BLISS 2006, July 7-9, 2006

Mystic Seaport Museum

Mystic,  CT.

The 9th Southern New England Island Packet Yachts rendezvous (BLISS 2006) was held on July 7^th, 8^th and 9^th, 2006 at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT.   34 boats physically attended, with three more boats attending via “land yacht”.   Over 90 people attended in beautiful New England weather and a great week for sailing.  A special thank-you goes to Eastern Yacht Sales and Hellier Yacht Sales for sponsoring the event.  Without them, we would not have had the successful event we did.  

Festivities started on Friday, when boats began arriving after lunch.  By Friday evening about half the boats had arrived, and were lined up on the stone seawall and docks of the seaport.   A meet-and-greet dock party was held with 10 of the world famous “Mystic Pizzas” (no Julia Roberts) and lots of pot-luck brought by the attending boats.   The packeteers must have been hungry, or the pizza especially good, because only cardboard was present after about 30 minutes.   Everyone had a chance to say hello, renew old friendships, and relax after their voyage. After the dock party, a special session was held at the Mystic Planetarium with Don Treworgy.  Don is kind of an icon at the seaport, teaching courses in celestial navigation as well as holding sessions on the stars and how sailors have been using the stars over the centuries.    As a fellow sailor, Don was been kind enough to speak at our IP rendezvous in 2002 and we brought him back this year.

On Saturday the balance of the boats arrived, with some of the boats being placed on the other side of the seaport and some opting to stay on moorings on the other side of the bascule bridge.  At 10:00AM the seminars began, with Dan O'Conner of Life Raft & Survival Engineering of Portsmouth, RI doing a talk or cruising safety and preparing for emergencies at sea.   A highlight of the event was his inflating of a 6 person life raft (indoors!).   At 11:00AM Don Treworgy gave a talk on the history of Celestial navigation and on the effects of some of severe New England storms and hurricanes on the local area.

In the afternoon an “open boat” was held, with owners allowing others to come onto their boat and share information on upgrades, experiences and ideas.   Boaters were then given a few hours to explore the seaport on their own as their dock fees also paid for museum and seaport entry.   At 5:00PM we gathered everyone in their rendezvous shirts for pictures and got some great shots.

At 7:00PM a cocktail party was held prior to the rendezvous dinner.  It proved another great time where friendships were renewed, new friendships made, and (in some cases) new IP owners met those who owned their boat prior to them.

At 8:00PM the lobster/chicken/steak dinner was held.  It was a catered affair in the Galley restaurant and everyone got quite a bit to eat.  Ken Bardon (IP485-008) decided to surprise his wife Lil on her birthday.  He bought a cake large enough for the entire rendezvous and the group gave her a “happy birthday” song before we began the prize drawings over her cake and coffee.  Thanks to the generosity of various marine stores, IP suppliers and friends, every boat came away with some kind of prize.

On Sunday morning the ritual “dingy scavenger hunt” was held.   In this event clues are provided and the teams must find 10 sets of Island Packet stars hidden in various parts of the seaport accessible via dingy.  Hayden Cochran and the team from Island Spirit (IP35-165) came back first, winning the prize.

Boats began to depart at noon.   Several of the attendees held a "Mini-Vous" on Sunday night and Monday in Watch Hill, RI on their way to Maine and points east.   

This was one of the largest BLISS rendezvous yet and (once again) a good time was had by all!

BLISS 2006 Group Pictures

BLISS 2006 Boat Pictures

BLISS 2006 Seminar Pictures

BLISS 2006 Seaport Pictures

BLISS 2006 Friday Dock Party Pictures

BLISS 2006 Rendezvous Dinner Pictures

 BLISS 2006 Dingy Scavenger Hunt

BLISS 2006 Publications

BLISS 2006 Attendees