wildwahinepaddler

Gloomy day!

It was great to get back out on the water today but by the time I went out…..it was windy and a bit choppy.  Just 45 minutes earlier my husband came back and told me it was glassy, that’s how quickly things can change!  A paddling friend told me that an hour earlier, he was out watching a mother whale and her calf!  So I missed the whales and now the ocean was kicked up…great.  Well I paddled down to the boat ramp anyway and the wind didn’t let up, but as I was passing Kam III, I looked down and saw a turtle swimming right by me!  Then a small school of Unicorn fish swam right by me too!  So the day was looking up and another turtle popped up in front of me as I was heading into the boat ramp area!  The wind was not letting up however and the sky was mostly covered in overcast making the day look dark.  I stayed a short time at the boat ramp because of the wind, but as I was paddling back past Kam III, another turtle surfaced and I stopped to watch it.  Then, I noticed some strange white water splashing out farther and realized it was a small pod of dolphins!  Now the day was looking even better!  I paddled out to them quickly.  A few other paddlers were watching me and decided to try to paddle out too, but I was the only one who got there in time to see them.  Then the pod headed out to sea, so I continued to paddle back against the wind.  As I passed Kam II, another turtle popped up!  The wind never let up while I was paddling and the sun tried hard, but never quite made it out.  By the time I went swimming, the wind backed off and my swim was nice.  The sun even came out on my way back!  It didn’t last though, and the overcast was stronger than the sun so I went home because it was too cold!!!!  I’m not kidding either!  I hope its warmer tomorrow and I don’t say that very often……

We got rain!

The weekend was so windy, stormy and yesterday we actually got some rain!  We really can use the rain, but now the water visibility is messed up and this morning the ocean was a bit choppy.  The lifeguards had posted the red flags because there was a swell and it was creating some shore break, even though it was sporadic.  I stayed a few minutes to check it out, and then decided to wait for a nicer day to paddle.  Thank goodness there is the gym to go to on days like this.  Hopefully tomorrow or the next day will be better!!

Amazing whales!

I’m really going to miss whale season when it comes to an end in May!  It was another really nice day today but with the trade winds off their usual pattern,  I am already noticing the VOG sneaking back in.  The island of Lanai was almost completely invisible today and when that happens I know the VOG is creeping in.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and ran into a paddling friend  at Kam III, who I haven’t seen for three weeks.  She pointed out a turtle right by me that I didn’t see!  Then we paddled together down to the boat ramp.  Two of the snorkelers from Canada were already there and I counted about five turtles in the area, one of the turtles was so little!   It was such a nice day!  The conditions stayed nice all the way back and my swim was really nice too.  I like the ocean conditions, but I don’t like VOG!  I hope it blows away by tomorrow….we’ll see.

Two days of ocean clean up!

The last two days have been spectacular!  Apparently the trade winds are off their usual pattern and it might stay this way for a few more days.  I won’t complain…..it has been perfect for paddling, swimming, whale watching…. and anything else you can do at the beach!  Yesterday I paddled down to the boat ramp and it was so calm and nice.  I counted about fifteen turtles and while I was kicked back laying on my board just enjoying the day, a tourist lady on a rented board startled me.  She apologized and said that she just had to come over because she had counted five turtles all sitting around my board!  Pretty soon we were both surrounded!  She was ecstatic about that.  I managed to avoid the snorkel boat and paddled back in perfect conditions.  Just as I was heading past Kam II, I noticed some thrashing out farther and it was the competition pod of whales again!  Another paddler and I sat at a safe distance and just watched the show.  They were banging their tales up and down on the water and it sounded like a fireworks show!  It was almost at the same spot I saw them a few days ago.  Swimming was great too and very clear.  Then as I was getting ready to leave the beach, I noticed the competition pod again, closer in this time, going at it again!  I watched for a few minutes and then went home.  Today was as perfect as yesterday, in fact, maybe even better!  The ocean was completely glassy and flat, with no sign of wind.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and there were four snorkelers there already.  One of the snorkelers came up excitedly and said there were six turtles underneath where I was sitting!  Then a big turtle surfaced and I recognized it.  It was “Bumpy”!  I told the snorkelers about Bumpy and how I came up with that name.  Bumpy surfaced and visited a few times, and before I knew it, I had counted eighteen turtles!  It was even nicer today to just lay back on my board, so I did and the turtles surrounded me again.  Suddenly the pontoon snorkel boat roared up and anchored.  One of the crew told their snorkelers that the turtles were over by me….. so it was time for me to move on!  It stayed perfect all the way back and as I was paddling in, a big turtle popped up a couple of times in front of me!  That made nineteen turtles for today!  Conditions stayed glassy and calm all the way through my swim too. I ended up doing some ocean clean up both days…….since I don’t want a turtle, dolphin, whale or fish to swallow these fishing floats.   Such a gorgeous day!!

