Windy!

I missed paddling yesterday since my car needed some regular maintenance done, so today I was raring to get out on the ocean!  When I got down to the beach, though, it was already starting to get windy!  I went out anyway.  I ran into a paddling friend as I headed into the Kam II area and she was going to paddle north because of the wind.  I decided to paddle south like I usually do, hoping that the wind would back off.  Just as I was passing Kam II, I ran into a big turtle!  Even though I was concerned about the wind, I stopped to visit with it. The wind was at my back the whole way down but it did back off while I was at the boat ramp.  There were two kayakers already there, so I paddled farther south.  I had to wait a while for the turtles, but then they started to surface!  There were so many of them!  Suddenly I was surrounded by four turtles and I thought the kayakers would come paddling over, but they didn’t.  Then a big turtle popped up by me and I recognized it!  It was my new buddy, “”Bumpy”!  It surfaced three times to visit me.  I also saw “Spot” today!  I was sitting between so many turtles I couldn’t keep track of them!  I was pretty sure I had counted about nineteen turtles when another paddling friend cruised up.  We chatted for a few minutes and then more turtles surfaced!  Suddenly I spotted three turtles so I paddled over quickly and it was a turtle triangle!  A couple of other paddlers moved into the area too and my friend decided to paddle back.  I stayed for a little while, until the pontoon boat with snorkelers on it showed up.  I always cringe a bit when I see that boat, but actually many of the crew on that boat are very friendly and often ask about my turtles by name!  After the snorkelers started jumping into the water I knew my time there was over, so I paddled back.  As I passed through Kam II, I ran into a paddling friend and stopped to chat with her.   Before I knew it, the wind blasted in and it wasn’t going to let up!  My friend paddled in at Kam II and I trudged on back to Kam I, struggling against the wind.  It was a work out but I didn’t really mind.  It stayed windy and my swim ended up being a rough water swim!  The water was so clear and it felt so good, so I didn’t mind the wind.  Swimming back was a challenge however!  The wind was not going to back off either.  I hope it’s not windy early tomorrow!!