Capturing the Moment

2014 Year in Review: Travel Pics Well, looking through my photos from the past year is a bit overwhelming. I was planning on doing one year in review post, but now I am at a point where I think it's best to split into two...at least. So for the first post I will put up some memorable travel pictures, memories, and adventures from the past year. In the next post I will recap my first year spent living on Oahu.   This year I was able to travel a bit around Indonesia, a few jaunts to Maui, and a big trip back east to visit Savannah and Vermont. Throw in a wild wedding in upstate Wisconsin and you've got some fun memories indeed. So here goes a throwback of pics from 2014... Colorful Hypselodoris infucata Creamy Nudibranch, Chromodoris fidelis    Heidi and I revisited Indonesia this year with the goal of diving a ton, exploring some new places, and seeing some wild underwater creatures. We were not disappointed. With the addition of Phoebe and Erica to the Bal...

This underwater adventure was one of the most magical underwater encounters I have had the opportunity to experience. In the past I have put up pictures from wild dolphins encounters around the Hawaiian Islands, but I've always wanted to capture the feeling on video. So this time I took my Canon 5d markII and drove out to a beach on the west coast called Electric Beach. I was pleased at the flat calm conditions of the ocean when I pulled up, and pleased even further when I saw the pod of dolphins! I had been skunked the last few times I had been here so I didn't waste any time in suiting up, grabbing my fins and mask, and practically running to the water.       As I started swimming I realized that the dolphins were much further out than normal, but I was on a mission so I kicked hard. It didn't pay off. As I swam up to the four other snorkelers I saw the dolphins slowly cruising away from the group. I hoped that the pod would turn around and come back but I was a...

        The blog has been quiet this last week because I have been out at sea sailing around the islands of Oahu, Moloka'i, Lana'i, Koho'olawe, and Maui aboard the tallship Makani Olu. The Makani Olu (Gracious Wind) is owned and operated by Marimed Foundation , a non-profit organization involved with sail training since 1988. The 96-foot, three-masted staysail schooner, retrofitted for sail training in Hawaiian waters, is the central component of a model experiential education and treatment program for at-risk adolescents built around ocean voyaging.        The Makani Olu is a 96', three masted schooner. Different groups ranging from elder hostel to private parties can set sail aboard the Makani Olu. This trip was a bit different. Marimed runs a house for troubled boys and occasionally brings them out aboard the Makani Olu as a character and team building endeavor. These boys, 14 through 17, face difficult emotional and educational c...