wow those waves are huge....are they?

Ok, the forecast is for 1.5m waves, so what does that mean to a kayaker, sitting almost at sea level. Just how big is a 1.5m wave coming right at you. They always look huge.
Here's something I found on a website that gives a pretty good understanding.
To quote Gordon Browns Rule, If you have a distant horizon waves are less than 1m. If your horizon is the crest of the wave in front of you then they are more than 1m.
Or put it like this, if you loose sight of just your partners boat when they are in the trough, the waves are 1 foot, or about 1/3m. If you loose sight of your partners shoulders and just their head is visible above the crest of the wave then they are 2 feet, or about 2/3m.
Here's a photo video of the waves today, note how the kayak and the kayaker both disappear in the waves, IE, the waves are over 1m, and in some cases they were 2m high

by the light of the moon

We went for a moonlight paddle last night, just 5 of us.


It`s a bit different at night, everything is black , and the sounds are all magnified . the white water breaking on the reef shimmers and you have to rely on your senses more than your sight.
The sea was calm with a slight swell and a light breeze, we went north towards Cesarea, past the amphitheatre where there was a concert going on, but couldnt hear anything properly as the theater faces away from the sea.



For all of us it was a first time out at night but for sure it wont be the last.




Photos are more difficult to get at night .

swept away

Look what I found pretending to be driftwood today, the ultimate aid to the sweep roll.And then look what we did with it.I guess you`d never find this piece of equipment on the deck of an Eskimo seal hunters kayak.



And then about calories again, today Regev showed up with this bit of equipment.



He told me that as well as a GPS, which can tell him exactly where he is, it can also tell him how fast he is paddling and what his energy consumption is among other things.



By the way he told me that the METS calculation is pretty accurate , he checked it against his gadget and was quite impressed.So if you want to get Hi Tek you can give him a call because he knows someone who can get if for you at a good price.

body weight times mets times time

So if you want to know how hard you work when kayaking, you multiply your body weight in kg by 5 for moderate leisurly paddling or up to 10 for racing, times the hours you spend paddling.
If you followed the links in the last post you could come across some interesting information. The multiple of 5 or 10 is based on a study of almost every activity humans do, work, sport or just existing, and its called METS, to do with metabolism.
The highest mets I found were 16.5 for cross country sking, uphill on hard snow, 15 for running up stairs, or speed skating, and 12 for canoe rowing competition. Easy paddling rates the same energy consumption as hunting, mowing the lawn, cleaning gutters or excavating the garage. Interestingly active vigourous sexual activity only rates 1.5.
There is no entry for kayak surfing but I would guess it rates about 9 or 10 when you have to paddle out through the surf, but take into account that you are not working all the time, its intense for a short time , then a wait for the right wave, then intense again and then back out . I know that after a session in the waves I always have a great appetite and a need to sleep.
Such was the surf today and yesterday.

so lets talk calories

Why would we want to know about calorie consumption. Two reasons, most of us want to loose weight and look at kayaking as a sport that keeps us in good shape. We all know that to loose weight we have to burn more than we eat. On the other hand when doing a long trip we need to eat enough to prevent muscle loss, and thus need to calculate daily calorie intake to stay healthy.
Luckily for us kayakers there is someone out there who has done all the hard work and published a great easy to understand paper on this subject.
It seems that she is also an avid kayaker and photographer

the week that was

No symposiums to attend, no functions just your usual run of the mill week with paddling on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday and saturday Thats a full week, how lucky we all are to be able to get so much time on the water. We planned a trip from Habonim beach back to Sdot Yam for Friday, but due to the rougher sea conditions we decided to postpone. To take a group of 30 mixed level kayakers out on a 25km trip in questionable conditions seemed like the wrong thing to do , so we changed plans and just played in the surf for the morning. But 4 of us who have our own kayaks decided to make the trip anyway, we left at 7am and paddled the 14 km to Nacholim , had a picnic on the beach and made the return trip. Total journey time about 5.5 hours, calories used up, who knows? Does anyone out there know how many calories you use when kayaking ?

kayak building, progress report

Here's a progress report for the Petrel. No rush , no stress it just takes its own time. Some days a lot gets done others just a bit. But eventually progress is seen. I have just finished fiber glassing the deck and hull.This is a great stage as the wood really comes alive after it gets the epoxy on it. Now I have a small problem of some air bubbles on the deck where they are right in your face, I will have to sand them out and replace and repair them with new glass and epoxy. An added step but it has to be done.
I am pleased with the progress, from now on it should go a lot faster. I don't like to let the boat stand around too much at this time as the separate parts can distort and this makes joining them together more difficult.
Remember that we are trying to arrange a workshop with Nick Shade for anyone interested in building a strip built kayak, so if you are thinking about it nows the time to make the commitment. Just drop me a line if you are interested.