wildwahinepaddler

Good morning my lovely!   I got down to the beach by 8:30 a.m. and it looked perfect!  I couldn’t get out there fast enough.  I decided to head straight to the boat ramp and suddenly I noticed a turtle swimming under my board!  I followed it for a little while but it didn’t surface.  I continued on to the boat ramp……but suddenly the wind started blowing from the south and I ended up paddling against the wind all the way down to the boat ramp.  As soon as I arrived, the wind magically backed off and it was so perfect and glassy!  I saw a turtle surfacing out farther so I headed out to it, but it disappeared by the time I got to it.  I was just sitting enjoying the perfect conditions, when I heard a splash behind me.  I turned around and it was a turtle!  It bobbed at the surface and popped its head up a few times and I was able to get this one photo of it (above)!  After the turtle dove down, no more turtles surfaced and I didn’t want to get caught in the wind, so I paddled back.

Oh nice!

The conditions were still nice, but as soon as I put my board on my car, the wind started up again.  It was windy when I started out swimming……I enjoyed seeing all the colorful tropical fish down at the reef….even a super tiny Unicorn fish (probably a baby) and I had never seen such a small one before!  On the way back, the wind started up again and I could hear it howling in my snorkel.  I was about half way back when a turtle appeared right in front of me!  It was a big, beautiful, healthy turtle!  It was swimming south, so I turned around and swam with it for a while.  I needed to get back so I left the turtle and swam north.  It was great having four turtles today….. even getting to swim with one too!  It was really a perfect paddling day and I am hoping for another one of those tomorrow!

Back out there!

I finally got back to the beach yesterday……but it was windy and choppy and I was afraid it was going to get worse, so I opted to just go for a swim.  The wind stayed pretty constant the whole time I was at the beach until I left at 11:18 a.m……then it got really nice!  Figures!  The swim was nice though and the water always feels so good….

Nice day!

Today I got down to the beach by 8:30 a.m. and although I could see white caps out farther…..it wasn’t blown out.  The wind was gusty on and off, so I decided to stay close by.  I paddled north, thinking that the white caps might move in but by the time I got down to Kalama Park, the wind started blowing from the south!  Then I had to paddle against the wind down to Kam 2!  The water got bumpy with the competing winds so I headed back to Kam I.  The wind was still gusting off and on but my swim was pretty nice.  I enjoyed watching all the little tropical fish darting around down by the reef!  It was such a beautiful day, even though it stayed windy….

Cool clouds!

The cloud cover kept changing and it was pretty nice!  I will be glad when the wind backs off for the morning like it usually does, I am ready to head down to my favorite place and visit my turtles!  Maybe tomorrow………

Carlsbad Lagoon

It was hard not paddling for so many days…..but I did manage one nice day at the Carlsbad Lagoon!  The water isn’t clear or warm, but at least I got to paddle for an hour.  It was pretty calm and I paddled down to the end where it is a marsh….. the birds seemed unimpressed by my presence

Hi birds!At

At least I got out on some water!  The weather was mostly nice……just the last day we were in San Diego, it got very overcast and cooler.  At Cardiff beach, we caught a very nice sunset one evening…..

Nice!

And even saw some people paddling there…..

I was jealous….but brrrr….it was chilly!

I am happy to be back on Maui.  Visiting family was nice, but I am more than ready to get back to warm water and my turtles!

Gotcha!

It was another beautiful day today, but the ocean was not nearly as calm as yesterday.  There was a bit of a swell or surge as the tide was still pretty high…….but the red flags didn’t get posted until I got back.  I got out okay and headed down to the boat ramp.  Hardly anyone was out today….. and for a Saturday that is odd!  I was a bit wary of the wind because the wind prediction was for 20 mph winds today.  I don’t like getting caught in the wind!  I paddled down to the boat ramp and it was quite nice there and immediately I had two turtles surface!  I cruised up between them and sat in contentment.  Then two more turtles popped up and I was surrounded by four turtles!  A guy paddled by and there we were……just me and four turtles just hanging out!  I counted twelve turtles in all for today but there were most likely more but I didn’t want to tempt fate with the wind.  I paddled back, and ran into a paddling friend, so we paddled north together.  It was pretty nice but there was a slight wind at our back, so when we turned around, the wind was blowing against us. I saw something splash out farther on the ocean……then a little farther south, it splashed again!  We paddled out to take a look but it disappeared, whatever it was.  My swim was great and the water is still so warm!  The visibility is a bit kicked up , though, due to this little swell.  I wish the visibility would improve down at the reef!  It sure was a beautiful day, it was even totally clear way up on the Haleakala too!

Hello there!

I can’t believe it was another perfect day today!  It was actually even MORE perfect than yesterday!  Very calm and smooth conditions, so I paddled south to the boat ramp. I ran into a paddling friend passing Kam 2, so we paddled together.  I needed to get my paddling done in an hour so I couldn’t hang too long at the boat ramp, so I told my friend that the turtles better not keep me waiting.  Wow, they must have heard me because we were immediately surrounded by four turtles!  Then there was a turtle line up of three turtles and then I sat in between two more turtles!  There were so many turtles.  I was having some trouble with my iPhone camera……it kept turning off and saying “Temperature” and then not letting me do anything.  This happened three times while I was trying to capture photos of the twenty turtles that popped up and swam around us…..so this one above is all I got down at the boat ramp.  I ended up having to open the water resistant case to let air in or it just wouldn’t work!  I guess my phone was getting too hot……that’s what I get for putting in the case first and sitting aside in the sun while I put on sunscreen.  Note to self:  Don’t do that again!  Anyway we had quite a turtle day and the wind didn’t come up even when we headed back.  It was so nice that my friend and I didn’t want to go in, but I had to.  The ocean water is still so warm……at least 82 degrees!  Visibility is .still is cloudy down at the reef but most of my swim was pretty clear.  I sure hope it’s as nice tomorrow as it was today!

Hi Bumpy!

Finally a nice paddling day and I was able to go out!  I got out by 8:20 a.m. so I was even early today.  I ran into two paddling friends as I cruised by Kam 2…… so we paddled together down to the boat ramp.  I paddled ahead because I was working out some pent up frustration!  As I paddled into the boat ramp area, I couldn’t believe that I counted EIGHT paddlers in the area!  Thankfully, all but one was paddling out of the area…….so by the time we all got there, only one stand up paddler was there and she had two little girls with her on the board.  I paddled out a bit and then heard one of my friends yell to me that I was surrounded by turtles and I didn’t even know it!  She was right……..suddenly I realized that I was surrounded by at least four turtles.  Two of them disappeared, but two of them stayed and I got to sit in between them!  Then three more turtles surfaced, so that made seven turtles for the day….. with the really friendly turtle, Bumpy,  swimming around my board!  That is a photo of Bumpy (above) popping up to say hello!  Both my friends said that they got caught in the wind yesterday and said it came up fast, so we decided to start heading back.  On the way back, the wind actually backed off and it was so nice!  We decided to paddle north for a while, but just as we were passing Charley Young beach, the wind started blowing from the south.  Pretty soon, some little white caps were starting to form so we turned around and then had to paddle into the wind!  It took so much longer to get back, but I was heading in.  My friends were continuing to Kam 2, so they had to work even harder.  It stayed windy, but still blowing from the south, so hoisting my board up on my racks was tricky.  On my swim, I headed south into the wind and on the way back, I flew back with the wind!  The water was pretty clear, except down at the reefs and rocks.  I did manage to see a few fish though.  I hope the water at the reef clears up soon!  It was a beautiful day to be at the beach.  I hope tomorrow is as nice!