Swimming with me!

After a few days of a swell and then windy conditions…..I made it back out on the water today.  The wind was threatening but I went out anyway.  A paddling friend had baited me with a text message yesterday that read, “Dolphins, ray and turtles….”…..how could I not go out paddling knowing she saw dolphins, a ray and turtles yesterday?  Since the wind was coming in and out, I decided to stay closer to home and paddle north.  I paddled down to Cove Park and played with several turtles!  The turtle (photo above…) was hanging around and swimming next to me  for quite a while. Twice it seemed as if the wind was going to come in hard…..and then it would back off.  I paddled south towards Kam II, but just as I was passing Kam I, a small brownish ray darted past me!  I tried to follow it but it was too fast!  I got down to Kam II and then the wind DID roar in so I turned around and paddled against it all the way back to Kam I.  I was engulfed in choppy water and white caps!  I sure was glad that I wasn’t farther away.  It must have looked comical with me trying to carry my board in with the wind pushing me!  A friend helped me load my board up onto my car and that was really helpful.  I took a short walk and then went for my swim.  The water clarity has improved so I saw quite a lot of fish.  I even happened upon a group of Goat fish, huddled near the bottom and I’m pretty sure I counted over a hundred of them!  Swimming back against the wind was a chore, but at least I had fins on to help me cut through the choppy water.  It was a windy day, but it sure was beautiful!