Riviera is celebrating 10 young apprentices who graduated from their apprenticeships and the company’s exclusive Propel training program with a graduation dinner held at the newly opened Riviera Yacht Club.
“From Pilates and pickleball to cornhole and cocktails, a fun-filled Riviera Roche Harbor Rendezvous welcomed the owners of nearly 40 luxury motor yachts for a stunning start to the northern summer. Hosted by Emerald Pacific Yachts/Sun Country Marine and joined by team representatives from Riviera in Australia and the Americas, the weekend blended light-hearted activities with a Riviera technical training workshop and ample time to swap stories over music and good food.
Enjoy some of the highlights of the 2025 Riviera Rendezvous in this short film.
For one of the newest couples to join the Riviera family in the Pacific Northwest, Steve and Kathy Gano aboard their Riviera 445 SUV R Escape, the weekend felt like a friendly masterclass.
Roche Harbor has been the base for the Pacific Northwest Riviera Rendezvous for many years. Its excellent shore-based restaurants and cafés perfectly complement the vast marina facilities.
“We took part in all the activities and met so many cool people.”
Steve Gano
“If you’ve never been to a Rendezvous, you should go. It was awesome, an absolute kick in the pants,” declares Steve. “We took part in all the activities and met so many cool people, Riviera owners, folks from Riviera’s Americas operation and from the factory in Australia. There was a Margaritaville theme, so it was all about [the singer] Jimmy Buffett and it was so much fun.”
While the couple have owned many large yachts and are no strangers to boating, this is their first Riviera and it’s made a lasting impression. “Riviera makes such a wonderful luxury boat. We’ve owned a bit of everything, but the fit and finish on the 445 SUV was so much better than anything else we’d seen, it sold itself. At Roche Harbor we also saw the 645 SUV – just wow. We left feeling tempted!”
The wonderful gardens and facilities are always enjoyed to the full, whilst the generous visitors arm at Roche Harbor allows many marina-based activities to take place, surrounded by the impressive site of Riviera yachts as far as the eye can see.
The Roche Harbor Rendezvous is known for incorporating a variety of activities to suit all tastes and energy levels, while also offering down time for people to mix and mingle in a relaxed and beautiful environment.
“We learned a lot and made the most of the opportunity to really understand Riviera’s ease of boating technology, including Garmin and Sentinel systems as well as the whole electrical system with CZone and power management. I really liked meeting the Riviera representative team in person, that was a highlight. And we met other Riviera owners who we learned were our neighbours. Plus, Roche Harbor Marina is beautiful; everything was first-class. We’re already looking forward to next year’s Rendezvous,” says Steve.
Several training workshops were held during the Rendezvous, covering Garmin systems operation, Sentinel remote monitoring, power management and operation of the CZone digital switching system.
“We learned a lot and made the most of the opportunity to really understand Riviera’s ease of boating technology.”
Steve Gano
After a gorgeous summer, Steve and Kathy are gearing up for winter. “We’ve got one or two more trips before the rainy winter sets in. Even then, come winter, our Riviera will become our waterfront condo. We’ll use it year-round.”
With more than two decades of enjoyment in the Riviera family, Nelson and Kathy Goodsell treat the annual Rendezvous as their curtain raiser to the summer season, this year aboard Fishtale, their beloved Riviera 40 Flybridge. Nelson is famous for his baby back ribs marinated in a sauce selected to match the year’s theme and served at the opening night potluck dock party.
The Rendezvous is always a very social event with owners sharing cocktails aboard each other’s yachts, a potluck marina dinner to a more formal evening event.
“I’ve been cooking ribs for the entire group for years now, enough for 30 or 40 boats,” says Nelson. “We’ve had flaming pineapple stacks, mango, whatever fits the theme. I love doing it because we get to reconnect with people we’ve known for years and meet new Riviera owners. We’re just one big family.
“As always, there were lots of fun activities and everything was very well set up and organised. There was a Riviera training workshop and we walked from boat to boat, talking to people about new features, different adaptations, upgrades and the latest models. Owners come from the US and Canada, anywhere from 30 to 45 Rivieras take up the main guest dock…you look along the dock or from the shore to the marina and it’s like ‘Wow, 40 Rivieras all lined up’. It’s amazing. And these are all our friends, all our family”.
Everyone loves to provide a plate or pot of their speciality to the informal dockside evening event. It’s a lot of fun and special prizes are awarded for the best presented and tastiest dishes on offer.
Thursday is usually a free day when some opt to play golf. Friday evening is the potluck dock party, with awards for the best dish, which Nelson has won for a decade! Saturday has evolved into a formal sit-down dinner ashore at Roche Harbor with their award-winning chef.
“There was music and dancing afterwards and it was done really well. We were very impressed and proud of both Emerald Pacific Yachts and Riviera. It was a fantastic year for a Rendezvous, with beautiful weather. We really lucked out.”
“You look along the dock or from the shore to the marina and it’s like ‘Wow, 40 Rivieras all lined up’. It’s amazing. And these are all our friends, all our family.”
Nelson Goodsell
There’s a real magic in the air at the Roche Harbor Rendezvous. It’s a time to renew friendships, meet other Riviera owners and enjoy the special bond of being a part of the Riviera family.
This year, after the Rendezvous, Nelson and Kathy cruised up to Canada, covering 1,078 nautical miles, almost to Alaska. “We fished, crabbed and let loose. On a previous Riviera, we went through some really dangerous weather, truly bad conditions in rough waters in Alaska, and we made a decision then and there: we will never own anything other than a Riviera again. Rivieras are built for Australian blue-water cruising, and this boat handled it like it was no problem. That’s why we can go further than most people. The Rendezvous kicks off all of this,” he adds.
From first-time owners to those who have been in the Riviera family for many years, the 2025 Roche Harbor Rendezvous delivered what Riviera is renowned for: world-class luxury motor yacht experiences, a welcoming community of owners and a reputation built on sharing boating knowledge and skills that you can use on your very next weekend’s boating trip.
Click on the gallery below to enjoy more images from the 2025 Roche Harbor Rendezvous
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