Outer Reef Rondezvous 2013

When we learned that annual Outer Reef Rrendezvous was going to be held in Charleston, SC on June 6-9 we were thrilled.  It gave us an excuse to stay another month in Sarasota.  It meant that we could drive north through Charleston on our way back to Chicago.  And, most important, it provided an opportunity to meet Outer Reef owners.

Group photo at Boone Hall Plantation

The rendezvous was held at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina located on Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.  Patriot Point is the site of the Carrier Yorktown.  We visited the Yorktown in 2011 when we doing the Great Loop.

Charleston Harbor Resort

Carrier Yorktown viewed from the Charleston Harbor Resort Marina

View of four Outer Reefs from the Yorktown's bridge

Our trip north to Charleston was wet, very wet as Tropical Storm Angela chose to make landfall in Florida on Thursday, the day of our departure.  We were in very heavy rain for the first three hours and did not get out of the rain until 1/2 hour before arriving at the resort.   A half hour after arrival the storm caught up with us as we joined the group for a "low country buffet" on the resort's "covered" (which doesn't matter when the wind is blowing) outside deck.  The scheduled "yacht hop," where we would have had the opportunity to crawl over the boats was rained out.  Fortunately it was rescheduled.

The rendezvous was great fun.  Each day we attended seminars presented by industry vendors that work with Outer Reef.  There we five one hour presentations dealing with maintenance software (Wheelhouse Technologies), hydraulic systems (ABT-TRAC), Electronic (Concord) dealing with boat yards (Deltaville Boatyard) and Insurance (Gowrie Insurance Group).  All were well attended, highly relevant and especially worthwhile for me. 

Note: The folks from ABT-TRAC offer a two day course on hydraulic system maintenance and repair in Sonoma California.  I plan to attend their next program in September.

Social activities included the welcome dinner on Thursday, a plantation tour on Friday, a BBQ on the beach on Saturday, yacht hop and Yorktown Ship tour (Saturday afternoon)and an "All American Stars & Stripes Dinner and Auction aboard the Yorktown (Saturday evening).  Between the seminars and social activities we were busy all of the time.

Friday we were on our own for dinner, which we had at the Fish House (excellent) next to the resort.  Then we drove to Charleston and spend the evening walking four miles with Kodi in the historic district.

Diana and Kodi pose at a lovely old B&B in the historic district

The most exciting part of the rendezvous was the yacht hop on Saturday afternoon.  Seven owners brought their boats and all were available for viewing.  Outer Reef owners are passionate about their boats and we got guided tours of three; Gator, Tomahawk and Creative Edge - time went very fast.  We learned a great deal and as a result have requested quotes on a number of upgrades.

72' Creative Edge - Our 63 is based on their interior

65 Outer Reef

65 Outer reef with out exterior colors

We departed Sunday morning after the "farewell" breakfast and headed for Chicago.  Two days and 950 miles later we safely ensconced at our Chicago townhouse.  We plan to stay until after Thanksgiving when we will head back to Fort Lauderdale to commission Guide Discovery (assuming all the stars align - which at the moment appears to be the case).

Written by Les.