wildwahinepaddler

Visiting turtles!

Our beach is still trying to clear itself of the run-off…..and there is progress….but not enough to make me want to swim there!  The paddling conditions remain perfect, though, so I am continuing to paddle out of there.  I paddled south towards the boat ramp and encountered my first turtle of the day just as I was passing Kam III!  Strangely, Kam III was not as clear as yesterday, but the boat ramp was pristine.  I was the only paddler at the boat ramp and I enjoyed ten turtles right away!  Then I paddled south of the boat lane and got to enjoy three more turtles!  I paddled to the north of the boat lane and ran into a paddling friend and before we knew it……she pointed out five turtles all hanging together on the surface! We paddled over to the turtle party and one by one they disappeared.  My friend left because she wanted to go to a yoga class, but I stayed on a bit longer and enjoyed three more turtles!  One of the turtles was “Lizard”….. and the last turtle was a really little turtle!  I paddled back in perfect conditions and paddled in almost all the way to the shoreline…..to avoid as much of the brown water as possible!  After I strapped my board on my car, I headed down the road to the beach by the Mana Kai Resort.  The public parking lot was really full, but I managed to fit in one remaining parking spot.  The conditions for swimming were ideal with no wind blowing yet!  I headed right out to swim and swam south.  Suddenly a big turtle surprised me as it swam right under me!  Then it turned and swam north, so I just swam with it a few feet under me.  Suddenly tourists were diving down and trying to bother the turtle!!!!!!  One of them had a camera and was taking photos and the other one was harassing the turtle!  I really hate it when people do that….but the turtle wasn’t having it and swam up towards me, swimming not more than six inches from my body!  Then it surfaced in front of my face, so I gave it a rub on its shell!  I never go after the turtles, but if they approach me that close, I will rub their shell.  It was a beautiful turtle!  It surfaced one more time in front of me and then it swam out around the coral reef.  I turned and swam south again, only to run into another turtle!!!!  It was quite a turtle day!!

Eleven turtles!

Our beach is still suffering from the storm run-off and the water is still tinged brown.  Paddling conditions were perfect, though, so I went out!  It’s been like a ghost town out there the past two days but the conditions have been perfect!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and as I paddled past Kam III, I noticed that the water was clear already.  That is a good sign, so I hope Kam I and II start to see some real improvement soon!  Just as I was paddling into the boat ramp area, I heard someone yelling to me.  It was a paddling friend so we paddled to the boat ramp together.  Almost immediately, five turtles surfaced and we were surrounded!  Then there were three turtles and two turtles …..and then the red pontoon snorkel boat moved in.  One of the crew told me that they had seen a shark hanging around the area in the past couple of days…..but I know they are always out there so it didn’t freak me out.  After all the snorkelers jumped in the water, my friend and I decided to paddle back.  Just as we were passing Kam III, a turtle surfaced right in front of me, so I had to stop and visit!  That made eleven turtles for today!  I paddled back to Kam I, and dreaded the brown water.  I paddled as close to the shoreline as possible and then quickly jumped off my board, grabbed it and came in!  I didn’t want to be in that water any longer than I absolutely had to.  I took my board home and headed south to look for a place to swim.  I ended up at the beach by the Mana Kai Resort and although there were a lot of people there, at least the water was pristine!  I watched Spinner Dolphins jumping and racing along with a boat!  Then I headed out for my swim and ran into a big turtle!   I swam with it for a while and then swam down by the coral reefs to look for fish.  I spotted a really big Unicorn fish too!  Then the wind blew in while I was swimming and the water got rough with white caps.  I swam just in time!  It was not bad for an “alternate” beach for swimming either!!

Keawakapu Beach

It’s amazing how much difference one day can make…….we have days and days of perfect conditions…..and then thunder showers in the mountains last night sends water, red dirt and debris gushing from the gulches into the ocean and today our pristine ocean was “red dirt brown” !!!!!  Commonly know as “run off”…… I haven’t seen it this bad for at least a couple of years!  Despite the dirty water, the paddling conditions were perfect though, so I went out paddling in the brown water.  It looked worse north, so I paddled south in hopes of finding some clear water.  Down at the boat ramp it was clear as can be!  I could see the coral and fish and five turtles came to visit me!  It was so nice down there that I didn’t want to paddle back.  I ran into a paddling friend who had just come out and I gave her a run down of the situation.  We paddled north and the water got continually brown the farther north we went, so I headed in.  I paddled as close as I could to the shoreline because I wasn’t thrilled about jumping into brown water!  I made it in and there was no way I was swimming in that water, so I took my board home and headed south to find a beach I could swim at.  I took the Piilani Highway so it would be faster, only to find out that the road was closed down to Keawakapu Beach!  I had to detour around in Wailea down to South Kihei Road and wind my way back to Keawakapu, only to find that the parking lot there was also closed!  How frustrating!  Everyone was parking on the road so I did too and had to walk down to the beach.  Luckily, it was beautiful at Keawakapu and NOT brown!  I went for a great swim and just as I was kicking back in the sun to dry off…..a big dark cloud loomed over and then it started to rain!  Then it rained harder……and I had to jump into action and grab all my stuff and walk in the pouring rain all the way down the road to my car!  I was soaked and so was my beach stuff but I was glad to be in my car.  By the time I got home, the rain was pouring at my house too!  I like the rain, but today was a lot more work and frustration than I am used to!!  I hope it isn’t long before everything is back to normal at my beach!!

