more buddies!

Well, the wind on Friday was quite a struggle to paddle against, all the way from the boat ramp, so I ended up with a sore neck and a sore right arm!  I took Saturday off to rest but this morning I was raring to go.  The day looked fabulous with perfect paddling conditions, so I paddled down to the boat ramp.  It’s Sunday and  I know that more people are out on the water and more boats and jet skis around,  so I just prepared myself!  Well,  it was busier for sure, but there were only two other stand up paddlers hanging around.  I paddled just south of them and spotted my first turtle!  It was a big friendly turtle too.  Then,  a second turtle surfaced and I was sitting right in between them!  Before I knew it, turtle #3 also popped up and joined us.  I was so happy just sitting there watching the turtles swim around me and then swim under me!  I like it when they pop up and look at me, then dive down and swim under me, and then surface again on the other side of me and pop up and look at me again!  It’s so funny to have turtles checking you out.  Just as I had counted eleven turtles visiting me, I wondered if I should stay longer in hopes of a twelfth.  Suddenly, turtle #12 surfaced and I had my dozen! But before I could say “dozen”…..two more turtles surfaced creating a turtle triangle with me sitting in the middle!  Oh wow, what a finale, and with that, I headed back.  Passing into Kam III, I ran into a paddling friend who was headed for the boat ramp.  Conditions stayed perfect all the way back and when I passed Kam II, I ran into another paddling friend.  We paddled together all the way down to Cove park and since the conditions were so very nice and glassy, we hung out there and chatted.  Suddenly the wind started to blow slightly from the south, so my friend decided to paddle back to Kam II.  We spotted a turtle out there but it didn’t stick around, and then as I was heading into Kam I,  I looked down and saw a big turtle swimming under me!  That made a grand total of 16 turtles for today!  Conditions stayed just perfect for my swim and it was still perfect when I left the beach. It was great to get such a perfect day for a change!