To Michmoret on Saturday

On Saturday there was a memorial regatta at Michmoret for Yossi Korakin from the Naval Commando. Our kayak club paddled the 10 km or so from Sdot Yam to Michmoret accompanied by Kayakers from Maagan Michal to participate in the memorial service. During the morning many other sailing vessles began to arrive filling the water with a myriad of colors, sails and boats. here are a few pictures from the morning. The coast from Sdot Yam to Michmoret is interesting in that there are coves, bays and cliffs all the way making the shoreline a great place to play and explore.Its always exciting to get to new beaches and play in different locations, and then there is the challenge of a longer , harder trip with more weather to contend with. We all had a great time and managed well. See you on the water.

paddling in reverse and the great BBQ

Todays lesson with Hadas was all about going backwards, how to paddle, turn and maintain course while going in the wrong direction, probably the best thing to do today after all the alcohol that was consumed last night, as I`m sure going forwards in a straight line was not so easy for some of us. Then playing backwards in the surf was the highlight of the morning, look at some of the photos and videos. The surf was just the right size for beginning to master boat control in these conditions and most of us had a great time.The power in the waves is just amazing, if it catches you at the wrong time and in the wrong place you are helpless and just have to brace and pray. I guess the skill of wave play is learning to stay out of the wrong places, that takes experience which comes from lots of play. About last night....... great food , great people, fantastic time, David was good on the grill , thanks to all those who organised it , especially Gill, a man of hidden talents.

learning to stand

Why stand up in a kayak, you will only fall into the water sooner or later. Actually in the pictures the one standing is demonstrating the successful stabilising of the kayak by his rescuer.By leaning on the paddles and holding the coming of the second kayak you can stabilise it so well that if one needs to stand up , for example to see over the horizon, it can be easily done. Here are some pictures of todays outing in moderatly mild surf conditions.There is also a picture of Arele`s new kayak trolley, for anyione who has his own kayak and needs transport I am sure that Arele will be happy to make another one.

rolling practice

Friday comes around surprisingly fast these days, our week starts on sunday and before you know whats going on its friday again, is it just me or is time really speeding up.Anyway today we had rolling practice with Hadas, for those of us who are just learning to roll and those who want to polish their rolls and maybe learn a new roll. The weather is still friendly and the water is not yet too cold, actually its never too cold, even in winter it only gets to 16C so with the right equipment you can still roll in winter.
Here is a link to some of the Greenland rolls if you are interested
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6008563334140599496
and heres our photos from today.
I should also mention that tuesday was a fantastic day in the waves, everyone who was there had a great time. The excitement of catching and surfing giant waves is contagious and most of our new kayakers had a taste and now want more. Go for it guys, there`s nothing like it.

lesson of the week

Today we met a new kayak on the water, congratulations to Danny on the launching of his newly finished[almost] Night Heron, great to see another wood kayak in our area.Wish you many hours of happy paddling. Now I mentioned some time ago that I bought a new camera, the miu770 by Olympus. It seemed the answer to a kayakers dream, waterproof to 10m, shockproof and non crushable, if you believe all the hype that they tell you.Sadly to say that after only a month of use water got into the battery compartment and caused a malfunction. I immediately returned it to the shop that I bought it from as it is under guarantee????? with the nai
eve expectation that they would say "no problem we will replace it for you in no time at all" The reality of it all is that they tried to lower my expectations immediately and told me that it would be sent to a lab to see what really happened and only then would they decide what to do. so now its a waiting game and in the meantime I have no camera. Thankfully Limor has a similar camera which is still functioning and thats what I have been using .
And so to todays lesson, support strokes, high and low braces, sculling and rescue when the paddler gets separated from his equipment.Hadas is a great coach and we all get something valuable from the lessons. These Friday lessons are taking us all to new levels and increasing our skills tremendously.
Have a look at the photos.

Rosh Hanikra to Sdot Yam by kayak

Thursday morning 5am, leaving Optimist club by taxi, 13 brave souls head off for a kayak adventure.Some new kayakers others have done it before, but all feel the excitement of a new venture beginning. What will the weather do , how will the sea behave and how will I manage are some of the things that go through you head at the start of a journey. Well we all managed very well, old hands and newcomers alike,the group worked well together, people fell into their roles with ease, for example, whenever we stopped for a break, Ohad had a cup of hot coffee ready at the drop of a hat, Yos and Hadas were always on the lookout for stragglers and someone in need of help and, Avital and Limor were great in the food department and the rest of us gave a hand whenever and wherever it was needed. Good teamwork was evident at all times.
The conditions were great , the sea was calm as well as challenging at times and as they say in the song even the bad times were good. I will let the pictures talk and tell the story, thanks to all who took part, it was a great trip, and thanks to Ehud from Optimis.co.il for allowing it to happen.