wildwahinepaddler

Gorgeous day!

I missed paddling yesterday because the wind came in so early, but today I was eager to get out there.  It was a gorgeous day with perfect paddling conditions and just a nice breeze blowing out of the south.  As I paddled past Kam II, I looked up towards the mountain and saw a crown of white and silver puffy clouds just hanging near the top.  It looked like it was just as perfect up on the mountain as it was on the ocean.  When I arrived at the boat ramp,  no one else was there and a small boat had just come in and was sitting in the boat lane.  Straight ahead of me were two turtles floating on the surface!  I paddled over to them and sat right in between them, and then a third turtle popped up and I was in a turtle triangle!  Then all three disappeared,  but I spotted another turtle out farther so I paddled out.  It was a big turtle hanging out all by itself.  Then I spotted two more turtles down towards the boat lane, and paddled over.  One of them spooked and dove down, but the other one hung out with me for a few minutes.  I sat for a few minutes and wondered if that was going to be it, but then another turtle surfaced right next to me and swam around me!  I looked down into the water and spotted another turtle swimming so I followed it until it surfaced and took a look at me!  The last turtle of the day was a tiny little turtle that emerged out of nowhere.  It was so cute and spunky!  It’s shell could not have been larger than a foot.  Whenever I see the really small ones, I always hope they will make it.  I heard that turtles come to the surface to conserve energy and warm up…but I also think they come to visit!   I sat for a while again, with the conditions still very perfect, and then decided to head back and look for dolphins.  I paddled back in great conditions and continued down towards Charley Young Beach, but no dolphins were in sight for today.  The conditions stayed nice all the way through my swim and it was still very nice when I left.  It was just a gorgeous day!

Perfect summer day!

Oh yeah, it was just this perfect today and what a day!  I got out early so I paddled north first, but it was so hot, so I turned south and a nice Kona breeze was blowing and totally cooled me off.  It was perfect paddling all the way down to the boat ramp and I could see the top of Haleakala and it was completely clear and visible.  When I got to the boat ramp, luckily three paddlers were just leaving so I had the place to myself!  It was so nice down there and water was crystal clear.  I spotted my first turtle down by the boat lane so I paddled directly to it, but just as I got to it, a jet ski whizzed by and scared it away.  Soon more turtles started to surface and I was having a great time with them.  Suddenly five stand up paddlers came into the area from the Keawakapu side, so I paddled away from them.  All of a sudden, I had two, three, four, no… FIVE turtles all around me!  I threw my hands up in the air and yelled, “surrounded!”   Well that was a mistake, because the other five paddlers came rushing over to where I was!  Only one of the paddlers stayed, though, and a really little turtle surfaced and swam by me and her!  It was so cute…..but then it darted away and disappeared…and then popped up again.  I spotted a turtle out farther, so I paddled out.  It turned out to be two turtles and I was sitting in-between them!  Then another of the five paddlers returned, and he fell into the water right by me and scared the turtles away.  I paddled away from him, since he was clearly not stable on that board, and found myself in-between two more large turtles!  I was really enjoying them, when the same guy came over to where I was, and fell off his board again…. which scared off the turtles again.  I was getting frustrated!  I paddled farther away from him and a turtle surfaced, which was the 15th turtle for the day.  It was still really nice, but I decided to paddle back while the conditions were so perfect.  When I was paddling back by Kam II, I ran into a paddling friend and we chatted for a few minutes.  She was headed in to go swimming and I decided to head in too, but then ran into another paddling friend!  We paddled in together while we chatted.  I rinsed my board off and was just getting ready to put my stuff away, when my friend came rushing over to me and said there were dolphins out by the catamaran!  She decided to go out again, so I ran to get my board.  She headed north of the catamaran where the other paddlers were headed, but I went south because I thought I saw some dolphins over there.  Sure enough, as soon as I got to them, I counted about fifteen dolphins frolicking and I was sitting right in the middle of them!  There I was, just sitting there watching quite a show as the dolphins jumped, spinned, and splashed all around me!  They were right next to my board, on both sides and then the started moving south again, so I started paddling.  They stayed right with me and I had dolphins in front of me, behind me, and on both sides of me!   It was so amazing and wonderful!  Then I saw some of them doing the backward tail skimming and diving and then I looked down and saw four dolphins surfacing belly up!  You can tell because their bellies look turquoise blue when they are on their backs.  Well,  all four of them stayed just under the water, and poked all of their noses out of the water!  Just their noses!   It looked so funny!  I cracked up laughing.  The dolphin show went on for a while and some of the time I was just sitting there clapping for the dolphins!  I followed them to Kam II and then turned back since this was my second time out and I was getting tired.  I paddled back still shaking with excitement at getting another dolphin day all in the same week!  It has been quite the summer of dolphins this year!   I just love dolphins and turtles, and I got both of them today!  What a lucky day!

