wildwahinepaddler

What a beautiful morning!  I’m trying to get as much paddling in as possible before another swell messes up the conditions.  I paddled down to the boat ramp and I wasn’t there long when the first turtle surfaced.  It didn’t stay long but another turtle showed up beyond that one!  Then two turtles popped up in front of my board taking turns going  up and down in the water.  I started taking pictures and all the turtles seemed to be posing!  I got a lot of photos!  Altogether I counted nine turtles at the boat ramp today!  After paddling I had to run home for a bit, but when I came back it was still so nice.  I swam in clear water down to the turtle haven and swam for quite a while with six turtles!  It was amazing!  The turtles were so friendly that a couple of times they startled me when they came so close.  I just swam and floated while I watched them!  I even saw a squid that was perched on a rock all camouflaged and when I got close……it jumped off the rock and swam under it!  I don’t think I have ever seen that before while swimming!  The turtles and I were jostled around by the surge  and a few tourists  came by to take pictures.  I am probably in those photos!  I still can’t believe how friendly those turtles were!  After a while I started to get cold so I swam back.  I sure looked like a prune after staying in the water so long!  What a great day!  Fifteen turtles today!

So I wanted a day just like yesterday…….. And I got a day BETTER than yesterday!  Lucky me!  It was glassy out on the water and the sky  was clear of Vog.   Lucky day!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and marveled at how clear the mountain tops were!  The snorkel boat was there and had its snorkelers out and there were a few other people on stand up boards plus a two person kayak….. It was a bit busy there for a Monday morning.  I spotted a turtle floating  on the surface so I paddled over by it…. But a snorkeler popped up right when I was going to take a photo.   I was surprised the boat was allowing her to get that close to the turtle but no one said a thing to her.  I recognized the turtle and it was Bumpy!  The turtle got flustered and dove down.  I decided to paddle out farther from the tour boat.  Another big turtle surfaced but didn’t stick around.  Then a turtle popped up right next to me on my right and then another one on my left and I was in the middle!  I hurried to get a photo ( it’s the one up above…).  That turtle stayed briefly and then both dove down and disappeared.  The day was still so perfect!  Four turtles at the boat ramp was still a treat.  I paddled back in nice conditions and it stayed nice for my swim.   The water was very clear!  I decided to swim down farther than usual and see if there was visibility at the turtle haven.  There were so many fish!  Big Unicorn fish…… Baby puffer fish….. Humu Humu fish…. Colorful reef fish and two good sized fish I did not recognize!  I made it to the haven and immediately saw a nice healthy looking female turtle.  She was trying to est seaweed off the rocks close to shore.  I wanted to get closer but the surge was pushing me and the turtle around!  At one point…. She almost flew into me!  After getting jostled around for a while I left the turtle and swam back.  What a super nice day!  I was happy to get five turtles today too!  Can I get another day like this tomorrow please?

Wow!   What a perfect day today!  After a whole week of varied conditions from a swell…. Shore break ….. and Poor visibility….. It was great to get a break.  Yesterday the wind blew from the north clearing out some of the vog…. So today is supposed to be the same.  We really need the normal winds to blow!  I couldn’t wait to get out on my board!  I paddled south towards the boat ramp and it was so nice.  I could see the red snorkel boat leaving the boat ramp…… Perfect timing!  I ran into a paddling friend at Kam 3 and she said there weren’t any turtles surfacing today…. Boo!  We paddled down to the boat ramp together and it was perfect down there….. But no turtles visiting today.  I was just so happy to be out on the water again!  I paddled back in nice conditions and it stayed very nice throughout my swim too!   It was just an overall perfect day!  I would like a few more of these please!

Oh my what a spectacular day today!  I was really hoping for a nice day for Easter and today really delivered!  I am really enjoying the absence of the vog and clearly seeing the tops of the mountains.  So far, our trade winds haven’t normalized so it’s unclear how long the clear air will last but I’m thoroughly enjoying it right now!  I headed south towards the boat ramp and ran into a paddling friend at Kam 3.  We paddled together to the boat ramp and were greeted by a line of four turtles!  Then one more turtle surfaced and that made five!  After that….. Two more turtles popped up to make seven turtles for Easter!   It was so beautiful!  We paddled back in perfect conditions and my friend went in at Kam 2.  I continued to Kam 1 but hated to go in!   The conditions stayed nice for my swim too and the water was so clear too.  I saw lots of fish down at the reef!  It was just a spectacular day all around……Happy Easter!

What a gorgeous morning!   The storm last evening washed all the vog away and today was incredibly nice and clear.   It was a joy paddling!  I got down halfway past Kam 3 and turned around.  I had limited time today due to two events happening later so it was a shorter trip today.  It was so clear I could see the tops of all the mountains!  My swim was equally nice too.   I hope tomorrow is just as nice!

OH wow!!   The vog looked so bad this morning that I wondered about even going down to the beach.  Glad I reconsidered because it ended up being a perfect paddling day!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and although there were some other paddlers there already……. I had a turtle triangle waiting for me!  Then two more turtles joined us and I was surrounded!  I was really excited about all the turtles!  Then two more turtles popped up and I got lots of photos of all of them.  A couple on a kayak were yelling   ” hey they are posing for you!”  And it seemed they were!  It was still plenty voggy but at least the turtles were around today.  I paddled back in nice conditions and it stayed nice for my swim too.   On my way back a healthy looking female turtle appeared in front of me…… So I turned around and swam with her down to the point!  That made eight turtles for today!  I’ll take it!!  Now if we could just get those trade winds to come back and blow this nasty vog away……… I loved my turtle day though!

So here we go again.  The morning started out nice and then came the shore break…… Not real big and not real consistent….. But there.  The vog wasn’t too bad today until late afternoon then even the mountains couldn’t be seen.   I ended up just swimming.  I hope this swell is short lived.  It just rained some so maybe that will help with the vog.  It’s pretty humid as well…….I’m holding out hope for tomorrow to be a nice day…..

Once again…..it started out really nice.  There was some wind blowing from the north but not too bad.  I paddled south but when I got to the end of Kam 2…… The wind got stronger.  I ran into a paddling friend at Kam 2 and she had paddled north and was on her way back.  Suddenly she said “WHITE CAPS”….. and she was right!  I paddled hard against the wind back to Kam 1 and went in.  I’m having cameras phone issues and haven’t been able to get my phone to cooperate in a couple of days.  So frustrating!  The wind backed off and I went swimming.  Just as I got out in the water….I saw a big turtle coming my way so I waited for it to get to me.   Then I swam with the turtle all the way down to the reef!  It was a big healthy male and I sure was glad to see it!  By the time I headed back the wind had picked up again and I could hear it whistling in my snorkel.  The vog continued to come in despite the efforts of the north wind.  I guess it just wasn’t strong enough to blow out the vog.   Soon the mountain was engulfed in vog again…… We really need our normal trade winds back!