Time goes too quickly

Well the weekend has come and gone , in a flash, tomorrow back to work, but with a good feeling from our time on the water. The sea was flat but on Friday there was a strong wind , Saturday the wind had died down in the early morning, but later on began to pick up again. Some brave souls still continue with rolling practice in the 20C water, its a lot warmer near the Electric Co., and the currents there make it more of a challenge.
Next weekend we`re off to circumnavigate the Sea of Gallilee.
See you on the water.

Strong wind and currents

This morning the pre paddling instructions were brilliantly delivered by Arele, all payed attention as the conditions were a bit out of the ordinary, with a strong easterly wind which can take a careless paddler out to sea, except for one of us who chose that exact moment to relieve himself. Hugging the shoreline we made our way south and ended up in the turbulence caused by the Israel Electric Co., here we played in the currents for a while, rested on the sparkling sandy beach and then headed home , fighting the wind all the way.Next time it would be better if we brought some refreshments and light snacks for refueling. From what I could see, all made it home and we didn`t loose anyone ...................

learning to video

Heres the video we have all been waiting for, Rami Tzadok brought a waterproof video camera, the sea provided great waves and we had a lot of fun surfing. A few drops of water on the lens creates an artistic image at some point. I am sure with time and practice our technique will get better. Thanks to Avi for copying the casette to cd .

Tides way out today

7am, time to go paddling, flat sea and very low tide exposing a lot of the beach.
Intrepid paddlers braving the cold to get on the water , someone {Eyal} said he saw a dolfin today, sorry no picture, so its unconfirmed.
Rami, thanks for the cake.

more surfing from friday

Both Hadass and I had cameras on friday, the format on her camera is different and I could not make it into a movie so here is a link to the videos

friday morning surfing

Mild to moderate surf today, ideal conditions for playing in the surf. Equipped with helmets for safe surfing, we spent some time at "The Rock".The video on my Olympus is not fantastic but gives a pretty good idea of whats going on. I think as time goes by and I get more familiar with the camera I can get better shots, today the power save function was on and the camera kept switching itself off, confusing me with all the clicking that I had to do to wake it up, and thus missing a lot of good shots. I also had some trouble finding the video clips that Hadass took with the Pentax, so if I manage to get them I will include them in the film. Meanwhile for a beginning its not too bad

cold water rolling

Learning to roll can be a daunting experience for some, others take to it like a duck to water.The thing is that once you get it, life on the water becomes a whole lot more fun.Gone is the fear of capsising, surfing becomes more exciting and your confidence shoots sky high. It is definitely a turning point in the learning curve and one well worth investing in. At first in still water and as you get better you can progress to real life situations like surf and big waves. In fact I recently read somewhere that as your rolling ability increases, your need to roll will decrease as you become more stable on the water and your range of support strokes will also increase.
And its a lot of fun being able to roll whenever you like, plus the fact that there are innumerable new types of rolls to learn, so you are always looking for new challenges. So for those who are still learning, keep on rolling and for those who have a good roll Keep on rolling too. Here`s a video of Avital and a few other pictures.

not a kayak to be seen

Due to The Storm, and the wild surf conditions at our beach, there is no paddling today and tomorrow.This is serious news as last weekend we had the same conditions and had to cancel paddling as well. Now I for one am suffering from withdrawl symptoms, checking the pictures from the webcams every few minutes to make sure that there is no possibility of going out, even going to the beach to see for myself. Actually today the sea was really wild and the wind was gusting up to 25knots, perfect conditions for kite surfing. If you can handle it. I just received a new camera,Olympus mu 790sw , to replace my old 770 which corroded after less than 2 months. So it was a good day to try it out. I think that it is a much improved model, easier to use and hopefully more waterproof. Now what can I do tomorrow.............

short car long kayak

The other day I found this picture of a short car and a long kayak, just shows how much thought one can put into kayak transport. Never say it cant be done, just go out and do it.

jan 1 2008

Today we had the first paddle of 2008, so I`d like to wish all a happy, prosoerous and healthy new year and to Avital a happy birthday, remember Paddling keeps you young.
We had interesting cloud formations and active bird life and at the end a couple of rolling addicts who don`t mind cold water put on a show.

Jan 1 2008

First day on the water in the new year, also a birthday for Avital. So wishing all a healthy, happy and prosperous new year and many happy hours on the water, and a happy birthday for Avital, remember paddling keeps you young.
Today we had interesting cloud formations and active bird life and at the end a rolling show with a couple of addicted kayakers who dont mind cold water.

Jan 1 2008

First day on the water in the new year, also a birthday for Avital. So wishing all a healthy, happy and prosperous new year and many happy hours on the water, and a happy birthday for Avital, remember paddling keeps you young.
Today we had interesting cloud formations and active bird life and at the end a rolling show with a couple of addicted kayakers who dont mind cold water.

new web cam on the beach

How do you feel about being watched all the time?
Do you behave differently when you think no one can see you?
How do you know that you are not being filmed at any given moment?
With all the webcams and digital cameras around these days, one never knows wether one is being watched or not at any given time. There are even TV programs where they send people to film you in secret .
And now we have a new webcam on our favourite beach. I have just seen a new website and there is a live cam filming video of our beach at Sdot Yam. So if you tell your significant other that you have gone to the beach, they can easily check up on you at the click of a keyboard. The camera is mounted on one of the houses overlooking our launch site on the beach. The best time to see us is in the morning with the sun comming up from the east , later on in the day the sun is shining directly into the lens and so recognition may be a bit difficult.
If you want to see it go to Ziv~s website
www.ocean-nation.com

Avital`s homemade kayak

It takes a lot of courage and confidence to decide to build a kayak when you have no experience at all.So when Avital decided to go for it I thought FANTASTIC , soon there will be another wooden kayak in the club. Well, soon may have been a bit optimistic, as I know that it takes quite a while to get from thinking about it to launch day, but slowly slowly the day arrives and the Champagne flows. After much deliberation and discussion with all kinds of experts she decided on the "Guillemot S" from www.guillemot-kayaks.com
This model should be a good fit for her body size.
When building a Skin On Frame kayak the actual size is determined by the body of the person who is going to paddle. The length is about 3 times her height, the beam is the size of the hips plus a fist or 2, depending on the skill of the kayaker, narrower or wider depending on the type of paddling and stability needed. So actually the kayak is tailor made to fit , and so when Avital chose her kayak she looked at all these details and chose the one that fit her best.
Next came the time to order the plans and get a workshop ready. She is now well on the way, the frame is ready and the woodstripping can begin.
Building your first kayak is an enlightening experience. You learn about woodwork, about working with tools, power and hand tools and most importantly you learn about yourself. The final product is a statement about you, how you see the world, how you deal with difficulties and how far you are prepared to go to follow your dreams.
I think its a wonderful experience and wish you all the best.
See You on the water in your Homemadekayak!!!