wildwahinepaddler

Perfect day!

Well, after our ordeal with our Cabo to San Diego flight being cancelled on Saturday…..having to stay an extra day….and having to re-book our San Diego hotel and our flight back to Maui for the next day….we finally made it home to Maui!  At least the airline booked us in First Class on the way back to Maui…..it was the least they could do!  Today I made it out paddling and was it ever perfect!  Just as I paddled out from Kam I, I ran into a paddling friend and she asked me if I saw the dolphin and then there it was swimming right by me!  Then it disappeared for a bit and I said, “Where’s our dolphin?”……and it popped right up in front of us!  We laughed so hard!  We hung around for a while following it back and forth, and then it moved out to sea.  It was strange to see a dolphin all alone like that….I sure hope it was okay.  Then we paddled down to the boat ramp and the turtles didn’t disappoint!  All in all, there were more than a dozen turtles today and one last one outside of Kam III on the way back!  One turtle got so friendly and hanging right next to me, so I reached down and gently tugged on his flipper!  He wiggled away and then swam right back to me!  What a nice day to get back out on the water!!!!

Last nights Cabo sunset!

There was moisture in the air yesterday with some intermittent clouds and that made for a beautiful sunset in Cabo last evening!  This morning I woke up early and I was determined to go paddling.   I got down to the beach and handed over my 250 pesos for an hour of paddling!   I got to use the same stand up board and paddle as the other day too!  It was a beautiful morning with some wind gusts but I wasn’t complaining.  My same young friend, “Andy”….. helped me again today and safeguarded my key to my locker while I was paddling.  He is such a nice, polite and friendly young man!  There was no cruise ship coming into port today so there wasn’t nearly the amount of water activity around me as the other day.  I paddled down past the entrance to the marina and suddenly two large sea lions were swimming by me!  They are pretty big!  Then I paddled along the coast out by the big rocks but not as far as Lovers beach.   It was so nice!  Pretty soon a couple of pelicans landed in the water by me too.   On my way back, I spotted two more sea lions swimming by the rocks near the marina entrance!   It was a great day of paddling!  Then I grabbed my snorkel gear and took off on my swim.   I saw a large school of fish out there, a trio of Puffer fish, and two Halibuts!   The water at Medano beach is so clear!  What a great start to the day!!!!!   Loving Cabo!

I went paddling!

Guess who went paddling this morning?   This girl right here, that’s who!   It was a bit of an overcast morning but I found a board and paddle and away I went!   It was great to get out on the water!   I had to share the water with some water taxis and jet skis….. But I wasn’t complaining!  I paddled my little heart out for an hour and watched a big cruise ship roll in while I was out there.  The equipment I rented was much better than the equipment in La Paz too.   Just as I was paddling in,  a whisker faced sea lion popped it’s head out of the water in front of me and then disappeared!    That was a big surprise!  I hope it’s nice tomorrow morning so I can go paddling again!!!!  We are loving Cabo!

Los Cabos

So we made it to Cabo San Lucas…..after winding our way through the mountains from La Paz.  It was a beautiful drive with a few quaint little towns on the way.  We also stopped in the little beach town of Los Barriles when we got to the coast and enjoyed some swimming and beach time on a nearly empty beach!  Los Barriles is definitely off the tourist track and what a find!  It would have been perfect for paddling if I’d only had a board and paddle!  In Cabo we got checked into our hotel and then checked out Medano beach. The water was so calm and glassy at sunset!  I hope these conditions prevail because paddling will definitely be an option here!   More later…. Adios!

Playa Balandra

I finally got to go paddling in La Paz!  I found equipment at Playa Balandra and even though it wasn’t the best….I was just happy to get out on the water paddling! I paddled with seagulls, pelicans, jumping fish and lots of yellow butterflies!  It was a glorious hour!  Then we went to Playa Tecolote for a swim and to hang out one more time.  Snorkeling, I saw a stingray, little puffer fish, and a large school of about twenty silver fish!  The Sea of Cortez is so warm!  Now we head back to Cabo San Lucas and I hope I will be able to paddle there too.   It’s a day of travel…. So stay tuned!!!

Playa de Tecolote

Despite the weather that came through last night dumping rain that flooded all the streets…..today was simply gorgeous!  We love this beach because it’s at the end of the peninsula and it’s remote. The sea was so nice for swimming!  I snorkeled and swam and saw trumpet fish and a spunky little Puffer fish!  The water was so warm and clear.  We enjoyed the seagulls strutting the beach and squawking at each other, hearing no other sounds except the sea splashing onto the shore!  This is truly a special place……a great place to relax.  I haven’t found a stand up board to go paddling on yet…. But I am still hoping to at some point!!!!!  Stay tuned…..Hasta mañana!

Strange turtle!

We have been enjoying spending time with our grandchildren here in San Diego and the weather has been great!  We went to the San Diego Zoo yesterday and we saw the most interesting turtle.  It was huge and it had a shell that was actually part of the turtles body!   It was some type of “soft shell” turtle I had never seen before.   Tomorrow we fly to Cabo San Lucas and then drive to La Paz to spend four days, and then back to Cabo for a week.  I really hope I can find a stand up board while I’m there!  I miss paddling and swimming in the ocean!  I will post as much as I can from Mexico…..Adios For now!!

