February 26th - Lanai

Today's adventure started very early. Left the house at 5:30 AM in order to
make our 6:15 check-in for our departure from Lahaina Harbor to Lanai.
Sailed across aboard the Trilogy Eula and along the way encountered some
male whales sparring and showing off for a female humpback. There are 2-7
males for every female, so competition can be tough.

Upon arrival to Lanai, we took a guided tour to Lanai City. Our guide was
born here and obviously loved this unique Hawaiian island. She left Hawaii
after school, joined the military, raised her family in Minnesota, and has
returned to enjoy her golden years with her sister, 99 year old mother and
101 year old auntie. Lanai City is really a tiny plantation village, built
in 1924 by James Dole. The pineapple plantation has closed, but is still a
"company town", being 98% owned by Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle). Unlike
the former owner, Murdoch, he has done a lot for the town since his
purchase in 2012

Locals do not look at the price of gas (high), just fill it up and drive on
- not that anyone could use much gas on this island. It has no traffic, no
traffic lights and only three paved roads.

Lanai looks like a desert inland, in the bowl of a crater, with no ocean
views.

Headed over to Hulopo Beach for some great snorkeling, the beach is shared
with the renovated Four Seasons resort. The reefs here are considered one of
the best snorkeling places in Hawaii.

Enjoyed a great beach side lunch at Manelo Bay before the sail back to Maui.

February 22nd - Road to Hana

High surf warning was issued for the day, so the plan was to head over to
Jaws to watch some super surfers. The waves were up to 58 feet high, but
unfortunately they were "closed out" (too straight and too close), so there
was no surfing. Since so many people have no sense of the power of the
oceans, and/or common sense, the only option was to close many of the
beaches until they are deemed safe again.

We were already an hour and a half from Kapalua, and the skies were cloudy,
so we decided to continue to Hana. Luckily for me, John did the driving on
this 52 mile roundtrip journey with 617 curves and 54 bridges, many of which
are one lane.

Stopped along the way to take in the amazing views of taro fields,
spectacular cliffs, bamboo jungles, tropical pools, waterfalls and small
villages as we drove through the rain forest to "Heavenly Hana".

Made it back to civilization before dark!