Aloha!  Here I am in Kauai… back where it is lush and green and there are lots of beaches and sea turtles.  Jose rented a car this morning so Antony and two of the trainees, Emily and Rona, and I headed out on an epic adventure.  We drove up to the north side of the Island and after stopping for an amazing smoothie in Hanelai, we found a great little beach with lovely sand that was so hot my feet got pretty nearly burnt.  I actually paused to pour water on them at one point so they would not burn.  We did some snorkeling there and Rona and I found some serious amounts of sea turtles.  One guy had his head stuck in a hole, wedging himself in with his flipper and was having the feast of his life.  It was pretty neat to see.  Thanks to a waterproof disposable camera someone gave me at the end of leg 5, I have some photos so we’ll see how those turn out.  Now we’re wandering around, pausing to find this free wifi place.  I’m cooking the next two days, so I’ll hang out closer to the boat and toast on the beach at the Marriot Hotel beside us in Nawiliwili.  Thursday night or Friday morning we will jump off to head home.  We should be back on that side of the ocean for the first time in a year about 18 days later!  I’m looking forward to this passage.  I know I say this every leg, but I really like these guys and I’m looking forward to having a passage with them.  I just hope that I can keep up the energy for the last month of Offshore before I go into hibernation at home!  I spent my days off in Honolulu playing with the new computer and getting all my photos organised on here.  I’ve begun a slideshow of my photos for each leg so I won’t be tormenting anyone with all 5000 photos that I’ve taken to date…  Yay digital.  Looking forward to the trade winds as we sail home.