Capturing the Moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI0QXtm22DQ Today I explored a new part of the island of Lana'i. While there are two fancy resorts on the island, there are very few people that ever travel here. There is a small town of about 3000 people, who live near the top of the island in Lana'i City. It has a plantation ghost town feel mixed with a burgeoning artisan community. The island itself used to be the world's largest pineapple plantation under Dole, but now is mostly empty fields and untouched adventures. I've explored some of these hard to reach places by mountain e-bikes, but today it was time for a hike. We drove from Manele small boat harbor, up through town, to the Lana'i Adventure Center. It is nestled under the high forest, just past the fancy health retreat called Sensei Lanai. Here we met our hiking guides for the day, Jerryan and KC. We loaded up into some cool all terrain vehicles, which reminded me of Jurassic Park. Then we blasted up the ridge to the star...

  I've always been fascinated with the giant shipwreck grounded on the shallow reef on the windward side of the island of Lana'i in Hawaii. The channel here is almost always windy and wavy, which means that you can't easily get to the wreck. You especially can't get close to it. But every once in a while the winds will shift... and today was one of those days. So I grabbed my crew and we headed out to explore the wreck with our small boats. The sun came out, really showing off the rusty red color of the hulking ship. It was a self propelled, Navy fuel barge, made out of ferro-cement. It is very strong, hence why it is still here. The ship was contracted out to a company that was supposed to scuttle it in the mid 1950's, but instead they lost control of it in the channel, and it washed up on the shallow reef of Lana'i, where it sits today. It looks like a ghost ship, and even more so when you get up close. The color of rust is everywhere on the ship. Steel rebar ...

  Waking up excited about work is a reality for me. I lead expeditions around the world onboard adventure cruise ships and privately to destinations like Hawaii, Alaska, Antarctica, and Africa. Sharing these wild places with excited guests is an extremely rewarding experience. I constantly see the locations, wildlife, and adventures through their eye....like I'm seeing it for the first time. I feel very lucky to be in this position and I do not take any of it for granted. I've worked many different jobs that have culminated in being able to excel in this career.... teacher, marine biologist, boat captain, naturalist, whale researcher, photographer, lifeguard, guide. Something I heard once as a young man and took to heart was, "If you do something you love long enough, someone will start to pay you for it."   It makes the 14 hour days, the bad weather, the unruly guests, and the last minute contingency plans all worth it. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of...