wildwahinepaddler

It’s raining!

Yesterday, we went to Keawakapu Beach because the water  at Kam I was most certainly dirty from the big storm run off from Saturday.  Keawakapu was beautiful and the water was clear and nice!  We went for a walk and a swim.  At sunset last night, the water didn’t look too brown at Kam I, so I thought there was a chance that it would be cleared up for the morning.  Well, no such luck…….not only was the water still dirty….but the wind had come up and it looked like a storm was approaching from the north!  Since the wind was blowing from the north, I paddled into it.  It was bumpy conditions but as soon as I reached Cove Park, it started raining!  I was paddling in the rain!  To the south, the sky looked like it was getting sunny so I turned around and paddled right out of the rain.  I paddled down to Kam II and hung out there for a while.  The sky continued to clear and it suddenly became very beautiful out.  Even the wind died back!  I stayed out for an hour and then headed back to Kam I.  I paddled in very close to the shore because the water was brown and green and I didn’t want to get in it very far!  The day continued to get nicer but I wasn’t going to swim in that water.  The lifeguard told me he wouldn’t recommend swimming for two weeks at the Kamaole beaches!  I sure hope it doesn’t last that long….but for tomorrow, I think I might head straight down to the Mana Kai to go paddling since the water was very clean there on Sunday.  I missed my swim today!!

Beautiful!

When I got up this morning……it was overcast and stormy looking but the beach cam showed calm water, so I decided to go paddling.  When I got down to the beach, some wind had come up and the water wasn’t calm anymore!  I contemplated going back home, but I really wanted to go paddling.  Considering the threatening weather conditions, I decided to stay close to home base so I paddled north.  The wind was blowing east, on shore and then it changed to north.  I met up with a paddling friend and we kept paddling north, but it was choppy!  Suddenly the wind backed off some and we turned and paddled south down to the end of Kam II.  We didn’t see any turtles today so they must have been hiding out.  The clouds started to change position and the sun came out briefly, but the wind started to blow.  It took me a while to paddle back to Kam I and luckily my husband came to help me with my board because it got so windy.  It was nice to have some help to put my board up onto my racks too!  The day turned out to be beautiful, though windy, so we went for a walk and then I went for my swim.  I swam south, down to the reef, but the reef was not very clear.  Just as I turned to swim back, a turtle swam past me!  I turned around and swam back down to the reef with the turtle.  Sadly the turtle had some tumors on it and that always makes me sad.  Swimming back was work, against the wind, but the water felt great!  Later in the day, it rained like crazy up on the mountain and suddenly Kam II was brown from all the run off from the rain!  I hope it isn’t brown dirty water tomorrow…..I really hate when that happens…….we’ll see…….

Stormy!

So this is how it started out……very stormy looking and the rain was threatening!  After I missed yesterday due to some unpleasant personal complications….I just HAD to go out on the ocean!  I “needed” turtles!  Well, I decided to paddle south towards the boat ramp even though I knew I might find myself in the middle of rain.  I ran into a paddling friend and we decided to go all the way down to the boat ramp.  Amazingly, by the time we got there, the clouds had moved around and the rain looked less threatening!  In fact, it got downright gorgeous right before our eyes!  The turtles must have been in hiding with the overcast skies because we only saw two turtles and they weren’t hanging on the surface like usual.  We headed back and it got more beautiful out on the ocean!  We paddled down to Charley Young Beach and watched three whales jumping around out about a mile or so!  Then on the way in, one more turtle surfaced outside of Kam I.  Three turtles today was better than none!  I am so glad I braved the stormy conditions and went out.  I took a short walk and then headed in for my swim.  It was very nice conditions for swimming and the sky got an amazing surreal mix of filtered sun, blue sky and assorted clouds….it was so beautiful!  The skies then got darker and more threatening again so I don’t know what is to come by tomorrow.  We’ll see!

There you are!

Well…..I got lucky with the wind today too!  I got out by 8:30 a.m. and there was just a slight breeze blowing onshore.  I paddled in the direction of the boat ramp and ran into a paddling friend who had just come out too.  We wondered about the wind and what it might do……but we decided to paddle south in hopes that the wind would cooperate.  It was a beautiful day on the island!  When we passed Kam III, another paddling friend showed up and I continued to the boat ramp.  I immediately had two turtles surface and I paddled up between them!  Then the same thing happened two more times.  Suddenly three turtles popped up and I got to sit right in the middle of those turtles!  One turtle cam right up to my board and I got a picture of it.  I was feeling pretty happy with ten turtles for the day so I headed north.  Suddenly two, three, four………no it ended up six turtles all at once and I was surrounded!  Then another turtle triangle appeared and I paddled up in the middle of those turtles!  Three other paddlers were watching me and then they all came over to my spot.  I continued to paddle north and that was good because the wind changed directions and was blowing against me.  I paddled in choppy conditions until half way past Kam II……ran into my paddling friend and then the wind backed off and it was just perfect!  We paddled down to Cove Park and it stayed so nice.  On the way back, another turtle swam up and three tourist ladies who were swimming were ecstatic!   I ended up staying out on the ocean for two hours!  Lucky for me, the conditions stayed nice and I was able to take a short walk and go for my swim.  The water is so clear!  I swam down to the reef and watched the fish for a while and then swam back.  The wind still had not come in full force and it was still nice when I left the beach.  What a beautiful day and nineteen turtles!!

Hi there!

Woo Hoo…… it wasn’t windy this morning!  I couldn’t wait to get out on my board.  I was running late and didn’t get out until 9:30 a.m. but it was still really nice out on the water!  I decided to paddle north since I was late and with the crazy wind lately, I didn’t trust it.  I paddled in nice conditions down past Cove Park.  Two turtles visited me and then the wind picked up.  I paddled south and realized that the wind was blowing from the south so I had to paddle against it!  I paddled down to Kam II and then ran into a paddling friend.  Then the wind backed off and we paddled down to Kam III.  It was so nice, but I still didn’t trust the wind!  We paddled back outside of Kam II and a turtle swam right between us.  It was a sunny day, not too windy, and three turtles…….just what I needed!  It stayed nice and I ended up staying out for an hour and a half!  It was still so nice when I paddled back to Kam I, but I wanted to get my swim in too.  Just as I hoisted my board up onto my racks…..the wind came roaring in!  This time it was blowing from the north and it got crazy windy.  I went swimming anyway but I swam north into the wind and then the wind blew me back!  The water was so clear today!  By the time I left the beach, the wind was blowing in a frenzy again.  I was so glad I got all my paddling and swimming in before that happened!  I hope I catch a break from the wind tomorrow morning too…..we’ll see…….it was so great to be back out on the ocean!

BABY TURTLES!

This is one of the longest bouts of windy weather in a long time!  Today it was a sea of white caps, so I decided to visit the Maui Ocean Center so I could at least see some sea creatures!  I hung around at the turtle enclosure just photographing the baby turtles and they were so spunky and cute.  I am really missing paddling out on the ocean so I hope the wind gets back to normal conditions soon!!!!