wildwahinepaddler

Beautiful!

After a windy spell and a day with rain…… Finally this morning was nice!  I paddled in loopy conditions out on the water…….. With the loopy swells pushing from the north.  I knew it was supposed to get windy so I hurried down to the boat ramp.  When I arrived down there, four other paddlers were already there.  None of them were seeing any turtles.  The water was bumpy so I headed back.  Some days it’s just about the exercise and enjoying the sights!  It’s always good to get out on the ocean.  It was during my swim that a turtle appeared and I got to swim with it for a few minutes!  The ocean temperature is about 84 degrees!  I have never seen the ocean this warm here.  The sad thing is that this unusually warm water is harming the coral.   Down at the reef…… So may coral were bleached white.   I also noticed a lack of fish there which is odd.  I heard that the warm water was sticking around until maybe February….. I hope the coral and fish survive it!

Interesting weather….

So paddling has been perfect for several days.  Today was overcast and stormy looking with it raining twice in one day.  I didn’t go out.  At sunset…… It looked nice for paddling…. Figures!  This has been the strangest year for weather!  Maybe tomorrow…..

Beautiful!

Amazing!  Four days in a row of paddling AND turtles!  It was another perfect day of paddling and I made it down to the boat ramp.  The water was so glassy and nice.  A small turtle met me just as I paddled past Kam 3!  Then another small turtle surfaced beyond the first one.  Next a large beautiful turtle swam right up to me!  I got photos and it dove under my board and surfaced on the other side of me.  It was so friendly!  What a besutiful day to be out on the ocean!  I paddled back in perfect conditions and just as I was passing Kam 2….. Two turtles surfaced on each side of me!  That made five turtles for today!

Lovely!

The conditions stayed perfect for my swim too and the water is incredibly warm!  I hope it’s the same way tomorrow morning!  A girl can hope…….

Another buddy!

WOW……. I can’t believe it!  I actually paddled down to the boat ramp three days in a row!  It was another beautiful day and the conditions were perfect.  Apparently what’s left of Hurricane Jimena is passing by and thats why the wind is blowing from the south and bringing VOG in from the Big Island.  It’s also causing a bit of a swell but it’s manageble and the water is SO warm and very clear!  Just a perfect day at the beach.  Yesterday we got a short bit of rain too but it didn’t last.  It was a pleasure paddling down to the boat ramp!  Only one turtle visited me and that is the photo of it above.  It surfaced twice and then dove down.  I don’t know where most of my turtles are hiding out lately…….. It seems that maybe the weeks of crazy ocean conditions have disturbed them.  I paddled back in nice conditions too…

Nice!

when I got back the wind still had not come up!  As I paddled in….. Two turtles appeared but I couldn’t hang around because I was too close to shore and in the impact zone.  It was good to see two more turtles though!  I had to get in quick before one of the waves caught me.  During my swim I had to swim out past where the occasional wave was breaking.  The water is so warm right now!   It was just a gorgeous but hot day……. Fall is definitely in the air!  Can I make it four days in a row paddling tomorrow?  Let’s hope so!

Buddy!

it was another nice day!  A bit overcast and breezy but still very nice.  I am trying to take advantage of any days I can get out paddling!  The wind was already blowing on shore…. But the wind forecast was for South wind, so I paddled to the boat ramp.  I figured that if the wind came up and was blowing from the south…… I could catch a ride on my way back.  This  doesn’t always work out though but today it did!  Just as I got to the boat ramp the wind kicked up from the south just as predicted.  There was already  another paddle boarder there and two snorkelers……. But when I saw white caps forming…… I headed back!  Just as I was passing Kam 3, a turtle popped up to visit!  Above is a photo of it.  I paddled back being pushed by the wind and white caps!  It got pretty choppy…..

Choppy!

When I came in I had to act fast before the wind got any stronger!  It was a challenge hoisting my board up onto my car in the wind but I managed.  During my swim I decided to swim in the direction of the wind which worked out great……. I got a ride back courtesy of the wind!  The water remains super warm and pretty clear too.  I hope tomorrow is nice too!

Just beautiful!

After weeks of crazy conditions due to multiple hurricanes passing by the islands….. It was a surprisingly beautiful day today!  I almost didn’t go down to the beach but I’m so glad I did.  I didn’t get out until 9:45 a.m. which was really late but it was so perfect.  The weather report predicted south west wind…… So I took a chance paddling down to the boat ramp.

Back out there!

it was so nice out on the water!  By the time I got down to the boat ramp, the red snorkel boat was already there and letting snorkelers off.  Since it was getting late, I decided not to hang around.  I paddled back in nice conditions.  I couldn’t believe that the island of Kahoolawe was green!  In 22 years I’ve never seen it green over there!  There has been so much rain.  The West Maui mountains are really green too…… It looks like there won’t be any fires on the mountain this year!  I was so happy to get such a nice day for paddling and the ocean temperature has been a toasty 82 degrees!   I could use a few more days like this……

North shore Oahu

I’ve been MIA lately.  We took a trip over to Oahu in August and although I didn’t get to go paddling….. I caught this view one evening.  The paddler was having a great time paddle surfing!  Luckily we swam in Waimea Bay the first two days because by Sunday Hurricane Kilo was stirring things up.  The thunder and lightning was something else bouncing off the mountain!  By Monday morning the rain had caused run off from the mountain and the ocean was brown!  So much for the day we planned to spend at the beach.  This is quite a hurricane season…… With back to back storms plaguing us for weeks.  I can’t wait until the ocean conditions improve!  At least we have been getting some rain…..

It was windy again this morning!  The wind must be waiting until I get there lately….. But I decided to go for it anyway.  I was hoping the wind might back off like it did yesterday but no such luck!  It was a bumpy ride but it was great to be out on my board.  I paddled north with the wind at my back and I looked down and there was a turtle swimming right under me!  I paddled along side the turtle for a few minutes and then it surfaced to say “Hi”!  I can’t believe I got this photo because it was the only one I took!

Morning buddy!

Bumpy!

i ended up paddling for an hour and all I did was paddle in the bumpy conditions….. No time to sit and relax!  The wind stayed constant even during my swim and the ocean is so warm.  The wind did make it a lot cooler today since it has been so hot.  It was a besutiful day out after the rain again last night…..

Yesterday was so perfect!  It got really hot about 11:00 and three hours later it started raining!  It was so humid.  The rain was nice!  The weather report said it would be more of the same for today…… So I was hoping for another perfect morning.  Well, just as I got down to the beach, the wind came up and soon the ocean was blown out, white caps and all!  I decided to go for a walk and see if it calmed down but no luck with that!  Then I decided to go swimming.  The water is so warm right now!  Out a bit visibility was good too.  On my way back I ran into a very friendly turtle!  I swam with it for a while and then it surfaced twice right in front of me.  I moved over to the right and the turtle swam right next to me looking at me!  Interacting with the turtle made my day!  When I got back from swimming….. Of course the wind backed off and it got pretty nice.  It also got hot so maybe there will be rain again this afternoon…. I hope so!

Blown out!

Nice now

Wow!  The kind of day I’ve been wishing for!  Just perfect in every way.  Of course I paddled down to the boat ramp!  It was so glassy and nice!  Two turtles came up to visit me but they didn’t stay long.  The water was so clear that I could see several turtles congregating on the bottom but they were not coming up.  Apparently turtles can hold their breath for quite a while!  I paddled back in perfect conditions and I didn’t wasn’t to go in…… It was THAT perfect.  My swim was equally as nice and I swam longer than usual.  It was just a perfect day in every way!

So glassy!