I'm not a cruise person, but when I was offered the chance to tour the Hawaiian Islands on board a yacht shared by 36 other passengers I began to change my mind. Then when I learned the trip begins in Lanai, one of the few Hawaiian Islands I've not explored and  then the Safari Explorer heads to Molokai where guests hike the sacred Halawa Valley I got excited. The next stop is the Big Island and a walking tour of historic Kailua/Kona. Since, I have just completed creating a map of…

The indifferent, howling storm tossed us through the night. The Hawaiian Islands are 2,000 miles from the nearest land. The waves come in from the open ocean and there is nothing to slow their momentum. We pitched twenty feet up, then plunged down, slamming on the water with a heavy thud. After several hours of this rude pounding, I gave up to the fatalistic notion that this was the way I was meant to go. Since I planned to have my ashes scattered at sea, I felt this was just a short cut to…