oodles of turtles!

It was another beautiful day out on the water, except today there were some clouds mingled with some early cane smoke and even some VOG had drifted in!  The water visibility is great though and the paddling conditions ideal.  Just as I paddled out, I spotted a turtle under the water near me, so I paddled over to it.  We turned circles together a few times and then it was time for me to continue with my workout!  I paddled south and at the boat ramp I was all alone and had the whole place to myself!  I spotted two turtles out farther so I paddled out to them, but as soon as I arrived, one by one, the turtles disappeared under the water.  I paddled farther south and ended up sitting for a while!  It was so perfect, I couldn’t imagine where the turtles were.  Pretty soon, the lull ended and there were plenty of turtles!  I sat between turtles, cruised up into turtle triangles, and was surrounded by turtles a few times too!  I saw “Torpedo Head” today and “Mini Torpedo Head”!  They came popping up around me a couple of times.  Soon I had counted about seventeen turtles at the boat ramp and I headed back.  While passing Kam III, I ran into a paddling friend.  She had paddled north, up by Cove Park and she told me she saw quite a few baby turtles!  I’m sorry I missed that!  The conditions were so nice that it was hard to come in from paddling, but I wanted to swim too.  On my swim, I saw a small school of Ulua (about five of them), and Flounder (hiding on the rocks trying to be invisible….)….and then a huge turtle came swimming by so I took off with it!  The turtle was so big that its head seemed to be the same size as my thigh!  It was beautiful and I swam with it until I realized it was taking me out of my comfort zone and too far out!  I swam in closer and the turtle disappeared.  All in all, my turtle count for the day was nineteen (counting the turtle I swam with….) and that is a very good day!!

Unknown paddler and a pirate ship!

All I can say is WOW!   It was a super perfect day and I planned to enjoy every minute of it.  A few minutes after I started out, I noticed three turtles hanging around the sunken lifeguard tower……then I noticed a big turtle coming up to surface right by me.  As soon as the “big” turtle surfaced, it was clear that it was actually two turtles, one on top of the other!  I think I may have interrupted a private mating moment!  One of the turtles swam away but one of them stayed there by me……and it got right up next to me and started to bump me with its shell!  A paddling friend had been watching all of this and she came over and said, “That was some aggressive bumping”…..and I had to agree!  I think that turtle might have been annoyed with me!  It was really funny!  I hadn’t even paddled anywhere and already I had seen five turtles at Kam I.  My friend and I paddled in perfect conditions down to the boat ramp and the turtle show continued!  Suddenly five turtles surfaced all at the same time and I was surrounded!  The turtles kept coming up and I was losing count.  My friend decided to paddle back and I decided to lay back on my board and enjoy the day!  I heard a splash right near my head and looked over just as a turtle was diving under!  Then I spotted a couple of turtles out farther, so I paddled out, but when I got to them….it ended up being seven turtles all together and I was ecstatic!  Now my turtle count was up to about twenty-eight!  The day was so perfect that it was hard to come in!  My swim was just as perfect too.  Down at the reef I watched a Spotted Eagle Ray searching for food and a little Yellow Tang following it to catch any leftovers!  I also saw baby Puffer fish and one big Puffer fish.  Just as I started to swim back, a turtle was swimming right at me!  I played a little “chicken” with it…….and it dove down under me and then shot right back up at me and I had to get out of the way quick!  It swam right next to me and then went around to the back of me and then dove down and shot right up at me again!  I couldn’t figure out what the heck this turtle was doing!   But then it started to swim away and as it swam…..it shot four big poop logs at me!  Oh thanks Buddy!  That has never happened before!!!!!!  It was quite a day with the turtles!!

Perfect!!

