Hi Bumpy!

Finally a nice paddling day and I was able to go out!  I got out by 8:20 a.m. so I was even early today.  I ran into two paddling friends as I cruised by Kam 2…… so we paddled together down to the boat ramp.  I paddled ahead because I was working out some pent up frustration!  As I paddled into the boat ramp area, I couldn’t believe that I counted EIGHT paddlers in the area!  Thankfully, all but one was paddling out of the area…….so by the time we all got there, only one stand up paddler was there and she had two little girls with her on the board.  I paddled out a bit and then heard one of my friends yell to me that I was surrounded by turtles and I didn’t even know it!  She was right……..suddenly I realized that I was surrounded by at least four turtles.  Two of them disappeared, but two of them stayed and I got to sit in between them!  Then three more turtles surfaced, so that made seven turtles for the day….. with the really friendly turtle, Bumpy,  swimming around my board!  That is a photo of Bumpy (above) popping up to say hello!  Both my friends said that they got caught in the wind yesterday and said it came up fast, so we decided to start heading back.  On the way back, the wind actually backed off and it was so nice!  We decided to paddle north for a while, but just as we were passing Charley Young beach, the wind started blowing from the south.  Pretty soon, some little white caps were starting to form so we turned around and then had to paddle into the wind!  It took so much longer to get back, but I was heading in.  My friends were continuing to Kam 2, so they had to work even harder.  It stayed windy, but still blowing from the south, so hoisting my board up on my racks was tricky.  On my swim, I headed south into the wind and on the way back, I flew back with the wind!  The water was pretty clear, except down at the reefs and rocks.  I did manage to see a few fish though.  I hope the water at the reef clears up soon!  It was a beautiful day to be at the beach.  I hope tomorrow is as nice!