Camaraderie and training are the highlights of the 2024 Riviera Roche Harbor Rendezvous
by Riviera Australia 29 Aug 12:05 PDT
A US Riviera Rendezvous record was set in June this year as 55 yachts cruised north and south to meet at the picturesque Roche Harbor for a special Riviera family weekend © Riviera Australia
Fabulous weather, golf, games, dining and a comprehensive line-up of Riviera training have all contributed to make this year's Roche Harbor Rendezvous in the Pacific Northwest a memorable occasion.
Not to mention it was a US record with 55 luxury Riviera motor yachts in attendance and co-hosted by Riviera's new Canadian dealership, Freedom Marine, alongside Rendezvous stalwarts Emerald Pacific Yachts.
It was a weekend of extraordinary firsts for Riviera owner Rajeev Badyal. The co-inventor of Earth's low earth orbit internet satellite constellations - also known as Starlink and Project Kuiper and beloved by ocean-crossing navigators - cruised his new Riviera 4600 Sport Yacht Platinum Edition from Seattle 75nm north to the San Juan archipelago for the long weekend in June. "It was a fantastic experience for my wife and I; Roche Harbor is a beautiful place. This was our first time in the ocean with Low Earth Orbiter, it's our first boat and it was our first trip! It wasn't overwhelming — it was actually a lot of fun," says Rajeev.
"The weekend was extremely well organised and the teams from Emerald Pacific Yachts and Freedom Marine did an outstanding job. The entire event - the dinners, games, sporting events - were very well planned with a good mix of meals and activities. Plus, the weather was absolutely superb.
"We really enjoyed the Riviera technical training including the CZone system. The engineer went through a tremendous amount of detail that was very helpful and I'm interested in that sort of stuff," says the electrical and computer engineer. "We also really enjoyed meeting other Riviera owners and making friends that we've kept in touch with since. They're amazing people and I loved seeing how much pride every Riviera owner takes in their boat. Every Riviera there was spick and span, whether it was 10 years old or brand new — all beautifully maintained. You could sense the pride of ownership.
"It was a wonderful experience for us, and my wife and I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat. It was great to meet other people, listen to their stories, and get to know what they're doing in their boating life," says Rajeev.
At the other end of the spectrum, with over a decade of experience aboard seven different Rivieras, were William and Amy Clise on their 585 SUV Elsewhere - a name that perfectly captures their spirit: "Because generally, when we are doing [non-boating] things, we prefer to be elsewhere," says William.
This year William and Amy enjoyed partying with the Canadian contingent and meeting up with the team at Freedom Marine. "The first day we went out and played golf on a 9-hole course with the other Riviera owners, which was a lot of fun," says William.
"It was great to meet some new faces and talk about cruising," adds Amy. "We brought our kids and they had a great time participating in the games like cornhole. The Canadians brought remote-controlled hydroplanes and we raced them and that was fun too," she says.
This year's theme was 'under the sea'. "Though we decided that we like to be on top of the sea!" says Amy. For the pot luck dinner night, Amy dressed her serving dish like a fishpond and designed the shrimp skewers inside to look they were swimming in an aquarium. "I also really enjoyed the sit-down dinner in the main restaurant. It was a little more formal, with dancing afterwards."
William particularly enjoyed the informative training sessions on the Saturday morning. "The dealers always do a great job bringing technical people in to discuss the CZone, Garmin systems, gyros or the Humphree stabilisers like we have. It's always a very good technical morning with Riviera factory representatives. I had a whole lot of questions throughout the weekend, and they were very helpful."
One presentation that captured people's attention was safe whale watching. "There's a lot of whale watching in the San Juan Islands and it was a good reminder to be cognisant of our distance and speed around whales. Our home port is Seattle and while the 585 SUV can do 35 knots at the top end, we like to cruise at 22 knots.
"The 585 SUV fits our needs perfectly," continues William. "We generally go out for two months every summer, cruising from Seattle to as far north as Alaska, so the extra room, the seagoing capability, as well as the extra beam of her beefy hull, ensures a comfortable ride on the many 50-mile plus crossings over ocean and inland seas. We also enjoy the stable ride and all the extra storage space in the engine room. It's the first Riviera 585 SUV on the West Coast and we acquired it only a week before the Rendezvous - I think over the weekend I sold another three or four of them - I'm still waiting for my commission," he laughs.
Delighted to be part of the Riviera family was Denis Barnard, Dealer Partner at Freedom Marine. "We not only love the Riviera brand and its luxury motor yachts, but the passionate owners!" says Denis. "It's a tight and fun community that we simply had to be a part of. It was great to be able to co-host with Brett, Randy and the EPY team. It was also very cool to see all the owners having fun together on each other's Rivieras; it didn't matter if it was a 2004 or 2024 Rivera. Everyone is part of the Riviera family."