cummins diesel engines, also begun work performing maintenance and providing advice on individuals' boats. After lunch at the Grille, Vessel Safety Inspections were performed by Jim Ellis and his assistants and boats were open for tours while Ryan continued teaching the Admirals.

 

 

 

 

Friday began with Torre Miller, The Diesel Fuel Doctor, giving us a talk on "Keeping Your Fuel in Top Shape" and answered numerous questions on a vital topic. Torre also took many fuel samples from our tanks and helped attendees decide what treatments, if any, were recommended. Dave Jones followed with a presentation on iPhone and iPad Apps, highlighting some of the best applications available for these devices and other snart phones and tablets. see the link iPad and iPhone Apps for the apps discussed. A number of additional apps used by those in attendance were also discussed. Although Nordic Tug personnel were not able to attend this year's Rendezvous, we managed through the wonders of the Internet, to hook up with Paul Johnson, the General Manager of NT, via an iPad. Although only a small screen, we had a full audio and video link and received a state of the business review of NT and Paul answered a number of the attendees questions regarding NT.

Jack Klang, a widely known consultant for Quantum Sales and a frequent speaker in the boating industry, gave us a lively and novel presentation on the "Rules of the Road" culminating with an outdoor exercise on the grass where we had 30 "boats" all manoeuvering according to the Rules. The results were quite good with few "collisions". After lunch, Jack held a short seminar on "Line Handling" where he covered some of his novel but tried and tested line handling tips. The afternoon continued with boat handling, engine maintenance, vessel inspections, boat tours, fuel sampling and general socializing. see the link Docking for Jack's docking tips.

We held our formal Reception Friday evening at the Mackinac Grille and, as usual they provided us with excellent service and great food. We all went to bed tired and well-fed after a busy day.

After breakfast at the Grille, we all embarked on a well-appointed charter bus for a short ride to Cedarville, MI, the home of the Great Lakes Boat Building School, (see link www.glbbs.org)for an tour of the facility and to see the boats under construction which ranged from a small wooden rowing dinghy to a larger commissioned vessel. While small, the school offers a variety of educational programs with a full two year program the most advanced. The school's graduates are in high demand in the traditional boatbuilding industry. The visit was the highlight of the Rendezvous for many of us.

 

Upon our return, we had the 16th Annual "Antiques on the Bay" car show underway to entertain us. In addition, we were treated to the arrival of the 2012 Hemmings Motor News Great Race participants in the 2200 mile rally which began in Traverse City earlier in the week. From St. Ignace the cars were heading west across the US with a finish back at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. Cars ranged from the early 1900s to 1960s.

The Rendezvous concluded with a hearty potluck dinner at the dock on Saturday evening, a raffle of goodies provided by Nordic Tug, and the traditional group photgraphs.

Plans were made for the 2013 Rendezvous which will be held June 20 - 22, 2013 in Elk Rapids. Dave Jones, the organizer of the 2009 through 2012 Rendezvous, relinquished the role of Rendezvous planning to Dave Baumann, the owner of August Windy.

As a side note. we proved the old saying "Third Time's A Charm" is true as we were blessed with close to perfect weather for all three days after battling the elements for the past two rendezvous. It certainly helped to make the meeting a success.

A special thanks is given to our sponsors of the Rendezvous, especially Global Marine Insurance, Old Mission Investments, and Bay Breeze Yacht Sales without whom we would not be able to provide the facilities, food, and dockage at such an affordable cost. Thanks are also given to the Mackinac Grille for the great food and service and to the St. Ignace Municipal Marina staff for their help in hosting this year's event.

ADDITIONAL RENDEZVOUS PHOTOGRAPHS

   

 

THE REAL THING