Gorgeous Day!

When I got up this morning,  I hurried outside to look down at the ocean with the binoculars.  Yesterday was crazy windy from the start….but today I could see white caps way out there….but none in closer to shore.  It was a gorgeous day at the beach too, perfect for paddling!  About ten minutes into paddling, a south wind started to blow, but I headed down to the boat ramp anyway.  When I got to the boat ramp, the wind had completely backed off  and it was perfect there and no one else was there. I had the place to myself!  Suddenly, I spotted my first turtle farther out, so I paddled out to it.  Just as I got to it, another turtle surfaced too and I was sitting in-between them!  Then farther north, I spotted another turtle, so I paddled over to it.  Just as I got to that one, another turtle surfaced and I was sitting in-between them too!  Turtle #4 disappeared, but #5 stayed around and it dove under my board and popped up on the other side of me!  Then turtle #6 appeared on my right, and I was in-between again.  Then something really funny happened, both turtles dove under me and they each came up on the opposite side they had been on….. they just switched sides!  I was ecstatic because every turtle was really friendly!  Turtles#7 and #8 popped up independently of each other and then turtle #9 surfaced and I was surrounded by turtles!  I hung out with about eight more turtles and then decided to head back.  I was lucky to have had the whole place to myself and I missed all the boats too.  Conditions stayed nice all the way back, and it was so nice and glassy that I paddled out to the “Quiet Zone”, and sat for a few minutes before heading in.  The conditions stayed nice throughout my swim too and I took the camera to get some photos.  On the way back, I ran across a big fish (that I don’t know what kind it was), but by the time I got the camera ready, it had swam away.  Then that school of little fish I see sometimes swam past me and again I tried to get a photo, but they were too fast for me!  Oh well, another day!  It sure was a nice day, though,  until the wind came up in a fury and started blowing sand around.  That was my cue to go home!