Still Windy!

I checked the beach cam this morning and it looked calm….so I hoped for a day without wind.  Unfortunately, when I got down there, the wind had kicked up from the south like yesterday.  It wasn’t quite as bad as yesterday, so I headed south, into the wind.  I seemed to be the only one paddling south!  When I got down to the boat ramp, a turtle had already surfaced and was floating up ahead of me, so I paddled to it.  That didn’t last long and the turtle dove down and disappeared!  Then I spotted a turtle out farther, so I paddled out.  That one stayed for a little while, but then it, too, dove down and disappeared.  The wind momentarily backed off  and the ocean got nice for a short time, but I didn’t trust it!  I gladly took my two turtles for the day and headed back!  The wind has been something else lately…..and I have been paddling in wind for the last few days, but I was glad to at least get down to the boat ramp today.  Half way back, I ran into a paddling friend and we chatted for a few minutes, but suddenly the wind roared in and there were white caps!  She headed in at Kam II and I headed out so I would be well away from the rocky point!  The wind blew me and the white caps battered me….but I made it back!  Once again, it was difficult to get my board up the beach in the wind.  I knew I would have a bumpy swim but the water is pretty clear and so warm right now, that I didn’t mind.  In fact,  half way down to the reef, I saw something on the ocean bottom and I thought it was a piece of trash….but it ended up being a twenty dollar bill!  It took me seven attempts, but I was able to dive down and snatch the bill!  It was a profitable swim for today and just in time since I need a new strap for my snorkeling mask!  That is the first time in all the years we have lived on Maui, that I actually found money in the ocean!  The wind continued to blow……maybe it will take a break tomorrow?  You never know…..

Love the Honu!

It was windy today!!!!   I went out paddling anyway, but I knew what I was in for.  The wind was blasting out of the south so I knew I couldn’t hope to make it down to the boat ramp today, but I decided to paddle into the wind as far as possible.  I ran into a paddling friend who was paddling south but it wasn’t the kind of day that you could sit for a minute and chat!  I paddled against the wind down to Kam II and then the wind gusts made it hard for me to hang on to my paddle!  The white caps had also appeared and were pushing me around, so I decided to paddle north with the wind.  That wasn’t so easy either, because although the wind was blasting from the south, way out the white caps were proving that the wind out there was blasting from the north!  When this happens, it’s like paddling in a washing machine!  I paddled as far as Charley Young Beach and then I turned around and struggled against the wind to get back to Kam I.  The wind just wasn’t going to let up!  Getting my board up the beach was a trick too with the wind pushing against it.  I knew my swim would be bumpy and it was, but just as I had turned around by the reef to swim back, a huge turtle appeared!  It was one of the biggest turtles I have ever seen, so I turned around and swam with it.  I guess not my day for turtles because it showed zero interest in me!  I turned around and swam north with a push from the wind and when I got back to Kam I,  I was getting ready to go in and had taken off my mask and fins.  Suddenly a few feet from me a turtle popped its head up, as if to say, “Hey, what about me?”  It must have been swimming right behind me because I had not seen it!  I quickly put my mask back on and started to swim while trying to get my fins back on.  The turtle was still there and I swam with it for a while!  Then it started to surface in front of me and as it came up, I gave it a rub on its shell!  It turned back and looked at me and then swam right next to me for a while.  The turtle was in no hurry!  Then the turtle dove down and started to swim out to sea so I turned around and headed back.  Now I was swimming against the wind!  It took me a while to get back, but I’m sure glad the friendly turtle appeared to make my day!!

Windy!

It was a beautiful day on Maui, but it was a windy one too.  The wind was blowing Kona, so I headed south and ran into a paddling friend who has been out-of-town.  We paddled together and just as we were heading out of the Kam I area, two turtles surfaced and I paddled up between them!  Then another turtle popped up too.   As  we passed Kam III, another big turtle surfaced and I stopped to visit  with it!  Then two more turtles surfaced!  That was six turtles before we even made it into the boat ramp area!  Then at the boat ramp, the wind backed off and it was beautiful.  Turtles were surfacing everywhere!  We were in turtle triangles……I was surrounded by four turtles at one point…..and then there was a turtle line of three turtles!  I saw one turtle swimming under me and heading towards my friend and then “pop”…..up it came right by her board!  We had so many turtles!  I was losing track of counting them but my friend and I think there were definitely more than twenty turtles today!  Suddenly the wind started to come back up, so we headed back with the wind at our backs.  We chatted for a while and then she headed in at Kam II and I headed down to Kam I.  White caps were now peaking and it was quite windy when I got back.  I knew I was in for a bumpy swim!  I swam against the wind down to the reef and then let it push me back, then a turtle appeared below me and I got all excited!  But, today the turtle wasn’t interested in me and I couldn’t keep up with it for very long.  Some days the turtles are into you….and then some days they aren’t!  I tried not to be offended because I know I’ll see that turtle some other day!  The wind just wasn’t backing off but it was staying Kona.  I hope it isn’t this windy tomorrow!