wildwahinepaddler

Nice Day!

Wow, just another picture perfect day on Maui!  A slight breeze blowing from the north and patchy clouds, but mostly sunny and beautiful.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and just as I was arriving, a kayaker was leaving.  I was the only one there and I spotted a turtle immediately!  It was out farther, so I paddled out to it.  Just as I got there, four more turtles popped up around me and I was surrounded!
Then one more turtle joined us, so that was six all at once.  Sometimes that happens!  A paddling friend joined me at the boat ramp and we had another turtle right between us, then she spotted another one out farther.  We both paddled out to it, and it ended up being a very small turtle, probably a youngster.  The day was so perfect, and eight turtles was really nice!  My friend decided to paddle back, so I did too, but I took the scenic route which was out much farther.  I got out to where it was so quiet and calm, to a place I like to call the “quiet zone”.  It was good for my head to sit there and meditate for a few minutes, and then I paddled in.  I looked for the manta rays on the way in, but none were around today. Who knows, maybe tomorrow!!!  My swim was equally enjoyable and the day stayed nice.  Just another day in paradise!!!

Yesterday I stayed out of the sun since I was out on my board on Tuesday,  twice as long as I usually am chasing the Manta Rays.  I heard it was a perfect day at the beach, so that figures!  Today I got up early and was in the water around 8 a.m. and the wind was already blowing from the north.  I paddled into the wind down to Cove Park, and then turned south.  The wind gave me a nice push all the way down to the boat ramp!  When I arrived, the wind backed off and it was perfect.  There was also one person there in a one-man canoe; two kayakers; and five stand up paddlers were also there!  It was more crowded than I like so I have to re think the earlier hour now.  I sat on my board taking in the scenery for about 30 minutes, and NO turtles appeared! Not a one!  Once in a while that happens, and I wonder if it was because so many people were there.  Anyway, I think I will shoot for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow!  The wind stayed out while I paddled back until half way past Kam II, and then it came in from the south this time.  It was a nice little push all the way home!  I paddled out where we had seen all the Manta Rays the other day, but I didn’t spot a single one.  My swim was the most interesting today.  The ocean is so clear right now that I saw purple coral growing on an old pier stump from WWII… and a “Humuhumu” fish and a baby puffer fish hanging around it.  I had never seen that post before today.  The reef and rocks were teaming with various tropical fish down at the point and I enjoyed that too!  The wind stayed Kona while I was at the beach, and I was home by 11:30 a.m.  I missed the turtles today, but it was a gorgeous day anyway!

Nice Sunset!

Sharing tonight’s sunset!!!!!!

It was a beautiful morning with perfect conditions for paddling.  Everything was so calm, so I thought it would be a mellow day.  I paddled down to the boat ramp, running into a paddling friend as I passed Kam II.    When I got to the boat ramp, I was the only one there and it was perfect! I saw my first turtles out farther, so I paddled out to them.  The two turtles didn’t stick around, so I paddled a bit more north where I ran into two more turtles.  One dove down and disappeared and the other one was friendly.  Then I paddled in a little closer and two more turtles popped up, one on each side of me!  Six turtles were good for me, so I headed back in the same perfect conditions.  Just as I was paddling into Kam I, I ran into another paddling friend.  She had seen a big Manta Ray in the area, so I wanted to look for it.  We chatted for a while and drifted almost down to Kam III!  We paddled back by Kam I, and she spotted a turtle.  We hung around with it for a few minutes and it popped it’s head out and looked at us.  That made seven turtles for the day, but then my friend said there might be dolphins out farther.  We headed out to take a look, but it ended up being Manta Rays!  We followed them out pretty far and we were led to more Manta Rays.  At one point I was surrounded by them, with one on each side of me and one in front of me!  Then there were more of them and twice I ended up sitting right in between two of them!  They took us on quite a ride and it was amazing!  They are so big and graceful, but they can also move quite fast.  A few times I had to paddle pretty fast to catch up to them!  We totally lost track of time but the conditions were holding nicely.  I am not sure how many Manta Rays there were in all, but it was such a treat to get to paddle with them!  It had been a while since I saw even one and then to get a group of them all in one morning, was amazing.  It was a Manta Ray fest to be sure!!!!  It was getting late, so we paddled in.  I got out for my swim before the wind came in, but on the way back the conditions were bumpy.  It was a great day out on the ocean!