Nice day!

What a perfect day!  Not as exciting as the past two days, but still really nice.  The conditions were perfect for paddling and no wind was blowing.  I had just started paddling when  turtle popped up right in front of me!  I paddled north first, to look around for the dolphins, but I didn’t see any, so I headed south.  Paddling down to the boat ramp was very enjoyable because the water was so glassy and clear.  Only one snorkeler was at the boat ramp when I got there, and she came up by me and we chatted for a few minutes.  She wasn’t a tourist and she wasn’t chasing the turtles….so we both got to enjoy them!  I spotted my first turtle out farther, so I paddled out.  When I got to it, the one turtle ended up being two turtles and I got to sit right between them!  Then one of them disappeared and I visited with the other one for a few minutes.  Then I spotted another turtle in closer and paddled in.  It was the really little one I have been seeing lately and it hung around for a few minutes and then darted away.  The little ones are pretty quick!  Turtle #4 surfaced next to my board and then a boat came in right by us, and scared it away.  Then I spotted another turtle out a little farther and paddled to it.  That turtle turned into three turtles….and I was in the turtle triangle!  Altogether with the first turtle by Kam I, that was eight turtles for the day!  I couldn’t help thinking about the dolphins, so I headed north.  I paddled all the way down to Cove Park, but I didn’t see any sign of the dolphins so maybe they left the area.  It was exciting to have so many dolphins around for a few days, but getting that experience twice in two days time was amazing!  The conditions stayed very nice all the way through my swim making it hard to come in and it was nice when I left the beach too!

Another gorgeous day!

After yesterday’s amazing dolphin experience….I was anxious to get out on the water, so I tried to get an earlier start on my day.  It was another perfect day with glassy conditions, so I paddled north keeping my eye out for dolphins.  There was no sign of them, so I headed south, and spotted my first turtle just outside of Kam II!  It stayed with me for a few minutes and then dove under and I could see it swimming under my board.  I continued on (still on the look out for dolphins…) to Kam III, where I ran into my second turtle!  It was friendlier than the first one, and it swam under me and surfaced next to me to take a look at me.  I hung around with that one for a few minutes and then continued on to the boat ramp.  At the boat ramp, there were two snorkelers, two kayaks and three stand up paddlers already there so I stayed out a bit farther.  My third turtle didn’t disappoint and swam right up to me!  Then two more turtles joined us with me in the middle!  Despite the number of people there, I visited with eleven turtles in all plus the two I ran into on the trip down, for a total of thirteen turtles for today!  The conditions were so perfect, with just a slight breeze blowing from the south keeping it cool, but I decided to paddle back and look for dolphins.  Just about the time I was paddling past Kam II, I saw splashes in the distance and I knew it was dolphins!  What were the chances that there would be dolphins two days in a row?  But the closer I got, the more dolphins I could see, and there was a one man canoe and about half a dozen paddlers already with the dolphins.  I paddled in their direction, but they seemed to be going north, so I just kept on paddling until I reached the group.  Then the dolphins just started hanging at the surface again, like yesterday, and flipping and splashing!  The baby dolphin was jumping out of the water and it looked like a big fish!  I found myself surrounded by dolphins again!  Then the group of about twenty spinner dolphins turned and headed south again, so I headed south too.  I could see them swimming under me and next to me and then they would surface.  I saw them tail slapping again and I saw a new behavior…..two of them came up out of the water and  were “tail skimming” the water like you see them doing at SeaWorld and then diving in!  I guess I always thought they were trained to do that, but I got to see it out in the wild, so it must be a natural behavior.  It was amazing!  The dolphins were just having a blast jumping and splashing just like yesterday!  I paddled with them down to Kam II and then stopped because I had already been out for a couple of hours, but as I sat there on my board, I heard a splash and turned around to see about five dolphins around me that must have come back!  For a few minutes, they put on a private show for me, and then they headed out to sea.  I was amazed!  I paddled in, not believing that this happened two days in a row, but it really did.  The day stayed perfect, my swim was nice and it was still very nice when I left the beach!  You know I will be looking for the dolphins again tomorrow!

Paradise!

