Nice day!

It looked like a nice day and although there was some wind blowing and some loopy swells rolling in, I was happy to be going out paddling!  Just as I started to paddle out, I spotted a big turtle popping up just south of me, so I paddled over.  Two tourists on rented boards saw it too and were also dashing over to see it, but I got there first.  It went under a couple of times and then swam under my board so I paddled along with it.  The turtle was going way too slow for me, so I paddled on.  Then I ran into a paddling friend who I haven’t seen for a while, so we paddled together south and did some “catching up”.  The wind continued to blow from the south and the water wasn’t very calm but we kept paddling south.  My friend needed to go in so I decided to paddle a little longer to the south, but I also knew the wind wasn’t backing off completely and could quickly turn around.  I got into Kam III, and then decided to paddle back.  The wind never turned and it ended up being really nice!  It stayed nice while I swam too and the water is very clear right now, so I saw lots of fish down at the reef.  I also saw what looked like a snake….but there are no snakes in Hawaii….so I knew it had to be some type of eel.  It was white with black markings and it sure acted like a snake!  It slithered around the rocks and coral and sat with its head held up like a Cobra!  I watched from a distance!  Then when I headed back, I ran across a ray that was bigger than the Spotted Eagle Ray I’ve been seeing lately and it was only spotted around the edges of its wings.  It didn’t seem afraid of me at all!  I swam with it for a while and then swam back.  The wind really backed off and it just got nicer out on the ocean!  I could see the white caps way out in the distance, but it wasn’t coming in any time soon.  It was just a really nice day!!