wildwahinepaddler

The day started out so perfect!  That lasted about an hour ….. then the wind kicked up creating choppy conditions.   It was just a swim for me today!  It was a great swim too and I enjoyed the 80 degree water and reasonably good visibility.  The sea life, however was nearly nonexistent!  I saw maybe three fish.   The turtles must be hiding out somewhere right now.  It has been weird weather and although it was raining in the north and south directions…..we only got some sprinkles of rain.  Oh well…. maybe tomorrow!  Tonight’s sunset surprised me…… with color and the sun briefly made an appearance right before it set……

What a weird weather day!  It started out calmer than yesterday …. but then the wind started blowing on and off.   It was looking rather stormy but I went out on my board anyway.   The water was actually pretty nice so I headed south.  By the time I got as far as the end of Kam 2….. it became a different story.   Suddenly there were strong wind gusts so I turned around in a hurry!  I could see it was raining in both directions so I paddled hard between wind gusts to get back.  It took a lot of effort!   I finally made it in and managed to get my board up the beach and put up on my car racks.  Then the wind completely backed off again so my swim ended up being great. The water is so warm!  I didn’t see even one turtle today….. they must have been hiding out somewhere.  The day stayed partly overcast and the wind continued to blow in and out…. alternating directions.  It was just one of those kind of days….. maybe tomorrow….it was still beautiful!

After a stormy-like day yesterday as Hurricane Fernanda passed by us….. it was nice to get a sunny day for today.  I paddled in good conditions down to the boat ramp.  My first turtle surfaced as I was paddling past Kam 3…… then four friendly turtles at the boat ramp!  On my way back, another small turtle popped up at the point as I passed.  I was excited to have six turtles!  Conditions were so calm!  I swam south since the current seemed to going that way and on my way back…… a very small turtle darted past me!  I turned to swim south with it and got a photo and a video but that little bugger out swam me!  Then a larger turtle appeared also swimming south so off so went with it.  I got a bunch of photos and a couple of videos of that turtle!  I swam with the turtle until it veered out to sea and then I came in.   I was exhausted!  Well…. that made eight turtles for today!  It was a great day for turtles……my favorite buddies…..

Move along quickly Fernanda!

Wow!  What a great day!  The wind cooperated and I paddled in nice conditions down to the boat ramp.  Once there….. the turtles started to pop up all around me!  At one point I sat there surrounded by six turtles all at once!  I counted thirteen in all.  I had them all to myself.  I paddled back hoping the conditions would stay nice and boy, did they!  I went swimming and got to swim with a young male turtle.  I swam with it, taking video and photos almost down to the end of Charley Young beach!  On the way back….. I saw a large crab.  I’ve never seen a crab here that looked like that!  Always something new and interesting!

I got down to the beach early enough to see the sun come up over Haleakala today!  Although the ocean was calm and glassy at 6:30 a.m…… by 8:30 a.m. the ocean was kicked up by the wind!  The wind has been early lately and sporadic…. moving in and out until it roars in complete with white caps.  Those are not ideal conditions for paddling (maybe windsurfing, but not paddling!)  I decided to swim and I’m glad I did because I got a great turtle morning with two different turtles!  I swam with and photographed the first turtle all the way down to the end of Charley Young beach and then I turned around to swim back.  Then when I was almost back…… the second turtle appeared so I swam with and photographed that one almost down to the same place.   I swam back and I was so tired!  It’s a lot of work keeping up with them and trying to get good photos and videos too.  When I got back …. the wind backed off and it got so perfect!  I contemplated taking my board out but the perfection only lasted about fifteen minutes.  Now Hurricane Fernanda is due to pass by us over the weekend …. so who knows what that will bring?  I hope not much……..

It was a beautiful Summer day today….. but the wind was threatening again.    Today it was pushing from the south creating bumpy swells…… I decided to swim.  I immediately was met by a large female turtle and proceeded to swim with her.   It was a lovely swim….. so peaceful…..and she let me take a video and lots of photos!  I was so excited!  When she headed out to sea….. I swam back and came in.  The wind had backed off and the ocean looked pretty nice for paddling.  It was already 10:30 a.m. But I grabbed my board and paddle and went for it!  It was still bumpy with swells so I knew the wind wasn’t finished yet but I had four turtles surfacing at the point anyway.  Five turtles today!  It was great swimming with the turtle too.  The wind kept moving in and out and it’s still doing that….. maybe tomorrow the wind will cooperate better……

Interesting colors eventhough the sun never fully made it out of the clouds….

It was a beautiful morning but the ocean wasn’t calm.  The wind wasn’t really blowing but lots of swells were rolling from the north.  I could only guess that the wind was really blowing farther out sending the waves to shore.  It wasn’t a “sit and enjoy the turtles” kind of day!  It was all paddling workout.  The clouds moved in and out and during my swim …. the wind I suspected of generating the swells roared in, pretty much clearing the beach!  Well it did cool the day off.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better paddling day…..

It was a beautiful morning!  The sun was peeking through some cloud cover on the mountain.  It was not windy yet…. although some variable wind did come up  later.  It seemed to be mostly pushing from the south …… with little swells….. so I took a chance and paddled down to the boat ramp.  Unfortunately a tour boat with blaring music was hanging out there…. so I waited for them to move on.  Finally they left and the tranquility usually experienced there returned.  Three turtles surfaced to visit me!  It was great to see them!  I paddled back hoping the wind would continue pushing north and it did, giving me a nice boost back!  It stayed pretty nice throughout my swim but I didn’t see any turtles today.  The water is 80 degrees and felt so good!