October 4 – 18, 2010
The Krogen Rendezvous is the most well-organized and FUN event of the year. Day by day, Krogen boats of all sizes and vintages arrived at Calvert Marina, in Solomon’s Island. Just before the rendezvous, Roger had to take a 3-day business trip and, as usual, left me on the boat with a list of projects to coordinate with “Scotty the Great” (that’s what I call our #1 boat guru / miracle worker, Scotty Wiley, from Bristol Marine, but I can’t tell him that). By Thursday, October 7th, all the Krogens were bow-to-bow and rafted up alongside each other on 3 docks. (You had to be on your best behavior because you were one fender–width away from your neighbor on each side!)
Nancy and Jeff Taylor, from “Akira”, organized an art project that several of us women participated in. We painted a compass rose on a canvas floor cloth. For someone who has done a lot of varnish work, I felt right at home taping off the canvas for each paint color. The women got to know each other as we worked and helped each other through the project for 2 days. The weather was spectacular and we were able to do the whole project outside.
Another event during the Krogen Rendezvous was the Pet Parade. Boy dogs were supposed to dress like Elvis and girl dogs like Priscilla Presley. Louie cooperated as I had to alter the costume we bought him in 8 different places. It was worth it because Louie won 1stPlace!
There were presentations and seminars for 2 days of the Rendezvous. I learned how to set off a flare and also how to use a fire extinguisher to put out a diesel fuel fire. Both of those were hands-on instruction, and all I can say is that I hope I never have to do either in real life.
On Saturday night, there was a dinner and a dance and the theme was Woodstock. A few days before, Roger and I scoured the area looking for “rolling papers” for a prop for Roger’s Woodstock get-up. We felt like criminals going into gas stations and convenience stores, asking if they carried rolling papers. We were in hysterics as Roger rolled a joint out of my oregano!!
Everyone’s costumes were fabulous! One was better than the next! And it was a riot to see how people could (comfortably!) revert back to the hippy days of the late 60’s and 70’s. The music was great for dancing and even Karen & Jeff Siegel (“Active Captain”, who did 2 seminars that day) knew the words to all the songs and danced until the band quit. It seemed like everyone had such a great time – I know Roger and I did – with old friends and new ones. It was kind of sad to see everyone leave the next morning. Randy Pickelmann (also owns a Manatee like ours) was our dockmaster and did an incredible job of organizing the mass departure of Krogens on Sunday morning. He peeled us off each other one-by-one and there was not a scratch on any boat!
We stayed at Calvert’s for another week, getting the boat ready for the winter. We had one final get-together on our boat for Jeanne Bateman’s (Sea Dweller) birthday. We also went to the Sailboat Show one weekend and the PowerBoat Show the next weekend in Annapolis.
On Monday, October 18th, we left Calvert’s and brought the boat to Spring Cove Marina, also in Solomon’s Island, to have her hauled out of the water and stored for the winter. It was a sad day for sure to see our boat lifted out of the water and then moved across the parking lot and put on blocks and jack stands. (Btw, I don’t hyperventilate any more when that happens and I’m not afraid to be on the boat when it’s “on the hard” -- aka “on land”).
As we drove away, we were both quiet, but then we started to plan how we were going to get settled into our Florida home and how we could enjoy being “near the water”, across the street from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. And of course, we have our 21’ Boston Whaler in Florida, so we are not completely “boat-less”, don’t ya know!
But there’s work to be done on “Karen Anne” this winter to get her ready to go to New York City, up the Hudson River (hopefully without seeing any quick maneuvers like Captain Sully’s!), into Canada and then across the Great Lakes. Roger and I are pretty sure we won’t complete the Great Loop (get to Michigan City, Indiana) this next summer, but who knows….
--To Be Continued in May 2011--
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