It was another beautiful day on Maui and I was itching to get back out on the water after the weekend of Doula training.  Conditions were good, except it seemed as if the wind was going to come in, but I didn’t care. I paddled down towards Cove Park to see if some friends were out kayaking, but I didn’t see them, so I turned to paddle south.  Just as I was passing Kam I,  I saw a disturbance in the water and some fins, so my first thought was dolphins! I paddled closer to find that it was a baby whale with two dolphins!  I looked around the area to see if the whale mother was near but didn’t see any other whales.  It seemed very unusual that a baby whale would be very far from it’s mother, but this one was being accompanied by dolphins!  I have never seen anything like it.  I watched them for awhile,  making sure to stay at least a few yards from them, and watching the three dive and surface with the baby whale’s tail coming completely out of the water three times!  Two other paddlers were closer and one looked very nervous as the three dove under his board!  A baby whale can easily dump you off your board and I think he was very aware of that!  I was ecstatic to have such an encounter, especially on the 1st birthday of WildWahinePaddler!!!!!!  One year ago today, I launched this blog for women paddlers and I have enjoyed sharing it with you all!  As you can imagine, my day had been completely made by the baby whale and dolphins, but I still paddled down to the boat ramp.  At Kam III I ran across my first turtle and hung around with it for a few minutes.  Then I headed into the boat ramp area, and up popped my second turtle!  We were having a friendly interaction and I was completely enjoying it, when the pontoon tour boat came roaring in.  Oh well, I had already been blessed with a baby whale, two dolphins and two turtles, all in one morning, so I headed back.  Just as I was passing Kam III, another turtle popped up in front of me, so I hung with it for a few minutes too.  I still can’t believe I got a baby whale, two dolphins, and three turtles, all in one morning!  What a lovely birthday celebration!  Then the wind began to come up so I paddled back and then went for my swim.  It couldn’t have been a more perfect day!  Happy Birthday WildWahinePaddler….. it’s been a great ride this past year!

When I got down to the beach, it was about 9 a.m.  It was later than I wanted to go out, but I had to help my husband drop his car off for some work to be done and it took forever.  It seemed like it was already getting windy too.  The ocean was not glassy like yesterday, instead it was ripply!  I wanted to go out, though, because I won’t get to go on the weekend since I am taking a class.  As soon as I started to paddle, the wind disappeared and the ocean got glassy like it was yesterday!  I headed down to the boat ramp and paddling was a breeze.  Just as I headed into the boat ramp area, three turtles popped up, one on my left, one on my right, and one ahead of me!  I was surrounded!  But what was amazing is what happened after that.  Those turtles stayed there and three more turtles surfaced next to them!  Then two more turtles joined us!  I had eight turtles all around me and I was in turtle heaven!  I couldn’t believe they all came up almost together, and then when I started to paddle back, one last one surfaced next to me.  Nine turtles altogether, with eight of them surfacing almost at the same time.  That had never happened to me before!  The conditions stayed nice all the way back and right through my swim too.  It was just another one of those perfect days!!!!

Perfect Day!

And was it ever perfect!!!!  After all those windy mornings, today was perfect conditions.  Just a few puffy clouds in the sky and a glassy ocean!  Of course I paddled down to the boat ramp, even though the wind might still come up, because this day was just too perfect.  I ran across my first turtle just outside of Kam III and hung around with it for a few minutes.  It popped its head out of the water three times and then swam around me,  then it dove under my board!  I continued paddling to the boat ramp and ran into turtle #2 which didn’t stick around.  Then suddenly a turtle surfaced to my right, and then another one surfaced to my left, and one popped up behind me, so I was surrounded!  Two more turtles joined us!  After they swam away, I was sitting on my board enjoying the scenery, wondering how long I dare stay down there.  Before I knew it, two more turtles surfaced right next to me and another one on the other side and I was surrounded again!  That was ten turtles so far and I was contemplating paddling back.  Then  # 11 surfaced on my left side and #12 surfaced on my right side and #13 popped up in front of me!  I was ecstatic!  After all the turtle excitement I decided to paddle back, but before I took off,  turtle #14 popped up in front of me. It was quite a turtle day!  The conditions stayed glassy and perfect all the way back, and all the way through my swim. What a totally perfect day!

