Nineteen Maritimo motor yachts gathered at Roche Harbor on Washington State’s San Juan Island in mid-May, with owners travelling in from Seattle, Gig Harbor, Victoria and other Pacific Northwest communities for the builder’s latest Migration Rendezvous. The event took place ahead of the annual migration north, when boaters in the region head up through British Columbia toward Alaska for the summer cruising season.
Roche Harbor is well known to boaters in these waters. Located on San Juan Island, it has long been a favourite destination for those cruising between Washington State, British Columbia and Alaska.
The fleet covered more than 20 years of Maritimo production. A recently delivered M60 sat dockside alongside an M48, a model that dates back to Maritimo’s original line-up and remains a familiar sight in these waters. Owners of newer X50s were moored beside others who have owned their Maritimos for ten or fifteen years, some longer still.
Maritimo is built on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and its presence in the US has traditionally centred on Florida and the East Coast. According to Maritimo, the Pacific Northwest is a region of growing importance for the brand. The builder says the fuel capacity and on-board liveability of its yachts suit the long distances and changeable conditions involved in cruising toward Alaska, along with the efficiency and seaworthiness needed to cover that ground comfortably.
Garmin representatives ran sessions on current navigation and electronics technology during the rendezvous. Separate sessions covered docking, line handling, fender placement and deck operations, open to partners, family and crew as well as skippers.
Owners took part in a floating golf challenge, chipping balls onto a target set up in the marina, which proved surprisingly competitive and became one of the highlights of the event. Cocktail functions, waterfront dinners and live music also featured, with the weather swinging between rain and sunshine and spectacular sunsets when the skies cleared.
Owners at the event also discussed compiling their own cruising recommendations into a shared resource that could help others plan future trips north.
