One of the delightful activities available to the visitor to Maui is sailing — on a snorkel cruise or a cruise to Lana`i or (as in our case) a sunset sail. By the way, I highly recommend Trilogy Excursions for any of your sailing adventures. The Coon family came to Maui more than 40 years ago on an around-the-world cruise. Because they had run out of cash, they offered a few cruises before continuing their trip — but fell in love with Maui and stayed.

Thus what better choice for the first-time sailor?

Every aspect of the cruise was new to Johnny and he watched carefully as the catamaran pushed itself up onto Ka`anapali Beach.

We all dropped our shoes and sandals in a basket on shore and off we went, heading north.

Here we see the Sheraton Maui, the first resort on Ka`anapali beach, which opened in 1963. It was built on top of and into the side of Black Rock, a huge lava formation which you can see clearly in the photo. When it was new, the Sheraton was THE spot for the rich and famous to visit because of its remote exotic locale with a beach which stretches over a mile to the south of Black Rock.

Click here for an interesting YouTube video showing the resort and surrounding area as it looked in those days (also look carefully for a shot of the Pioneer Sugar Mill which was still operating then).

Ah, here is that young sailor studying how this boat is operated.

With good trade winds in the afternoon, the crew can hoist the sails and let the wind power our excursion. BTW, can anyone "read" the nautical signal flags?

Once that work is done, nothing for the new sailor to do but play a video game. Meanwhile, his crew-mates were busy serving drinks and pupus.

All of a sudden, this tremendous rainbow appeared. If you look closely, you may be able to see that the pot of gold is sitting in Kapalua or Napili — right where we were staying. If we hurry home, maybe we can find it.

Well, this is a sunset cruise — and I must say that we got our money's worth with this sunset.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, it lit up the clouds like a volcanic eruption. And the crescent moon decided to make an appearance like an episode of "Can You Top This?".

In the waning twilight, we were dropped off on the beach where our shoes and sandals awaited. Johnny sends his aloha greeting to his new buddies on the crew...

...then watched them sail away. Perhaps this photo will help Johnny remember this trip for years to come.