wildwahinepaddler

It started out windy off and on……I was hoping the wind would back off…. but instead it got worse.  It got overcast too and even looked like it could rain but I swam anyway!  The water visibility was really poor.  It was hard to see anything.  I finally decided to come in and suddenly a small turtle swam right in front of me!  I even hurtied to get my fins and mask on to try to swim in the direction the turtle was swimming…. but I never saw it!  Oh well.   Just about noon… suddenly the wind backed off and it got really nice!  Go figure……

Nice!!!!

What a beautiful morning!   Even calmer than yesterday.  I did a street walk …. went home and walked back down to the beach.  It was still so nice!  I paddled south towards the boat ramp since no sign of wind.  It was so nice down there!  I had seven turtles visit me….. I even got to sit in a turtle triangle!  Suddenly the water surface began to change and a cloud moved over the sun…… and it started to get choppy….. but still no wind.  I headed back and as soon as I reached Kam 2…. it really got choppy and the wind boomed in!  Wow it was out of nowhere….. just boomed in with little warning.  It was a lot of work paddling over those choppy wind swells!  Then it intensified.  I begged the wind to back off some….. but it had other plans.  I was relieved to get past Kam 2…… and even more relieved to get past the rocky point!  Then I knew I could get back to shore even though it was still a challenge.  The wind was relentless!  I needed help to safely get my board strapped up on my racks…. it was that bad!  I even swam in that choppy mess….. bounced around until I turned around and let it toss me back.  It was crazy…….

Oh nice!

It was another beautiful Maui day!  I took an early walk as the sun came up and then went swimming.  It’s so calm in the early morning!  I didn’t see any turtles until I went paddling.  It wasn’t windy but the water wasn’t totally calm….. I took that as a warning that the wind was brewing.  I figured I had at least an hour before wind would come up so I headed south for the boat ramp.  I was the only one there and ended up with seven little turtles surfacing!  This is the second day in a row that all the turtles there were little ones.  I’m not sure what that means, if anything, but kind of unusual.  It was a little more choppy paddling back, but I stopped at the point when I spotted another turtle.  That made eight turtles for today!  Then as promised….. the wind did come in……I’m glad I got out early….

It was another beautiful day and I got an early start.  Swimming was great….. so calm and clear….. but no turtles.  Then I took off paddling and made it down to the boat ramp.  Three little turtles in a row were waiting for me….. it was so funny!  Then six more turtles surfaced to visit….. all such little ones!  I had them all to myself too.   It was great conditions paddling back and I spotted another small turtle at the point.  I was just about to head in when up popped a big turtle and I recognized it!   It was Bumpy!   I haven’t seen that turtle for a while.  I followed her out past where the boats sit and she surfaced twice and then dove down.  That made eleven turtles for today!  I hope tomorrow is just as nice…..

Nice!!

I swam first today.   It was a lovely swim but no turtles hanging out today.  So, I headed out paddling before the wind came up.  I paddled south and came across a turtle while passing Kam 3.  Despite the ocean being a bit bumpy…. it was beautiful out on the water!  The bumps must have been generated by the wind way out there…. warning of what was to come.  Nine turtles came up to visit me and posed for some photos!  I had them all to myself ….. the bonus to paddling that early is I miss the snorkeling boat that ends up there.  That’s a good bonus!  It was still bumpy paddling back …. but I paddled past the point and spotted three little turtles hanging by the rocks closer to shore.  That made thirteen turtles for today!  I hope it’s good conditions tomorrow too….it was great seeing the turtles….

Our a/c finally was operational last night…. so we are a cool 75 degrees now!  That was a long, hot, stressful week and I’m glad that’s over.  This morning was great…… I took a beach walk and swam early again.  I swam with three friendly turtles and watched them lounging and munching their morning seaweed!  I took 89 photos and video!  Two of the turtles were in my face and photo bombing my camera!  Just as I was trying to move away from them to get better pictures…. they ended up in my face….. so I just started taking photos!  Some of them are just incredible if I say so myself.  I don’t know how long I swam with them …. I lost track of time!  I got out paddling too and saw three more turtles down at the point. I decided not to venture past Kam 2 because the wind had picked up but it was still pretty nice!  I was a bit exhausted  though!  I really needed a day like today…. I really love those turtles!

Very nice!