experimenting on humans

Last weekend I managed to get my daughter Michal, aged 20 out in a kayak along with 2 of her friends. I have offered to take her and friends out many times but only now has it happend

It was a prefect day for new paddlers and they all enjoyed the outing. Wanting more we agreed to go out again this Saturday. The weather was not great for first timers, with a strongish north wind. As there were about 8 of them this time I decided to take them out in couples because of the wind. I also decided to try and start them off with Greenland paddles as an experiment. Usually the default paddle is a feathered Euro paddle, and  I have to explain about the assymetrical blade, feathering , changing angles and all that stuff. Also there are power faces and back sides to the Euro paddles. I figured that for a novice who has never paddled it would not make any difference what paddle they used for the  first time. So I got them all started on Greenland paddles. There is no back and front, no power face,no feathering and the paddle is symmetrical so cant be used in the wrong way. How easy is that to explain to a new paddler

I gave each one a Greenland paddle and off we went and everybody did great, into the wind was easy and even  with the wind at our backs they all managed to keep on track

I dont understand why more Israeli paddlers dont use the Greenland paddle

But if I have anything to do with it I will make sure that more are seen on the water.
I know you are not supposed to experiment with humans, but today I took a chance and it paid off, everybody managed great and there were no complaints. Who knows, maybe some of them will turn into kayakers

The land of 1000 holidays

Another holiday has arrived, we get 2 days off in the middle of the week, just perfect to go paddling. The more I paddle the more I would like to stop working and just spend my days paddling. Exploring new places, teaching new paddlers the basics and getting them hooked on a new sport.
This holiday, Shavout commemorates the receiving of the Ten Commandments while the children of Israel were in the desert.
Not being the religious type, I just enjoy the time off and the way it brings families together  for a celebratory meal and a get together.
But back to the sea, today we had strong westerly winds  making the outbound trip exciting , fighting the wind and the waves, but the home leg was a wonderful run, catching the waves and playing in the following seas. Of course there was a capsize and a rescue, but that's par for the course in conditions like this.
and tomorrow the sea is expected to be even higher.....great.

That's the signal...come to me

In rough water the group is more disciplined and stays together

Time to turn around

sisters, can you see the resemblance?

Homeward bound with a following sea

rescue, remember how to do it

Almost there and then the sailboats getting ready for the competition later on

magical misty morning

Yesterday my new paddler asked me if it doesnt get boring, paddling the same route every day. True, we dont have a huge variety of places to paddle and mostly we stay at our home ground. What does make the difference though is the different conditions of the sea. One day it  may be like a glassy mirror, then we get a stormy wavey day and for the last 2 days we have had magical morning mists

The mist changes everything, visibility is limited and you could be anywhere at all. Padders appear and dissappear , landmarks on the shore take on strange shapes and sounds are muted

The sun tries to break through and burn off the mist

Its like a struggle to see who will win, the sun or the mist

Keeping the group together is more important, its easy to loose paddlers if you are not careful and so towing the slower ones is a great help

Familiar sights take on a new look, making it a great outing.It all depends on where you are and how long you have  to paddle. On a long expedition mist can make your life miserable, spoiling the landscapes and making navigation a challenge. For us here on our short outings its a blessing and a taste of the possibilities that we could encounter on faraway expeditions.
What a great sport we are addicted to.

do you remember when you first did this

If you have been paddling for a while you probably have forgotten what it was like the first time you capsized. Some of us take it in our stride , while  for some  this is a traumatic experience.
Everybody is different, some learn quicker, others take more time. In the end it makes no difference but we all have to go through the learning process..
Capsizing is a fact in seakayaking, it happens to all of us sooner or later and the quicker we learn the various rescues the better off we will be.
Once you have mastered the technique in flat water look for more challenging conditions. We often see veteran paddlers get into trouble in rough water because they have not bothered to practice rolling or rescues and they think.....it cant happen to me......
We know that it can and it does
Heres a small video of the first time learning  and overcoming the fear of capsize.

http://youtu.be/HZZthgDWHLI

for some reason I cant embed this video in my blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZZthgDWHLI&feature=youtu.be 

winter makes a comeback

Last week it was summer, I got roped into putting away all my winter clothes and also packed away my winter paddling clothes, hell I even had my car cleaned

Then Winter came back in full force, cold and lots of rain, I scrambled to find those winter clothes and  pulled them out again,  the car will not get washed for a while , but out on the ocean we had a lot of fun

This morning started out with strong winds and confused seas, not great surfing but  still nice to be out  in the rough stuff. Yosi had his camera out this time and so theres a rare picture of me

Racheli took this one of me from the shore

Some waves are better viewed from behind.
It was a rare privilege to be out in the thunder and lightening this morning, and  soon the lightening sent us off the water. Lets hope winter sticks around for a while.

the ups and down of spring

As we go from winter to summer through our very very short spring, the changing temperatures from day to day and wild swings in the weather cause the sea to react as well. We tend to get rough wild water whenever the weather changes, making paddling quite a challenge.
Some days are great for surfing, others are better suited to sitting round  drinking tea or coffee and just sheltering from the wind.
After missing a paddling session I tend to get withdrawl symptoms and my body craves the water.
Yesterday I  went out with Yosi, he in his new Zypher, all shiny and green. When we got to the rock that we usually surf, we were faced with a couple of really huge waves that made us both turn and run for our home beach

My camera is not mounted on my deck and all my pictures are hand held, but yesterday I didnt manage to get any pictures in the really rough stuff, no I didnt want to let go my paddle.
This morning the sea was still wild, smaller but strong. Zohar and I went out for a play session. the waves were no good for anything except bouncing about. We played in the soup zone for a while and had a lot of trouble punching back out after beaching .  Just when you think you have made it , along comes a large wave and pushes you back. Heres a short video showing Zohar playing in the waves. You definitly need a strong roll in these conditions.

I managed to loose a lens from my glasses in the surf, I guess it was bound to happen in such rough stuff.

At least those withdrawl symptoms have been held off for a while now.

birthday cards

My birthday was in January ,
idit gave me tha card with the waves and Lynn had made me a little cutout when I came back from a kayak trip.
they fit great together
thanks Ladies