So it started out pretty windy this morning so I almost decided not to go out.  The day was beautiful, though they had burned some cane somewhere and the wind was spreading the smoke south.  The smoke was hanging over the mountain and making Kahoolawe and Molokini almost invisible, not to mention I am very allergic to smoke and was wondering how long I would last out in it.  Well, I went out anyway, paddling against the wind for a while before turning south.  Surprisingly, I ran into my first turtle of the day down by Cove Park!  I paddled down to the boat ramp with the wind, but told myself I would not stay long in case the wind picked up like it did yesterday.  I didn’t want to be paddling furiously to get back with a sore blister again today!  At the boat ramp I was alone again and amazingly the wind backed off and it was gorgeous.  It didn’t seem like there were any turtles around today, so I just sat on my board enjoying the scenery.  Before I knew it, three turtles appeared and then another!  Just as I decided to head back to beat the wind, the turtles started popping up just like yesterday….. soon I was sitting in a sea of turtles and I had counted 12!  Then a tour boat must have noticed all the turtles because it brought a boat full of tourists for snorkeling.  Thank goodness I had my time with the turtles before that happened!  I started to paddle back and then right in front of me popped up turtle #14  just outside of Kam III.  I just had to hang out with it, so I did! Surprisingly, the wind stayed back and the ocean calmed, so my paddling back was really smooth.  I even stopped at the quiet zone for a few minutes of solitude before paddling in.  Even more amazing was the ocean stayed calm and nice for my swim too, and besides the fish I saw, I also watched a crab walking along the ocean floor!  The wind line ended up not coming in until after the noon hour.  We never know what we will get, but I was grateful today for perfect conditions and so many turtles!