Well, the Silver Whisper has docked at Pier 1 in the Port of Hilo.  Waved HI! to Captain Julian Albici from my veranda. Tours are in the $500 range, and I've seen a dozen eruptions in my life.  On the other hand, can you believe this timing?  From Google AI: Kīlauea volcano is currently experiencing precursory activity and overflowing lava at the Halemaʻumaʻu summit crater as scientists monitor the buildup to episode 55 , according to the U.S. Geological Survey - USGS . [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Current Activity and Status Alert Level: The U.S. Geological Survey has set the volcano alert level to WATCH and the aviation color code to ORANGE . [ 1 , 2 ] Summit Overflows: Low-level eruptive activity and repeated overflows from the north vent in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater began on September 7, with activity continuing into September 10. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Lava Flows: Two primary lava flows formed from recent overflows, with one traveling about one kilometer southwest and another...

The best news of all for us on the Silver Whisper, two days away from arriving in Hilo, is that Hurricane Lowell came, caused relatively minor damage, and left.   Hurricane Karina is now a post-tropical cyclone, with eye west and north of the Hawaiian Islands, while moving away, and Hurricane Marie is a post-tropical cyclone at 40 MPH and continues north, away from Hawaii. Our ship is located just about where the eye of Karina was a couple of days ago,  Good timing.  The seas around us are supposedly of 7-foot waves, but these must be large swells, for I can't see any wave-like formation.  For the past few days we have had difficulty walking around, for there is considerable rocking and rolling. Other news of the day: The NFL season kicks-off tomorrow at 8:25PM EDT on NBC with the New England Patriots at the Seattle Seahawks. Bet you forgot that the Seahawks won the last Super Bowl? Predictions?  They are mostly wrong. Read this.   And Yahoo used Ar...