Coming out of COVID, something was missing. We had come to accept video calls and had forgotten what it felt like to actually know the people we did business with. Relationships had quietly turned into transactions, and the faces behind them had started to blur together.

So Peter Zevenbergen started inviting a few people aboard the Duchess for what became the Duchess Happy Hour Mastermind. The agenda was simple: good people, a couple of great questions, and the water. Nobody was pitching and nobody was working the room. Those first cruises reminded everyone what it feels like to be somewhere people are actually listening.

Two rules have held it together since the first trip out. Be an A player, and leave the business cards at home. The rest grew on its own.

Five seasons later, more than 200 professionals have come aboard, many of them now regulars, adding up to over 500 seats filled. They include wealth managers, attorneys, CPAs, builders, operators, and founders who all believe relationships come first. When the Duchess settles in for the winter, the conversation moves ashore to the Duchess Round Table. Membership is by invitation only, and that is on purpose.

Duchess Fleet is the home for all of it. And maybe someday, a few more ships.