wildwahinepaddler

Friendly guy!

It was another gorgeous day on Maui today!  Mostly sunny skies and a slight East wind blowing.  I headed straight for the boat ramp!  When I arrived…. there were three people snorkeling and diving down, so I wondered if the turtles were hiding.  Suddenly two turtles surfaced about the same time and I cruised up in-between them!  Then two more turtles popped up, and that made four turtles so far.  A paddling friend cruised into the boat ramp area and four turtles surfaced and we were surrounded!  I threw my hands in the air and yelled, “we’re surrounded!”  I love when that happens!  Suddenly there were turtles everywhere and the snorkelers had disappeared.  The turtle (in the above photo) was so friendly that I thought it was going to climb right up onto my board!  I got some good photos today.  My friend had to leave but I stayed to enjoy every minute!  Soon a boat cruised into the area, right by me.  I heard the captain telling his small group that I visit the turtles there every day and then he kept following me!  I decided to paddle back.  It was great conditions on the way back too!  It was hard to make the decision to come in, but I wanted to go for a walk and swim too.  A turtle swam past me on the way in!  I think there were about eighteen turtles today!   The conditions stayed so nice all the way through my swim and the reef was pretty clear too!  I saw quite a few fish swimming around.  I hope these days continue!!

Today’s buddy!

We finally got a nice day after a series of rainy stormy days.  No wind was blowing either, so just a bit of vog was hanging around, but it wasn’t bad.  I know the vog is bad when my eyes itch and burn and nothing helps (which was the case a few days ago….).  Today was gorgeous though!  I paddled directly down to the boat ramp hoping to see turtles.  On my way down, I kept hearing loud tail slaps so I knew some whales were somewhere, but I could never figure out where they were.   When I arrived at the boat ramp, there were several paddlers already there and an outrigger canoe had dropped of a few snorkelers.  The snorkelers were diving down and I wondered if the turtles were hiding, but two turtles surfaced and I got to sit in between them!  One hung around with me for a bit (I managed to get a photo of it!).  I sat there waiting for more turtles but none were surfacing so I headed back.  It was perfect paddling conditions!  On my way back, I ran into a paddling friend who had just come from Cove Park where she said lots of turtles were hanging out.  We paddled down to Cove Park together but I never saw a turtle there today.  It was so nice out on the water that it was hard to come in!  The conditions stayed nice and smooth all the way through my swim too.  I headed down towards the reef, but the closer I got, the less visibility there was so I turned and swam back.  I sure hope the day is just as nice tomorrow!

Buddies!

It is so VOGGY right now!  I could barely see the horizon this morning, but despite the Vog, the turtles came calling for Valentines Day!  There were over twenty turtles today!  I sat in three turtle triangles and was surrounded a couple of times by four or five turtles!  The ocean was calm and clear, but I wish the air was clear.  I’m not sure how long the Vog will hang around, but supposedly there is some rain in the forecast in the next few days.  I thoroughly enjoyed the turtles!  A paddling friend showed up at the boat ramp and more turtles came up then too.  We paddled back in nice conditions and it stayed nice for my swim.  Despite the Vog….. it was a really nice day!!

Disappearing under my board!

It was another beautiful day on Maui and the conditions were perfect!  I headed straight down to the boat ramp.  Just as I was passing the point, I ran into a paddling friend so we paddled together down to the boat ramp.  Immediately there were four turtles…..three of them in a line and then a fourth one joined in!  I was sitting in the middle of the triangle!  I caught the turtle in the above photo just as it dove under my board.  Before I knew it, I had counted twelve turtles!  Then my friend paddled farther south and started yelling to me.  I paddled over to where she was and she said there were two turtles mating!  I hurried over to where the turtles were, but the party was over by the time I got there!  One of the turtles was very friendly, though, and swam right up to my board.  Two people in kayaks were there also and the turtle was surrounded!  It didn’t seem to mind.  We paddled back in nice conditions and continued on to Cove Park.  Suddenly the wind kicked up a little and I headed back.  It was still nice when I went swimming.  The water was so clear, even at the reef!  I saw quite a few fish and I hung out there for a while.  Then a couple of tourists swam to the reef, so I headed back.  It was another really nice day today!!

Good morning!

It was another beautiful day and my third day in a row paddling!  I headed straight to the boat ramp.  I ran into a paddling friend and we paddled together down to the boat ramp.  I am so glad the turtles are back!  Sixteen turtles today and that wasn’t counting numerous other turtles that were hanging at the ocean bottom having a convention!  This one came right up to my board and popped its head out to say Good Morning!  I can’t believe I actually caught it in a photo!  I sat between three sets of two turtles and I haven’t had the opportunity to experience that in weeks.  We also passed a group of paddlers. a canoe, and a boat that were very close to a whale a bit farther out.  We paddled out a ways but not as far as the others and the whale was just hanging at the surface.  The people on the canoe said it was a mother whale nursing a calf…..but two other paddlers said it was just one whale who might have been birthing a baby.  They usually come in closer to shore when either of those things are happening so who knows!  There was a lot of whale activity out on the ocean today, but  farther than we dared paddle out to, but it is still fun watching from the water.  There was VOG in the air today so it wasn’t as clear as yesterday but still was a pretty perfect day!  My friend paddled north and stayed to play with more turtles.  I was so happy for so many turtles!  I paddled back in perfect conditions and caught up with my friend.  We paddled down to Kalama Park because it was too nice to go in!  When I got back, I went for a walk and a swim.  My swim was nice too and the water was so clear!  The reef was full of busy fish and a small school of silver and blue fish accompanied me on my swim back.  It was such a nice day!!   I want more of these kind of days!