To Lanai, Hawaii By Sunrise Sail

Mornings are magical. There’s an aura of serenity, innocence and freshness in the hours just after sunrise; it’s as though in the dark of night, when most of us were sleeping, breezes swept away all impurities, rewarding us with a clean tableau. Treat yourself to a sunrise sail.

During a sunrise sail, this feeling of renewal seems more pronounced when you’re sailing. Old salts will tell you the farther you are from shore, the more aware you are of the miracle that is nature.

About three dozen guests boarded the 55-foot sailing catamaran Trilogy VI for Trilogy Excursions’ Discover Lanai Sunrise Sail. We are all looking forward to a memorable experience and hopefully seeing many whales up close.

Daylight had just broken when we headed from Maui’s Lahaina Harbor across the Auau Channel to Manele Bay on the southern coast of Lanai. The wind and sea appeared to be dozing; their movements were barely perceptible.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a woman standing on the starboard side shouted excitedly, “There’s a whale out there!” This was truly the ultimate, sunrise experience!

We turned just in time to see a spout of mist and part of a humpback’s dark blue-gray body rising out of the water. Another blue-gray form appeared beside it. Even though they were off in the distance, we were pretty sure they were a mother and her baby.

During our leisurely 90-minute trip to Manele, we spotted a few other whales; unfortunately, they were too far away for us to get decent photos, but it was thrilling just the same. One even lifted a fin as if to wave at us.

We arrived at Manele, anticipating a full day of fun. First, we took an hour-long van tour of Lanai City, the ambitiously named center of Hawaii’s smallest inhabited island.

No hustle. No bustle. As we drove through the heart of town past rows and rows of modest but tidy plantation houses, most dating back to the 1930s, it was clear life here moved at its own easy going pace.