Honolulu, Hawaii — 8:00 PM Local Time

Tchaikovsky on the Bose. A gentle breeze. A spectacular sunset. Full moon rising. Small boats slip by. Evening cigar on the fly bridge. Laughter drifts from the Hawaii Yacht Club. Perfect temperature. Another day in paradise.

Rip and Wolf are retrieving our new crew member, Alida Christianson, from the airport. Tomorrow the four of us will begin the 2,000-mile trip to Majuro, The Marshall Islands. Before he returns home to Phoenix, our helpful technician, Dennis Brunssen (who flew here just to help out), will wave goodbye as we depart. Our weather routing service predicts gentle seas and fair skies.

We’ve been here longer than expected, but I will miss Honolulu. It’s a slightly crazy, always interesting, diverse, and spectacularly beautiful city. Truly one of America’s best.

What strikes me are the families. They are everywhere. Hawaii’s horrible land situation — 39 families own 7/8ths of all the private land in the state — locks most families — average working people — out of affordable housing. But the situation has one beneficial effect: Folks who cannot possibly afford a home on their own live together as great extended families. They don’t just live together, they live together. They help each other. They run businesses together. They go to the park together. They worship together.

Affordable space is limited. But husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, grandparents, and great-grandparents make it work, together.

And ultimately there is nothing more valuable than that.

–Keith

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