Quadra was going almost as fast sideways as she was moving forward as I steered a southerly course across Speiden Channel toward Roche Harbor on San Juan Island in Northwest Washington. It was my first long solo passage on the 42 Grand Banks Europa, and I was not doing a spectacular job of being alert to the world around me.
A mile behind, Darrel and Shirley Wood in Double Image, an incredibly well preserved and much-loved 42-foot wood Grand Banks, feared I was going to be swept to miles-distant Vancouver Island (or off the western edge of the world) by the 5-knot ebb current. I wondered why they were so far to the east when they had been directly behind only a short time earlier.
Finally waking to the bulldozer effect of the huge ebb in Speiden Channel, I spun the wheel to the left and coasted to a no-wake speed in the harbor at the top of the island. Double Image and Quadra were bound for the 2007 rendezvous of the Puget Sound Grand Banks Owners’ Association.
About 125 GBs – from a rare 1963 wood Chantyman pilothouse cruiser built by Grand Banks in Hong Kong to a fresh-off-the freighter 59-foot Aleutian built in Malaysia and Singapore – crowded mooring slips of the Roche Harbor Marina last weekend. As always, it was one of the largest GB gatherings in the nation.
A rendezvous is mostly a social event, but with plenty of opportunities to learn a lot at lectures by experts on navigation, engines, systems troubleshooting and cruising. The food, served in a tent on the grass above the beach, was better than usual.
This may have been the last rendezvous for Bob Livingston in his role as chairman and CEO of Grand Banks. Although he made no official announcement, Bob obviously was near tears as he addressed rendezvous participants.
Later, he told me he likely would be retiring soon, perhaps in August. He said he is pleased with the management staff, which includes his son, Rob, who recently was named president of Grand Banks; Peter Poli, chief financial officer, who has been given the additional title of executive vice president, and Y.P. Wong, general manager of the company’s Singapore operation who also serves as chief engineer.
Bob joined Grand Banks in the early 1970s when the company was facing financial ruin and steered it to the success it is today. While some who favor 8-knot cruising on their GB yachts complain about the large, fast craft the company builds today, none can argue the company is not building what the market wants.
Bob and his wife live in a condo tower in downtown Singapore, but probably will spend summers at least in a home they have owned for several years in Sunriver, Oregon. A couple of years ago, he told me he’d like to go cruising in a 36-foot Grand Banks in retirement. GB quit building the 36 several years ago, but maybe there’s one left for Bob?
Shipping GB yachts from Malaysia to the United States is difficult and expensive. It’s often hard to find space on ships and vessel owners would prefer to carry cargo containers, which are easy to handle. Grand Banks last month also learned about the dangers of shipping yachts as deck cargo.
A freighter picked up four GBs, including a 72-foot Aleutian, a 59 Aleutian and a 47-foot Heritage Classic, then motored north to Russia for more industrial cargo.
The cargo vessel was rolling heavily in huge seas when the cradle holding the 72 Aleutian ripped free from the deck and plunged into the sea. The 72 sank into the Pacific and the 59 suffered minor damage. The other two GBs were not harmed.
As we left the final dinner meeting, members of the association board were searching for the right person to manage next year’s rendezvous. And, over brunch on Sunday morning, a small group began talking about another GB cruise – one not as spectacular as the long 2006 trek to Alaska that celebrated the company’s 50 years in business, but something special. Stay tuned.