It was going on nine o’clock this morning before I got to the beach….and I had been grumping about maybe having to stay close by today since I was so late.  When I got to the beach it was just perfect!  I hurried to get out paddling and decided to go south.  A lifeguard on a prone paddle board, passed me and said hello…..then suddenly I saw a dark fin pop up right in front of him and it surprised us both!  Of course my first thought was, “Shark!”…. but then I saw about twenty other fins and then I knew it was DOLPHINS!!!!!  Oh I was pumped, so I whipped my board around and headed north in the direction they were swimming!  There was NO ONE around us and I was paddling with so many dolphins I lost count, but it had to be close to forty of them in this pod.  By the time we got down to Cove Park, other paddlers were watching and came hurrying over to see the dolphins.  Then something amazing happened….the dolphins stopped and were hanging around, swimming under us, and then just lazing on the surface right next to me and the other paddlers!  I was completely surrounded by dolphins so many times!  We were ALL pumped then, and we all just followed the dolphins around, watching them jump and splash and frolic!  There were so many dolphins that there were plenty for everyone to enjoy!  This went on for a good hour!  Then they started to move south and I started paddling south too.  I had about fifteen dolphins all around me…..just me….and they were staying with me, next to me and a couple of them were directly in front of my board!  Every time my board started to over take them, they would push forward just enough and then settle back directly on the nose of my board.  It was amazing!  There was a baby dolphin too, about two feet long, jumping and splashing!  Some of the other paddlers were trying to keep up and there were still a ton of dolphins all over.  I don’t remember how many  jumps, spins, and splashes I witnessed, but the dolphins were having a blast!  I was hooting and hollering and cheering as they showed off and some of this time I was just sitting on my board watching it all and clapping!  I could NOT believe how long this was going on, but I paddled with them down to Kam II, and then Kam III, and then back to Kam II!   A couple of times it seemed I had my own private show…..with dolphins jumping and splashing and fooling around right next to me!  One paddler that was a few yards away from me yelled, “Hey, they seem to like you!”…. and he was right, in fact, the dolphins were surfacing, making noises, swimming right under me and then they did something I have never seen before……they were shooting their fins up out of the water and tail slapping like whales do, and at some times they were just “waving” their tails at me….AND I AM NOT KIDDING!!!!!  I have never seen that out in the wild before and I was in shock!  Wow, what an experience and I never got down to the boat ramp today at all (sorry turtles!), but it was a total dolphin experience day!  At Kam II, some kayakers also got in on the dolphin action and there was one swimmer that came out, and then a lifeguard at Kam II came out on a board and started threatening people  AND spoiled all the fun!  He was yelling, “It’s a federal offense to chase the dolphins…..stay away from the dolphins!”  He was a real downer and it was dumb because the dolphins are so fast……if they had NOT wanted to be hanging out with people and felt “chased”, they would have been LONG gone!!!!!  Those dolphins clearly were loving what they were doing…..and everyone loved it too.  Oh well, he started acting like he was going to “keep” everyone away from them, so I turned around and paddled back to Kam I.  The wind had not come up at all and it was very glassy conditions going back.  I paddled in still not believing how I spent the past two hours…..and really wishing I had the camera!  The conditions stayed nice all the way through my swim and it was still nice when I left the beach.  Wow, what a day!  I hope the dolphins come to play tomorrow because I will be out bright and early waiting for them!!!

So perfect!

Wow, it was just this perfect, this morning when I arrived at the beach!  However, by the time I got out paddling…..a Kona wind kicked up and I paddled against it down to the boat ramp.  I figured that would be good because if the wind stayed Kona, it would give me a push back.  Well, just as I was passing Kam II, the wind started to back off, and I was sure I saw a pod of dolphins out farther so I hurried out in that direction paddling furiously!  By the time I got out there…..NOTHING!  I was so sure it was a pod of dolphins, so maybe they ditched me, who knows?  Then I ran into a paddling friend and she also saw what I had seen, and had even told a couple of other paddlers that there were dolphins out there!  Well, we didn’t see them again, so we continued to paddle down to the boat ramp.  There were two kayakers there already, and we saw a lot of turtles!  I sat in two turtle triangles and one time, the turtle triangle turned into four turtles and then I was surrounded!  There were so many turtles that I lost my count, but I think it was around eighteen or twenty today!  The kayakers were very excited to see the turtles, but we were the closest to them.  A couple of times my friend and I had a turtle right between our boards!  We were having a great time hanging out at the boat ramp and it was so perfect, but I couldn’t quite get the scenario of yesterday out of my mind of getting caught in the wind,  so we headed back.  It was perfect paddling conditions all the way back, and we kept paddling until we were down by Cove Park.  It was hard deciding to go in…but I wanted to swim before the wind came back up, so I said good-bye to my friend and paddled in.  The conditions stayed nice through my swim and it was still gorgeous when I left the beach.  It was just one of those perfect summer days on Maui!

