Wow, I just live for those turtles!  I so look forward to seeing them and interacting with them each day.  They have the ability to just sweep me away from any challenge life might be tossing at me, and I feel calm and at peace.  Today’s conditions were not as glassy as yesterday, but still very nice.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and I was the only one there!  At first I didn’t see any turtles, so I sat and waited.  Suddenly one big turtle surfaced in front of me!  It hung around until two more turtles joined us and I was surrounded, and then it dove down and swam under my board.  Pretty soon three more turtles surfaced all at once and I had six turtles around me!  Two kayaks with four tourists paddled over and one woman said, “Hey, they seem to like you”.  Then one of the turtles swam over to her kayak and bumped right into it!  I thought the tourist was going to fall out of the kayak due to her excitement!  After a little while, the kayaks started to paddle away and they yelled to me, “thanks for sharing the turtles with us!”  Then suddenly two more turtles popped up to the right of me, and then one to the left of me, and I was surrounded again!  I paddled a bit more north, and turtle #10 surfaced right next to me.  It was so friendly and inquisitive and it hung around with me for quite a while!  In the distance I saw the pontoon tour boat approaching, so I knew my time was short.  Just then, one more big turtle surfaced (#11) by me.  The tour boat roared up and threw its anchor and the snorkelers started to jump into the water, so it was time for me to move on.  That boat really disrupts the turtle flow so I am going to have to get my butt in gear a  little earlier tomorrow!  The conditions stayed nice all the way back, and all the way through my swim.  I enjoyed snorkeling down by the rocks and reef, and the water was clear so I saw quite a few fish.  It was a wonderful start to my day, I only hope the rest of it goes as well!  Thankfully, there’s always another day tomorrow!!