I knew it was nice earlier in the morning but I wasn’t sure for how long.  The wind has been crazy the last few days……. However this morning it was surprisingly calm.  At first I decided to watch the conditions….. Mainly the sea of white caps further out.  It was so nice in closer so I grabbed my board and headed on out.  I decided to stay close to home just in case the white caps moved in quickly.  It was so beautiful!  I was so happy to be out paddling!  I paddled through Kam 2 and then turned around and paddled north to Cove Park.  Not many people were out so I had the place to myself.  Only one turtle popped up while I was there and it didn’t hang around long.   Suddenly the wind whipped up from the south and east….. Gusting at times almost blowing my hat off!  I headed back to Kam 1 in choppy conditions.  I thought, oh boy, here we go!  It was so choppy and paddling against the wind was a chore.  I finally made it back and hauled my board up the beach fighting against the wind!   I was worried about getting my board safely onto my racks and that I might need to ask someone to help me….. But suddenly there was a short break in the wind and I went for it!  I was really glad to have my board securely up on my car.  By the time I went for my swim…… The pesky wind had backed off again and I had a great time!   I went down to the reef and saw Humu Humu fish, Unicorn fish, Yellow Tangs and Trumpet fish.  The water visibility was really good!  When I headed back and could hear the wind whistling in my snorkel…. It was blowing again.  Half way back a turtle appeared in front of me so I turned around to swim with it!  It was so good to see a turtle!  It swam under me and then to the side of me…… Then it came up for air and then headed back out to sea.  I turned around and swam back.  On land I had a visit from another kind of beach buddy…… A young Franklin Wren!  It was amazingly friendly which is unusual but I enjoyed it coming up and looking at me……. It was so cute!  The wind continued to play games and threatened to come in several more times until the white caps finally roared in for good…… I hope I get to go paddling tomorrow!