Albin Owners Group

Howard...I called and got listed with them ( 1-800 451-8910 ) Talked to Troy who thought you were going to send a list over but when I told him what you said (above ) he took the information and said see you in July... I guess no deposit is needed.

(I am trying to stay ahead of a lot of details due to being gone from mid may through June... I am not usually this organized. )

OK I'm confused. Are we to individually call Roche Harbor, or are you going to confirm a block of slips based on responses to Dave's email? Either works fine for me, but if they are expecting a master list rather than individual calls, wires might get crossed!

joreyn: Sorry, about the confusion joreyn. The Roche people want to hear from each of us as to name, and boat. Dave and I are just trying to keep a list of those who have contacted Roche to determine the number of slips confirmed. When you have done that let us know. The Roche people will then collect your slip fee on arrival. Advising that you are with the Albin Owner's Group will get you in one of the reserved slips for the group.
After reading CoolChanges comments above I see the problem. Dave and I talked about this and felt those who have in fact made a decision to come should undertake to let Roche know directly. Last year we did keep the list for Port Townsend. You are making it a bit easier for us by doing the direct contact thing and we appreciate that. If a change is needed — well we are flexible.
whwells "Howard"

Thanks for clarifying.

I just called my reservation into Roche.

Mark

Val and Alice Trent are planning to be there on Reel Flyer. Looking forward to a good time. Roche is one of our favorite annual places to be for sure.
Thanks for putting this together!

I called RH today and Stephanie and I are on the reservation list for July 11 and 12.
We are very much looking forward to this.

Greg, Stephanie, Val & Alice, and Mark: Thank you all for the timely posting. Look forward to seeing you all again in Roche and your fine place Mark.
whwells "Howard"

My wife and I are so looking forward to being there for the PNW Rendezvous! This will be the first major cruise with our new-to-us A25, trailering all 1,630 miles from Phoenix, AZ to launch at Bellingham. We plan to make this an extended trip in and around the San Juans, up into the Gulf Islands, and as far up the Strait of Georgia as time and weather will allow. Would be nice to meet up with the BC Albineers for their rendezvous at Ladysmith , but it's scheduled for the same dates as the PNW rendevous.

This will not be our first experience cruising SJI's. Three years ago we shared a 7 day bareboat charter with 2 other couples on a Juneau 41 sailing yacht out of San Juan Sailing charter fleet. This time we won't be limited by a tight schedule. We've also toured Vancouver Island by car as far up as Nanaimo during a 3 night stay at a B&B near Cowichan Bay.

Any tips & advice would be appreciated. Should we call for reservations at RH now, or should we figure on anchoring or mooring in the harbor or over in Westcott or Garrison Bay? We'll have a dinghy with outboard, so a marina slip would be nice but not absolutely necessary.


Steve & Helen Eshleman

Update: When writing my earlier post this morning I hadn't noticed the exchanges on Pg 2. Just called RH marina as of 11:30 PDT & got our names added to the AOG slip reservation list. Thanks for the heads up! We are also planning to head for points North after RH too, so will be very interested in being involved in those discussions.

A little background on our previous boating experiences: I've been sailing trailerable sailboats since 1998, ranging from sailing a Montgomery 15 pocket cruiser on Chesapeake Bay in 2002, informal racing in the Potter Yachter Cruiser Challenges off Monterey in 2002, 2003, and 2005, sailing the M15 to Catalina Island from Marina Del Rey in 2003. Most recently in addition to our 2011 SJI cruise, we harbor hopped our previous boat, a Catalina 25 sailboat, from San Diego to Long Beach (San Pedro) and over to Catalina Island and back in 2012, including a 50 NM single day run under sail from Oceanside, CA to Chula Vista at the South end of San Diego Bay.

My wife and I have been members of the Lake Pleasant Sailing Club or a number of years.

Their website: http://lakepleasantsailing.com/

Click on the link to the May 2014 Newsletter and you'll see my picture on the cover (the big white haired guy in shorts) talking to a friend about our beached Boatex 8 lapstrake dinghy with a raftup of sailboats in the background, of which our boat is barely visible 2nd from left tucked in next to a Catalina 30.

This Albin 25 also happens to be a motor-sailer version with mast and sails included, but we're using it as a motor trawler, as the whole point of getting a boat like this is to be able to go to places like the San Juans without having to wrestle with a large mast while at the same time getting sailboat-like fuel economy with a small inboard diesel.

This photo taken while I was sailing my Montgomery 15 off Monterey was used in an ad that ran for a long time in Small Craft Advisor magazine. The Montgomery 15 and 17 are also highly desirable classics.

Hi...nice choice on your launch point. I have been out of Bellingham many times and it is a great launch site...and free parking as long as you need it is a real bonus. If you need any info please feel free to PM or ask on this site. If you look like you're getting in late be sure to call ahead for the gate codes (even if you stay on the hard you might want a shower) Nearby (short drive) are Costco and large supermarkets, West Marine etc.

We are leaving Portland on the 7th to launch out of Olympia (for a longer trip up on the water) so if you are coming through on I-5 you are welcome to pull off in our pasture (10 minutes off freeway) or if you are having any road problems and need a hand. Let me know and I will provide a phone #.

( Don't forget your passports..or Canada is out of the plan.)

We also have some family near Portland, that is my wife's sister and brother in law who live in Deer Island. They have a 25 ft Bayliner sedan cruiser with command bridge & we plan to meet up with them on the water in San Juan Islands for part of the trip. Don't know yet if they'll be in RH when we are. The brother in law is into amateur craft home brewing big time.

Here's their website. http://www.deerislandbrewery.com/dibrewery.html

Here's a Youtube of Alan's operation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SymQqADn8M

Alan's father Merv Johnson is an amazing guy who researched and wrote a book, "In Search Of Steam Donkeys, Logging Equipment in Oregon".

Here's Youtube of a "steam donkey club meet" at Alan's place with Merv and his buddy's working scale model steam donkeys. Besides the home brewery Alan has a scale railroad set up on his property. He works for the railroad in Portland. We were up there visiting a few years ago when Merv had his steam donkey set up and running on compressed air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAWLDkJ7Bcg

DesertAlbin: Your family members are welcome to join us at Roche. However, as we may be catering it is important to know how many as well as the number of boats.
The Bayliner is welcome. Please see if you can find out if they will join you at least for the catering as we have to give an estimate for costs, etc. Actually, we are waiting for costs to determine how to proceed.
In the past we have done one formal dinner and hope to do the catering at the Barge to keep all together. Will post information on the catering asa Roche's people get back to me.
whwells "Howard"

Last I heard my sister in law and her husband weren't planning to be on the water in SJI's with their Bayliner until July 14th, so looks like they'd miss the AOG rendezvous anyway. We'll likely stop and see them at their home in Deer Island on the way up. Thanks,

Steve E.

By the way, are we going to be the only ones there with an Albin 25?