Beautiful but windy!

It didn’t look windy at first…..but as I paddled out, the wind was definitely coming up.  It was blowing from the north so I headed towards the boat ramp.  By the time I got to Kam III, the wind changed direction and then it was blowing from the south!  The water was choppy and the red pontoon snorkel boat had just roared up, as I headed into the boat ramp area.  Several snorkelers were in the water already too, probably from Kam III.  It seemed like a lot of people down there and the wind was not backing off….. so I stayed in closer to the shore.  I only had one turtle to hang with today and it was a really small one.  It popped up on one side of me, and then dove under my board and surfaced on the other side of me!  I was surprised that it hung around because the smaller turtles are usually not as friendly, but it was my buddy for the day!  I paddled back in choppy conditions and ran across a big turtle outside of Kam III.  The wind was still blowing from the south so I did get a boost on my way back.  The wind was still not backing off and I knew my swim would be a bumpy one!  I swam against the wind down to the reef and then turned around and got a push back.  The water always feels great, but the conditions were definitely not perfect like yesterday.  Just as I was getting ready to leave the beach, I noticed some thrashing around out where I had seen the competition pod a few days ago.  This time they were in a lot closer and I could see the whales from the beach, thrashing their tails around and slapping them on the surface!  It was loud!  It was quite a show and it went on for about ten to fifteen minutes.  I love whale season on Maui!!!!!!!

Amazing turtles!

After the unpredictable wind yesterday, I checked the beach cam to see if it was windy before I went down to the beach.  It was looking very good so when I got down there and it was a bit breezy…… I was annoyed.  I went out anyway and headed south.  Just as I was passing into Kam II, the wind backed off and it got perfect and glassy!  It was great paddling to the boat ramp and when I was passing Kam III, a big turtle surprised me so I stopped to visit with it.  After it dove down and disappeared, I continued on to the boat ramp.  One turtle popped up as I paddled into the area, and then it dove down.  Then I had to wait awhile for more turtles.  Two other women paddlers were sitting nearby and when they left, the turtles started to come up! After five turtles had surfaced, I paddled farther north to sit.  Suddenly five more turtles popped up and I was surrounded!  The water was so calm and I just laid back on my board to enjoy the turtles.  Even with my eyes closed, I could hear the turtles surfacing and I would look to the side of my board and see a turtle head looking at me!  This went on for quite a few minutes.  Then I heard a voice saying, “Look at all those turtles by her!”….. and that was followed by, “Hey, isn’t that the dolphin lady?”  Then I heard a male voice say, “She’s the turtle lady too….I think she has some special pheromone that attracts the turtles……”.  The woman laughed and as I sat up on my board, she said, “You seem to attract the turtles…..you must be a hit with the men on land!”  Hmmmmm……I wasn’t exactly sure if this was a compliment or not!  Then I said I was just hanging out with my buddies.  It was so funny!  By the time I had counted twelve turtles at the boat ramp and one turtle at Kam III, that made thirteen turtles for the day!  I paddled back in perfect conditions and it stayed perfect all the way through my swim.  I even saw the large Ulua’s today again, but this time there were only five of them.  It was such a perfectly beautiful day…..and just what I ordered!

Up and coming “stand up paddler”…. after her Tutu’s heart!

No, this isn’t a photo of Maui……this is Cardiff by the Sea in San Diego and that’s my grand-daughter Leila trying out a stand up board!  Ah yes, one day she will be flying to Maui and paddling with her Tutu, I  just know it!  Anyway, I just had to post this photo!  Yesterday I think I was a bit “hung over” from the Santana concert from the night before, as well as with all the “maui wowee” floating around, but it sure was fun.  Today the conditions were unpredictable with the wind not being able to decide what it was going to do.  When I first went out paddling, the wind was blowing from the north so I paddled against it for a while to see what it was going to do.  Just about the time I got to the Whale Song buoy, the wind backed off some, so I circled the buoy and paddled south.  I decided to head towards the boat ramp, but just as I was passing Kam II, the wind kicked up from the south!  Then I paddled against the wind until I was half way past Kam III, and then a turtle surfaced in front of me.  I stopped to visit for a few minutes and the ocean got choppier while I was sitting there.  I really didn’t know what the wind was doing, so I decided to paddle back.  It was bumpy on the way back, but the top of Haleakala was really clear and so was the mountain!  Despite the wind, it was a very beautiful comfortable day.  By the time I went swimming, the wind had backed off a bit and swimming was nice.  The water was very clear down at the reef and I saw a lot of fish, even the purple one that usually hides!  The rest of the time I was there, the wind just couldn’t quite decide if it wanted to come in or not!  I would be very happy if it wasn’t windy tomorrow morning though!  We’ll see……

Nice day!

