Turtletown Paddle

It’s turtle time! On a cloudy, breezy morning, thirteen of us intrepid kayakers, led by Eileen Helmstetter, set out from Kualoa Point hoping to see some honu. We were joined by many of the ‘usual suspects’: Vice President Bill Murphy, Sandy Johnson, Tim Sawyer and Ben Burgess (paddling his brand-new Swell Scupper 16) along with first-timers Westin and Siri in a tandem.

Paddling across Kāne‘ohe Bay is a mesmerizing experience, surrounded by clear, shallow waters revealing coral formations teeming with colorful fish of all sizes and stripes, not to mention the spectacular green backdrop of the Ko‘olau Mountains.

Though our path across the bay was clear at first, a light squall soon rolled in from the east. More clouds gathered, darkening the sky, and a cool, refreshing drizzle began to fall. This rain did little to dampen our spirits though—the raindrops rippled the water’s surface, only adding to the bay’s mystique. The wind picked up slightly, making our paddle a bit more challenging but still manageable. Fortunately the squall was quick to pass.

As we emerged from the rain, we arrived at Turtletown, a portion of the bay known for its population of Hawaiian green sea turtles. Ironically, while some of us espied honu on the way to or from Turtletown, we saw none in this particular section. Alas and alack, Mother Nature needs no stage manager and follows no performance schedule for us humans. The storms to the east had murked up the water a bit, but the shallow waters were nonetheless ideal for snorkeling and getting a closer look at the myriad schools of fishes darting amongst the corals.

Following our brief little visit to Turtletown, we climbed back on our kayaks and made our way back to the campsite, feeling a renewed connection to the serene beauty of Kāne‘ohe Bay and its marine life. The paddle back proved easier, with calm waters and the breeze more at our backs. The only wrinkle came about when I noticed almost too late that there were fishing lines cast far out in the water from the beach. Chalsa Loo helped me radio back to others to advise Tim and the others to approach from a more southerly direction to avoid the lines. Mahalo nui to our paddle leader Eileen, and to Tim for screenshots from his GPS tracker, and to Sandy for more fun snaps!

P.S. For those of you curious about my audition later that evening… I got the part! Please come see me in Fool for Love running Nov. 22 — Dec. 8 at The Actors’ Group (https://taghawaii.net/) theater inside the Dole Cannery.