Memorial Day escapade

My family got away for the Memorial Day weekend by sailing off to some wild places. We journeyed first to the north side of Jones Island and dropped anchor in time to watch a magnificent sunset. The next day we went to Prevost Harbor at Stuart Island and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Had we given it a moment of thought we would have brought our passports and gone into BC to Portland Island or Wallace Island for a deeper get away, but one cannot shrug about the San Juans too much.

I'm not up for writing much right now, but will suffice to say that we hiked, and relaxed away a great few days. Swinging at the Stuart Island school was a highlight for the boys, and being among the clouds high up on Stuart for a balmy afternoon was a highlight for Amy and I. Altogether a wonderful time. I'll let some pictures tell the story:

Elliott snoozing on the way to Stuart

Amy and the boys on the top of the world-At our favorite place in the islands

A Stuart Island get away, far away.

Last week I had the opportunity to get away for a few days to tackle some boat projects, and since none of the projects required electricity, I was able to cast off the dock lines and set sail to wilder places. The weather finally turned warm and sunny, and so I was ecstatic to have time on Aeolus in a beautiful place and a taste of summer.

Decided to go to Stuart (not that any reason is needed) because the forecast winds were shifting from north to south and neither anchorage on Jones provides all weather protection. Where Reid and Prevost both are virtual hurricane holes. I went to Reid. 

The projects I tackled included:

• New engine intake hoses. Upgraded all related hoses to wire reinforced hose from standard water hose. Better flow in tight bends and durability/strength in a high impact area.
• New septic hoses in a few places. 
• New sink drain hose. Upgrade from standard water hose to reinforced septic hose. Primary reason here was to keep good flow despite a tight bend, where the water hose would kink a bit, and the septic hose maintains it's shape. 
• Excavate, clean and scrub the starboard settee locker. Yikes. 
• Clean the fiberglass around the bilge area with Soft Scrub-my favorite cleaner on the boat for really dirty things. Went through many rags wiping old oil and dirt from the area around the engine. 
• Did new varnish on my bright work grab rails. 
• Miscellaneous other cleaning of brass, glass, floors and such. 

Photo on Stuart from previous trip. On this trip, this spot was all green with exploding growth, and I had it to myself.

The harmonics of a sweet sail

Among the experiences in this world that defy description or even comprehension, the feel of a sailboat when sailing well is high among them. We can all conjure a quick list of the things that we know, but would struggle to articulate. Certainly love, or even deep pain. You know it because you have felt it, or you don't.

This reminds me of one of my favorite Robert Frost poems where he says simply:
"We dance around in a ring and suppose,
The Secret sits in the middle and knows."

This "knowing", which I would argue is not intellectual in nature, not manifestly articulate, is beautiful and ineffable.

But somewhat like using a filter on a telescope to look at the sun, I will attempt to throw a few words around the edges of the feeling and see if a sort of impressionist image can take shape that at least suggests the true thing.

Amy and I went for a Mother's Day sail this weekend and were excited to have some wind for our journey north to Roche Harbor. Friday Harbor often has a spot of wind, but for unknown reasons it will die once you leave the harbor and turn north or south. For this reason Amy was advising me to not raise the sail until we saw what was happening outside, and the weight of our experience made me relent. But the wind remained and so up went the canvas and off went the motor. Every boat I have sailed has a different helm and feel and sweet spot, but the groove feels the same. For Aeolus, that spot requires wind of 15 knots or more. We had 15-20 knots of wind from the WNW and were heading NW. Skies were typical of spring, with cotton ball clouds and sun enough to warm your bones.

Aeolus on south side of Jones Island, her home away from home