It was another perfect day out on the water!  The water visibility is so good right now and the clouds were just patchy with an array of wispy clouds near the top of Haleakala.  Just perfect!  I paddled straight towards the boat ramp and when I got to Kam III, five turtles surfaced and I stayed there with them for a while!  One of the turtles was “Lizard” too and I have not seen that turtle was some time.  Five turtles hanging at Kam III was a bit unusual, but when I got to the boat ramp I figured out why they were at Kam III today…….five kayaks with noisy Japanese tourists were there plus an outrigger canoe with five people snorkeling off the canoe and a few snorkelers from the beach!  It was Grand Central Station down there today and the turtles knew it.  I sat there waiting for the turtles to surface and the water was so clear that I could see them down near the ocean bottom, but they weren’t coming up.  Finally one turtle surfaced and the Japanese tourists started screeching out of excitement…..and it shot back down to the bottom just as fast as it came up!  Then one more turtle surfaced and the same thing happened!  It was such a gorgeous day but it was just too crowded at my favorite spot today.  I paddled north and ran into a paddling friend outside of Kam III and she said she was not going down there because it was too crowded.  We sat at Kam III and chatted for a bit and the five turtles took turns popping up while we sat!  I don’t blame them for moving down to Kam III for the day….it was much quieter!  We paddled north and my friend went in and I paddled back to Kam I.  It was still totally perfect conditions!  I knew my swim was going to be perfect too and it was.  As soon as I started out swimming I spotted two fish bothering a crab that was determined to keep itself camouflaged in the sand!  Then down at the reef I saw lots of fish and then followed a Spotted Eagle Ray for a bit, while it stopped at spots to munch something off the reef.  It was so beautiful and calm!  Swimming back was just like swimming in a giant swimming pool!  I hope it’s just as perfect tomorrow!!

Honu!

While yesterday started out windy…….today started out perfect and stayed that way!  It was so perfect and calm, with just a slight breeze to keep it cool for my workout.  I paddled south towards the boat ramp and just as I moved into the area, two kayaks with four adults in them were already there.  Luckily, they started to paddle away by the time I did get there and I had the place to myself!  My first two turtles were a big one and a very small one….then I sat in between two sets of two….and before I knew it, I had counted eight turtles!  The conditions were so perfect but I decided to paddle back.  Just as I started to paddle away I spotted three more turtles so I paddled south again.  I cruised right up in the middle of them!  Two of the turtles were so friendly…..they came right over and floated right next to me!  I laid back on my board and laid my arms out to the sides……and I felt a somewhat slimy turtle shell brushing under my right hand and arm!  I laid there listening to them splash and swim around me, and then it got very quiet so I sat up and the three turtles were still there floating right by me!  That made eleven turtles for today!  I headed back and ran into three paddling friends passing Kam III.  One of them paddled with me for a bit and then she headed in at Kam II.  I paddled back to Kam I and it was still perfect!  My swim was just as perfect and the water visibility is great!  I saw two large Puffer fish down at the reef and a variety of other tropical fish darting about.  It could not have been a more perfect day…..I hope it’s the same way tomorrow!!

Beautiful!

I spent the last four days sick in bed……and today I was determined to get out paddling even though I have a bit of laryngitis and a cough.  When I went out, it was windy….not exactly a south wind, but more of an east- north-east wind and the water was not calm!  Oh well, I was going out no matter what.  I paddled into the wind and headed south.  By the time I got half way past Kam III, I decided to turn around.  No point in pushing it for my first day back.  I ran into a paddling friend outside of Kam II, so we paddled and chatted for a while.  All four turtles I saw today were at Kam II!  The wind backed off a bit and the conditions actually got very nice!  We paddled towards Kam I and I decided to go in to hopefully swim in nice conditions.  It was a chore lugging my board in today…..one more reminder that I’ve been sick, but I managed to load it onto my car.  My swim was great!  The water visibility has cleared up and it is so warm.  I swam down to the reef and was happy to see my fish friends scurrying about!  I followed a pair of Moorish Idols for a while and then headed back.  It was a beautiful day, even though it started out windy!!

Great day!

I missed paddling yesterday due to an appliance delivery……so today I was itching to go!  It was a beautiful day but the wind was blowing from the south.  Just as I paddled out, I ran into a paddling friend I had not seen for a while so we chatted for a few minutes and then I headed south.  I paddled against the wind all the way down to the boat ramp.  I spotted my first turtle just outside of Kam III as it popped right in front of me!  There were some swells rolling into Kam III and the lifeguards had posted the red flags and the wind wasn’t letting up.  I saw two more turtles and then decided to head back.  The wind continued to blow from the south and I ran into another paddling friend outside of Kam II.  We chatted for a few minutes and she spotted a turtle!  Suddenly, the wind backed off and the ocean calmed down but I wanted to swim before the wind came back up.  My friend paddled south and I headed back to Kam I.  My swim was refreshing but the swell has the water visibility messed up.  I couldn’t see anything!  I swam towards the reef but turned around and swam back.  It sure was a beautiful day though!!