Capturing the Moment

  The Safari Explorer in the background with waves crashing artistically in the foreground. I took this picture from our small skiff that I was driving with our guests. Maybe I can blame El Nino for the unusual weather patterns out here in the Hawaiian Islands recently. But whatever it has been, 'unusual', is an understatement. I've been running expeditions from a small cruise ship around the islands for the past three weeks, and we have had big waves and winds the entire time. While that isn't in itself unusual, the directions the wind and waves have been coming from is highly unusual. The winds usually come from the Northeast so consistently that they are dubbed the 'trade winds.' Early traders used to rely on them to sail their merchant ships out to Hawaii. Then they would travel farther north to catch the 'westerlies' and ride them back to San Francisco area. The trade winds have been no where to be seen, so instead our usual calm protected western s

  Every winter, Humpback Whales arrive around the Hawaiian Islands for their breeding and calving season. If you get a chance to go out on the water and do some whale watching, you could be rewarded with some very interesting behaviors. I tell people there are three big goals while whale watching here; seeing a brand new baby whale, seeing a competition pod, and see a breaching humpback whale. Whale watching has been heating up here in Hawaii. The Humpback Whale migration is on in full force. One way to see it is to head out in a small boat from Honokahau Harbor near Kona, Hawaii. Babies are about the size of a small pickup truck, and they are born right here. The momma whales like the clear, calm, warm waters around the islands. The draw to Hawaiian waters must be pretty big, since the adult whales have no food here. They fast the entire time, and then head back to the food rich waters of Alaska when the need to feed outweighs the need to breed. Even though the babies are quite large,

  3 MIN READ 436 WORDS There are a lot of good snorkeling sites in Hawaii. Oahu has Hanauma Bay, Maui has Molokini Crater, and the Big Island has Kealakekua Bay. Today we visited Kealakekua Bay, the Big Island's premier snorkel destination. The orientation of the bay, and the lava rock peninsula create a very protected bay for a super developed coral reef. It is possible to feel like a part of the school when snorkeling around the shallows. There are just so many different kinds of beautiful fish here. Just offshore the reef slopes away into the blue abyss, sometimes visited by Hawaiian spinner dolphins. Kealakekua was a very sacred place to the ancient Hawaiians. Its name translates to 'Pathway to the Gods.' Bones of ancient Hawaiians are buried in the many lava tubes that dot the giant cliffs forming the southern wall of the bay. Is is also the historical site where the first western captain, Captain James Cook, landed in the Hawaiian Islands. Unfortunately for Cook, that

  Beautiful view looking downslope at the lodge at Stowe Mountain Resort We have gotten a bit of snow over the past few days here in Stowe, Vermont. Our little town becomes a winter wonderland when that happens and I always say to myself that I should go out and take some photos. Well, today was the day I finally did it. I started in downtown, with the famous Stowe Church. Main street was still all decorated for the holidays. Then I took a few photos on my way up mountain road on my way to the Stowe Mountain Resort. Finally I strapped on my snowboard and headed up the Four Runner Quad to get some photos from way up high. The scenes were just beautiful, but feel free to take a look for yourself. I had to stop here and take a photo of the sun backlighting all of these snow covered trees. I thought, 'what could be more Northeast than this?' My son getting in on the snowy action. Way up on Mount Mansfield, looking down over snowy Vermont View from the top of the quad today at Stowe