Turtles!

I woke up feeling tired but I decided to go paddling anyway.  When I arrived down at the beach, the conditions were perfect and glassy and I sure was glad since I had been questioning my energy level earlier.  It was really perfect too!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and it was even more perfect and glassy down there.  I spotted my first turtle right away and paddled over to it.  The one turtle turned into two turtles, then three turtles and then six turtles!  I was surrounded by six turtles right away and I was so excited.  Since it was so nice,  I was in no hurry and three more turtles popped up.  Then turtle #10 surfaced right by my board!  The next thing I knew, ripples started creating patterns on the surface of the water, and I thought, “Uh oh…..I had better head back!”  I paddled past Kam III and the wind intensified, but I was hoping it would back off.  No such luck, the wind blew even harder and I was paddling like crazy!  Heading into Kam II,  and getting smacked with wind waves,  I wondered if I should go in at Kam II, but I struggled on.  It took me forever to paddle past the rocky point, making sure I was far enough away that I would not get pushed into it!  What effort!  The wind just was not going to back off.  I finally got in at Kam I, but I was pooped!  I guess that is what I get for expecting an easy paddling day and it didn’t end up that way.  It stayed windy through my swim too and when the wind started blowing sand on the beach, it was time to head home!  Some days are just like that, but I hope tomorrow is not windy!

Nine turtles!

It was a morning much like yesterday, with decent conditions for paddling.  There were white caps way out there, but near shore, it wasn’t windy at all.  I paddled straight to the boat ramp, but when I arrived there were six snorkelers already there!  Fortunately, four of them were swimming away and only two remained.  One of them was yelling to the other one saying….”otros, otros, otros!!!”  I am not sure if I spelled the word right, but I think that is a spanish word for “others”. Well, yes, they were excited at seeing the turtles below the surface!   I paddled farther south to get some distance from them, and spotted my first turtle.  It was a big turtle and it hung around for a few minutes, then dove down and disappeared.  Turtle #2 surfaced right after that, but then dove under my board and swam away.  Turtle #3 popped up out farther, so I paddled out to it.  It was very friendly and was just hanging on the surface, but floating closer to my board until it hit it, then it freaked and dove down under me and came up on the other side of me!  Then I noticed something out a bit farther and it looked bigger than a turtle, so I wanted to investigate, but a boat launched from the boat lane and created wake.  I just love it when that happens….and then when the water settled down, no sign of anything!  I thought that might be it for the day, until suddenly three turtles surfaced at the same time and I paddled right into the turtle triangle!  Then a fourth turtle joined us and I sat in the middle of four turtles.  After two disappeared, two of the turtles remained, one on each side of me!  We just floated there for a while and then one swam away and the other one swam under me. It’s relaxing to just watching them swim gracefully under my board!  Then another turtle surfaced out farther, so I paddled out, and another turtle popped up too.  It ended up being a good turtle day and the wind stayed out, until I was paddling back and a Kona wind started stirring things up.  It was a bumpy swim, but the water is so warm right now and pleasant.  When I came in, the wind line started to move in too, so it was about time to leave the beach!  All in all, a pretty nice day of paddling!

NIce day!

It was a very nice day on Maui today, despite getting down to the beach 30 minutes later than I had planned to and having to wait for a parking spot!  As soon as I got parked, I got out on the water as soon as I could.  A few minutes into paddling, a turtle surfaced right in front of me, but there was a Kona wind blowing, so I headed straight to the boat ramp, paddling against it.  By the time I arrived there, the wind backed off and it was gorgeous!  A guy on a rented stand up board was paddling farther back behind me and when he caught up to me, he stopped just a few yards from where I was sitting.  At the boat ramp, I paddled right into a turtle triangle as soon as I got there!  What were the chances of that happening?  Suddenly the guy on the rented board jumped into the water and was chasing the turtles!  I really get annoyed when people do that, so I paddled farther south. Two turtles surfaced, one on each side of me and we hung out for a few minutes.  One last turtle surfaced and swam right next to my board, and then I decided to start paddling back.  It was hot!  The wind definitely had backed off and it was hot paddling back today.  About the time I was getting ready to head in, the wind came up again and made it some extra effort to get in.  It was windy when I headed out to swim, but then suddenly it backed off again and was perfect and glassy!  The wind couldn’t decide what it was going to do, until about 11 a.m., when it blew in from the north and started blowing sand on the beach and all over people.  It’s a good thing it was time to leave!