The little things...

 I've had a genoa furling line on Aeolus for years that was just a little too big for the drum. The genoa wouldn't easily unfurl all the way, and I would often have to go forward and turn the drum by hand to wind more line onto the drum and overcome the friction. A small thing, but who wants to do that? 

So I finally got around to replacing the line with a smaller diameter line. I used Samson XLS3 in 6mm and it works great. If there is anything we learn as sailors it is that the little things become big things when you least want them to. 

The old line is just a bit bigger, and bound up in the drum. 

A Hopeful get away!

 Having Hope Island nearby is a savior for our work weary selves. We escaped to Hope with the full family and enjoyed a lovely overnight. We've been using the boat as a space ship since the boys were toddlers, and there is nothing more natural or wonderful than arriving at a wild island and seeing how they immediately resort to feral happiness. The weather was lovely, and the island always pleases. 

The view of Ranier from Hope Island is lovely. Looks small in photo, but is not. 

Anchoring on the south side of Hope is only a bit tricky as you have to be aware the water shallows pretty steeply far from shore. Drop in about 25 feet at high tide, and you are not too far to row your dinghy to shore. You are far enough in to avoid the strongest of the current, but it does move well through here. We do a lot of swimming, and if you time it wrong, you can work hard to stand still! We swam from shore back to the boat, and just love jumping off the pilothouse into the water. It probably hits around 3 knots of current along this shore. 

My older son is swimming right behind the dinghy. He had to helped back in because the current was so fast!