The morning started out quite nice with just a breeze blowing, and the conditions were good, so I took a chance and paddled down to the boat ramp.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky over the top of Haleakala and the temperature was pleasant.  I had gotten an earlier start today so I was sure I would miss the tour boat.  Just as I paddled in to the boat ramp area, and big turtle surfaced to greet me and hung out for a few minutes!  Then it dove down and swam under my board for a little while.  It was so nice down at the boat ramp…..until it wasn’t!  Suddenly the wind roared in from the north and it was rough seas filled with white caps!  Oh great, all the way down at the boat ramp and now it was windy crazy.  I headed back, paddling like crazy, against the wind, moving very slowly despite my efforts!  It was slow going all the way and I was getting water dumped on me from the white caps breaking on me.  I was wondering if I might have to bail out at one of the other beaches, but I just kept paddling!  Finally I passed Kam III, then Kam II, and just when I had made it past the reefs and turned the corner to Kam I, the wind backed off!  Then it was really nice, but I wanted to come in because I was tired.  My right arm was feeling a bit tight after all that paddling against the wind!  The wind stayed out and I got to swim, but just as I was enjoying the reefs and fish, the wind came roaring in again.  Now I had to swim against the wind all the way back!  It sure was a work out day, but I am glad I got to visit with at least one turtle before the wind got crazy!  Who knows what it will be like tomorrow?

Here is a photo of four people out on a sunset paddle.  It looks so nice, doesn’t it?  It was a nice sunset.

The day started out windy again today.  There were already some white caps but I paddled anyway.  My strategy?  To stay in the vicinity so I knew I could get back in if the wind got worse.  It was paddling laps today, continuous paddling with no time to stop.  Stopping meant having your board turn completely around in seconds!  Paddling into the wind was a workout, but when I turned away from the wind, it blew me effortlessly along.  At one point I was paddling into the wind, when I ran into a couple of paddling buddies.  We were all paddling into the bumps and white caps going north when we spotted a couple of whales spouting in the distance!  We wanted to paddle out, but that wasn’t going to happen in that wind.  After turning around to paddle south, the wind blew me along, and then suddenly it backed off!  The ocean got really nice and then I didn’t want to go in, but I also was looking forward to swimming in the super clear water.  On my way in, I looked down and there was a big Puffer fish swimming right under my board!  Swimming was glorious and the nice conditions lasted all the way though my swim.  The weather was really nice too, even though it was very windy!  I wonder what it will be like tomorrow?

I have been MIA for quite a few days.  My mother in law, who was visiting from California,  got stomach flu the day she was scheduled to fly home and so she stayed extra days to feel better.  Then after taking care of her, I got it too!  I was ill for several days, it was one nasty bug.  Finally this morning my husband went down to the beach and came back telling me how perfect the ocean was!  I went down less than an hour later, and the wind was coming up already with some white caps…. BOO!  Two other paddling friends were contemplating going out with the wind situation, so I decided to go for it.  I paddled against the north wind down almost to Kalama Park and then turned south.  I decided to play it safe and stay in the vicinity so the wind blew me south and then backed off.  It was nice for a little while and then the wind came up again causing a sea of white caps!  I decided to try to stay out as long as possible, so I just kept paddling.  Then the wind backed off again, and the ocean got perfect.  It was so nice I didn’t want to come in!  I paddled for almost an hour and then decided to come in and go for my swim before the wind got totally crazy.  My swim was amazingly nice and the water crystal clear!  All the reefs were visible, which doesn’t happen very often, so I totally enjoyed the reefs, fish and coral.  Swimming was an absolute joy!  By the time I left the beach the wind was getting crazy, so I am so glad I went out!!!!!