The Riviera family raft-up across Australia
by Riviera Australia 21 Feb 2019 02:12 PST
43 Riviera owners and their families at Matilda Bay on Perth's Swan River for R Marine Perth's annual raft-up © Riviera Studio
Across Australia, more than 130 Riviera and Belize owners, their families and friends celebrated the pleasure of being a part of the unique Riviera family by hosting spectacular raft-ups and events over the holiday season.
From Perth in Western Australia to Melbourne and on Queensland's Gold Coast the festivities ranged from a spectacular laser light show to a ceremony for a couple renewing their wedding vows.
Whether the yacht owners and their friends were new to raft-ups or had been a part of this truly unique Riviera experience event before, all focused on the Riviera camaraderie of simply being together and enjoying each others' company and their much-loved motor yachts.
Peter and Julie Herschell joined the 25-yacht raft-up off Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula with eight boating friends aboard their Riviera 4800 Sport Yacht Hatrick.
"We loved the virtual boardwalk of swim platforms in the raft-up," said Peter. "We went from one boat to another, chatting with people and sharing drinks."
Greg and Jennifer Ferguson have been to most of the past 10 R Marine Perth summer raft-ups. This year's event brought together 43 Rivieras.
"This time was very special for us," explained Greg. "We brought friends along and staged a pretend wedding ceremony on board. It was their anniversary and they wanted to renew their vows."
Greg Kohl and partner Robyn were particularly excited by the laser light display on Queensland's Gold Coast.
"I would give the evening a 12 out of 10 if I could," said Greg, attempting to describe the R Marine Jones 31-yacht mega-raft-up at Calypso Bay.
A little further north on the Gold Coast, Jumpinpin is a favourite destination for boating enthusiasts.
The team from R Marine Crawley utilised this special location to host 34 Riviera owners, their families and friends to begin the holiday season.
"An extended marquee on the beach looked incredible as we motored into Jumpinpin," said Christine Long. "There were luncheon places set at the tables for all 100 of us!"
Christine and husband Matt had another special reason to remember the weekend.
"All of the wonderful celebrations on Saturday were eclipsed on Sunday morning. It was our 40th wedding anniversary and Matt presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And he even cooked me a lovely breakfast as well!"
Jeff and Chris had taken delivery of their new Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge Dreamtime just two weeks before the Calypso Bay raft-up.
"The weekend was our first adventure on board," said Jeff. "I had never been involved in a major raft-up before so it was a little daunting at first. The R Marine Jones team were great at helping everyone to join in."
For all the spectacle of that afternoon and evening, Jeff and Chris said the highlight was meeting members of the Riviera family.
"We so enjoyed moving between the motor yachts and meeting new people," said Jeff. "We were also able to catch up with a number of friends we have known for some time.
"The Riviera family is a fabulous and very special group of people."
Riviera owner Rodney Longhurst said these social events were a superb example of the amazing camaraderie among Riviera and Belize owners across Australia and around the world. It's what all our yacht owners so affectionately call the Riviera Family.
"We are proud that our team and our global representatives come together to support our owners in this way," he said. " We see this in these raft-ups and Experience events, at our annual Festival of Boating and during the social events at major boat shows around the world. It's a vibrant, growing and exceptional boating community.