All Islander boat rendezvous...

A couple of weekends ago, the Islander 36 Association (a bay area based group) sponsored an all-Islander boat rendezvous at the Encinal and Oakland yacht clubs. Twenty-six boats showed up, and the people who drove to the event represented sixteen more boats. A good turn-out by any standards.









I just got Dog Days out of Svendsen's Boat Works on the Friday afternoon that kicked off the rendezvous, so she arrived with boat yard dirt on her but with a very spiffy new bottom job. If there had been a concours d'elegance, I think she would have done very well in it. Unlike Cal boat owners, who seem to focus on bringing their boats toward bristol condition, Islander owners seem to be more into the people and not so concerned that their boats are show pieces. Both groups love their boats equally, but it's interesting to sense the differences.

There was a "fun" regatta - all sailors like to race - but sadly there was no wind. Encinal's commodore, who ran the regatta, tried to call it off, but the Islander skippers would have nothing of it and insisted on racing anyway. It turned out to be a motor-sailing race, and I wish I'd taken Dog Days out, because with a new bottom job, she might have taken fleet honors just because she had no friction to hold her back.




My friend Zen came by - he has an Islander 29 and keeps a great blog (Zensekai) - and we had a good time at the cocktail hour and dinner on Saturday night. A fun time.