It was another really nice day on Maui today.  Not quite a spectacular as yesterday, but still very nice.  The ocean wasn’t glassy like yesterday either, which made me wonder if the wind was going to come up soon, but I wanted to paddle down to the boat ramp anyway.  I started out and ran across a big turtle right outside of Kam I!  I stopped to sit for a minute and just watched the turtle swimming around until it headed out to sea.  The skies were mostly sunny today and temperature mild and very comfortable.  When I got to the boat ramp, a turtle was waiting for me, but it didn’t hang around very long.  The conditions got very glassy suddenly and it was much easier to spot the turtles.  I had counted up to nine turtles……. when suddenly I was surrounded by five turtles all at once!  It was just me and all those turtles!  I decided to lay back on my board and just listen to them swimming around me.  That went on for a few minutes and then one by one, they disappeared.  Then I spotted a turtle out farther so I paddled out.  It was “Torpedo Head”!!!  I haven’t seen that turtle for a while and I just sat there while it shot its head out of the water and dove down several times while circling me!  Before I was done, I had counted seventeen turtles at the boat ramp plus the one at Kam I, which made a total of eighteen turtles for the day!  I paddled back in ripply conditions, but the wind still had not come in.  By the time I swam, the water was bumpy and the wind was coming in and out, but the visibility was still very good.  It wasn’t as nice as yesterday, but it was nice enough!!

Perfect day!

Well you couldn’t have ordered a more “perfect” day if you wanted to because today was spectacular!  To think I almost didn’t go down to the beach because I was running really late!!  That would have been a real shame because even though it was already 9:30 a.m.. the conditions were spectacular!  Sunny skies, calm conditions, and not too hot either……just perfect in every way.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and half way down, I could see the red pontoon snorkel boat already sitting there, but I didn’t care….the day was so very perfect that nothing was going to bother me!  By the time I got to the boat ramp, the snorkelers were in full swing, but even with that, I managed to visit with four very friendly turtles!  The water was so calm and clear that I could see every bit of coral and could even see fish swimming around.  I stayed down there after the snorkel boat left,  just laying on my board enjoying the day.  I paddled back in still perfect conditions and about the time I got to the rocky point between Kam II and Kam I, I spotted some whale activity out farther.  The ocean was so calm and nice, so I paddled out towards the whales!  I could see one other paddler coming in from the north side and then I could tell that it was a “competition pod” and the whales were thrashing about and tail slapping!  It sounded like fireworks, it was so loud!!!!  I decided to stay well away from the whales, but the other paddler seemed to still be paddling towards the whales.  NOT a good idea to get very close to a competition pod!!!!!  Anyway, I watched from where I was until the thrashing stopped and then paddled in.  It was so nice out that it was hard to come in!  I knew if the conditions held up I was in for a great swim, and that’s exactly what happened!  Swimming was glorious and the reef was so clear.  I watched the fish for quite a while and there is a fairly large purple and spotted fish that usually likes to stay hidden in the rocks and coral, but even that one was out today!  I also saw several baby Puffer fish too.  Swimming back was a joy, but it was so nice I didn’t want to stop!  I stayed at the beach for a while afterwards and it was still as nice when I left.  It was just a spectacular day!!!!

Sixteen turtles!

It was already windy when I arrived at the beach this morning.  It wasn’t too bad, but I did paddle against the wind on my way down to the boat ramp.  I ran across my first turtle while passing Kam III, so I stopped for a minute.  Then at the boat ramp, the turtles were active again today!  Several times I was sitting surrounded by turtles and by the time I had counted fourteen, the red pontoon snorkel boat arrived with its snorkelers.  One of the friendly crew told me that they had seen dolphins down by Keawakapu Beach, but with the wind the way it was, there was no way I was going to go that far!  I waited around for a little while because he also told me the dolphins seemed to be moving north, but with the wind getting stronger, so I decided to head back.  Just as I was passing Kam III, two more turtles popped up and I was in the middle again!  I stayed with them until they disappeared, and then I paddled back.  Initially the wind was at my back, but then it turned onshore and that made it harder to paddle since it was pushing me towards the shore.  I just kept paddling!  I made it back okay but I knew my swim would be a bumpy one.  On my way down to the reef, I encountered a school of Ulua. There were about a dozen of them and they were the size of small dolphins!  I saw them three times and one of those times, the fish swam under me!  I just stopped and floated so I wouldn’t scare them and it was so neat just to watch them swimming around and nibbling on something good on the bottom of the ocean!  On my way back, the wind backed off and it got really nice and glassy.  It was just one of those days!!