turtles!

It has been so windy lately and the wind advisory was still in effect…..but it was just so beautiful down at the beach, that I had to go out paddling.  I could see the white caps way out on the horizon, but so far, they didn’t seem to be moving in anytime soon.  I paddled out and looked towards the mountain and noticed that it was completely clear on the top!  Even the other islands were visible today.  I paddled in perfect conditions all the way down to the boat ramp, watched for whales,  and I could see the bottom of the ocean the whole way down!  The visibility is excellent right now.  When I arrived at the boat ramp, I spotted a turtle out further and paddled in its direction but it disappeared.  Suddenly I saw it swimming under the water coming right at me and then it popped up just at the nose of my board!  Then it dove down and popped up on the right side of my board and seemed to be nuzzling the side of my board, just lightly banging against it.  Then it dove under me and popped up on the left side of my board and did the same nuzzling thing on that side!  It was so funny.  I wonder what it was thinking?  After that turtle disappeared, two more turtles surfaced to the right of me and I cruised up between them.  They hung with me for a few minutes and were very friendly.  Then two more turtles surfaced to the left of me so I paddled over. They were so close together that I couldn’t pull up between them!  I was happy to have had five turtles buddies to hang with and the water was so calm and beautiful, but I also knew that the wind could come roaring in at any time, so I decided to paddle back.   While I was passing  Kam III, I ran into three more turtles and hung out with them for a while.  I paddled back easily in perfect conditions and it was so nice that I hated to go in!  I just sat on my board for a while just enjoying the day and then paddled in.  The conditions ended up staying perfect for my swim too!  I saw a fairly large Ulua hanging near the bottom and watched quite a few tropical fish down at the reef. The visibility was excellent!  I was happy it stayed nice the whole time I was out on and in the water, but then it was still nice when I left too!  It was just a perfect kind of day!!