Perfect morning for paddling!

This is how it looked this morning.  Clear, sunny skies and calm ocean, perfect for paddling!  The top of Haleakala was clear and I could see the island of Lani today.  There was a slight North wind blowing,  just enough to keep it cool.  Paddling down to the boat ramp was very enjoyable and when I got there, I was the only one there.  Initially I didn’t see any turtles, but the first one surprised me by surfacing  behind me!  It swam around me for a few minutes, and then turtle, after turtle popped up all around me.  I was in turtle heaven when I had counted 12 turtles in all!  It started to get windy and wasn’t backing off, so I decided to paddle back.  All of  sudden another big turtle popped up in front of me, so that made 13 in all!  I couldn’t help sticking around to experience the last turtle since it was so friendly, but I paid for it when the wind got even stronger and I ended up having to paddle against it all the way back from the boat ramp.  It took me forever to get back, and when I came in I noticed that I had a blister on my right thumb from paddling so much on my right side.  This blister will be sore for a while!  The “bakers dozen” of turtles was so worth it though.  And my swim?  It was a rough water swim today!