Capturing the Moment

  I did not see this adventure coming. The cruise ships (at least the little US flagged ones) are starting to run again up in Alaska, just in time for the summer season. I flew up in late May to meet the Safari Quest, a 22 passenger expedition ship that I have worked on since 2018 as an expedition leader. Due to some last minute schedule changes the vessel was dockside for the first week of my arrival. Not only did this mean that I could dust some of the rust off after missing the entire last season due to the pandemic closures, but I could catch up with my buddy Ben who has been living in Juneau full time.   This winter happened to be an epic snow event, dropping feet upon feet here in Juneau. The towering mountains that surround the town are still snow capped now in late May. But I was pretty surprised when Ben suggested we try some split boarding with skins up to some backcountry ski destinations. I told him I was working on various boat projects until around 5pm and he sai...

  Whenever I am in Maui I have to check and see if my favorite wave is breaking. Way up on the Northwest side of the island, about twenty minutes past Lahaina, an idyllic bay sits in the perfect position to wrap big northwest swells around its point, creating a perfect peeling right known as Honolua Bay. Always better with friends     A 'right' as surfers know it means that because of the direction the waves breaks over the reef, when you pop up on your board you travel to your right down the wave. I prefer 'lefts' since I surf goofy-footed, or right foot forward, and going left leaves me facing the wave. But I can't pass up a right as perfect as Honolua. I will often pig dog the wave, which means to reach down and grab the rail of the surfboard like I'm doing in the picture above.    It can be a mission just getting up to Honolua, so it's always better to do it with friends. This time my good friend Ben was also surfing. He is a goofy-foot as wel...

Nearing the top of the Lahaina Pali Trail Hiking up from Ukemehame    There are not too many hikes on the dry side of Maui between Lahaina and Kihei. The only option is a dry, rocky climb up the Pali cliffs towards the line of windmills. This is called the Lahaina Pali trail. It is a 1,600ft climb up from sea level with no shade but beautiful panoramas of Maalaea Bay and the central valley. There are two entrances to the hike, one just across from the shops at Maalaea Harbor and the other across from Ukumehame Beach Park. If you only have one car and plan to go up to the windmills and back I would suggest starting at the Ukumehame entrance. Both ways are exposed to the sun with little shade so hiking early in the morning or later in the afternoon is usually the way to go. However you do occasionally get some cloud cover which makes the hike doable all day.   This was my third time up the Lahaina Pali trail and every time I have done it differently. I had hiked...

Searching for the green room   Welcome back to Maui! Honolua style.  Back in Maui for Heidi's spring break we snuck in a quick trip with friends up the west coast to the fabled wave at Honolua Bay. We weren't sure what the waves were going to look like but we took long boards just in case it was small. It wasn't. Brian with the laid back bottom turn    After a few small waves out at the point, we paddled over to the cave where the waves looked a bit bigger. Turns out we could have used boards about half this size but we charged nontheless. We put those boards to the test and came out smiling. Barrels in Maui Ben grabbing the rail   All three of us did our best to keep Heidi busy on the camera. She was perched high above the cave about sixty feet over all the surfers. Some of the longer waves took us right under her giving the shots an almost aerial feel. Steep takeoffs at Honolua   This provided a great opportunity to show ...