Labor Day Weekend Cruising

We had hoped to make the PSCC South Sound trip, but it didn't work out. We got down to Blakely late Saturday, had to weave though the anchorage, and anchored closer to a couple boats than comfortable. When we headed out the next morning, Kathleen noticed the instrument pannel wasn't lit up. I pulled the cover off and the alternator was beginning to smoke. She turned the engine off, spun the boat around while I found the loose wire and got it connected. Once restarted, we decided to stay closer to home, and sailed up to Port Madison. We found a sweet little hole in the back, stayed for a nice layover day. Port Madison was busy with boats rafted, kids on a log, music, toys and boats parading around. I needed to be back for a survey, and again a Labor Day windstorm was expected. As we headed out I put both reefs in the mainsail, and we reached back to Shilshole with maybe half the genoa out. The weather guys nailed it; 2-4ft. seas and 20-25kts wind. We spun up in the waves, and I needed to drive. Kathleen pointed out we were doing mostly 6.5 knots and we'd be home in about 1.5 hours. Occasionally she pointed out we were hitting 7.2 kts. Well 7.3 is our design hull speed, so that close reefed up is pretty good. Bright light bouncing off the water, and it was a fun sail home. Coming down the fairway she pointed put the wind was only gusting 18kts, and then she nailed the landing. No one noticed of course. Nice to be off the dock! I hope you enjoy these shared pics - it's good therapy for me. Thanks all! (Click on any image below for a larger image "slide show" - arrow keys work well.)