We were a quarter-mile offshore of Hickam Air Force Base on a day so still, the ocean was a pane of unbroken glass that stretched from Diamond Head to the Waianae Range. The tide was at an extreme low, exposing reef flats that, on most days, rarely breached the surface. Despite our distance from shore, the water did not reach our knees. We were bent over like large, odd wading birds, contentedly exploring the nooks and crannies of the reef. Painted fish darted away at our

He was young and beautiful, and he lived quietly on a small, tidy boat in a marina located a few miles outside of Waikiki. Despite the marina's proximity to Honolulu's tourist center, it was a world apart in ambience. The odor of paint and tar hung heavy in the air, and, on windless days, the water was green and foul. My father said the young man had sailed singlehandedly to Hawaii from California, and now he made his home on his boat and worked in the tourist trade in Wai