Since we just posted our first message, we ought to introduce ourselves. We're Cindy and Richard Cook, of Holladay Utah. Our cruising experience includes sailboat charters in the Abacos, and power boating on Lake Powell and other western lakes, and our most favorite, the Pacific NW coast. Our first boat was a C-Dory 22 outboard cruiser, which we dearly loved for seven years. She took us on a three-month adventure, from launch at Prince Rupert, BC all over SE Alaska in 1996. One of the highlights was watching 200-foot chunks calve from the Marjorie Glacier at the top of Glacier bay, making waves higher than the length of our boat. After I took retirement at 51 a couple of years ago, we gave ourselves a reward of a lovely green-hulled Bounty 257, a 26' pilothouse cruiser with Volvo diesel I/O and a planing hull. New Moon took us back to Alaska in 1999, starting this time from Everett WA - a memorable summer. Our border terrier Scrappy has become an old salt. Many friends and relatives have helped us enjoy the peace and beauty of cruising. Our towable boats aren't exactly spacious trawlers, but we've spent lots of time on the water, even with guests, and we're pretty good at living well in a small space. Good food, good scotch, good fishing, good whale watching, good traveling, and so many beautiful anchorages! Richard & Cindy Cook New Moon Bounty 257