I've always been something of a geography buff, but I still didn't know exactly where Fanning Island was. The name come up while we were researching cruises, and I remembered that it was somewhere south of Hawaii.

I looked it up in a National Geographic atlas and refined the location a bit. It's about a thousand nautical miles south of Hilo in the "Line Islands."

But I had to go to Wikipedia to learn more. It's a tiny coral atoll with a maximum elevation of about 10 feet above sea level. Population is less than 2000. It is surrounded by reefs, and the center of the ring of isles that make up the atoll is a reef-filled lagoon. It is about 5 degrees north of the equator. I think if you picture a tropical island, you will get a good look at Fanning. The preferred name, which is probably used by locals, is "Tabuaeran."

They say that a steamer comes by several times a year and regular visits are made by a cruise liner based in Honolulu. She is the 50,000 ton Norweign Wind, and I have serious doubts that there is a dock that can handle a ship that big. It's probably one of those ports where you tender in.

I was pleased by how quickly the information popped up on Wikipedia. Why didn't they have stuff like that when I was in school?

We have sailed on the Norweign Dream, a sister ship of the Wind.

Just because we researched it doesn't mean we are going. We are looking for the right cruise all the time, and when the right deal on the right cruise comes up at the right time, we pack and go. The geography lessons are a bonus.
Howard