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.

optimists in milos again

I just got back a few days ago after paddling for 2 weeks around some of the most spectacular islands in the Aegean Sea and Steve asked me to write about our adventures in the Greek islands. With the first group from Tel-Aviv M.D. kayak club we set off for 7 days paddling around 5 of the Cyclades islands. We had some long days on the water, paddling along high cliffs and in to many sea caves and small hidden bays. We were lucky to have very good weather for our 2- 20 km. open crossings between the islands of Poliagos and Folegandros. The sun was shining, the ouzo was flowing and spirits were high. We stayed at a B&B at one of the small fishing villages , and stopped to check out every Taverna that we passed on the way. We climbed up to see the view from a light house on one of the small islands and then again up to a small chapel in the heat of mid day on one of the hotter days. Coming down from that walk we took the short cut by jumping into the water and swimming back to shore. I said good bye to the first group after failing to kidnap Nava, from the fist week to stay with me for the second as well. And then they arrived. 11 paddlers from Optimist Kayak Club, 3 doctors, 3 fishermen, one philosopher,2 chefs, 2 harmonica players …all ready for the adventure yet to come. So we kayaked, we snorkeled and saw some of the marine life beneath. We paddled in and out of numerous sea caves, and sat around the camp fire in the evenings. You can count on this group to make sure we had lots of Havana rum, whisky, red wine and of course, ouzo along with the fantastic camp meals. And then came the windy day… It was blowing strongly off shore around 30+ knots and our only option for paddling was with the following sea starting on Milos Island and going north east to the tip of Kimolos Island. That was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Big breaking seas all around us, flying with the wind, a pod of colorful sea kayaks decorating the waves, smiling, shouting out for rolling swell, adrenaline rushing thru the veins until arriving safely in a small sheltered beautiful bay around the corner, where the guys put together a teepee tent from the kayaks as that afternoons social activity…??? Fantastic 2 weeks with great people to share it with. Thanks to all of you for making it so special for me. See you in the September trips. HF

in the pink

Heres how to take your dog for a walk/swim when you go kayaking.
When Rami comes paddling with us he brings Lola with as well. She waits on the shore or the reef and when we return she jumps into the water and swims to meet him. Sometimes he`s nice to her and gives her a ride

So my old camera died and I ordered a new one.





I did it through the internet , they promised 14 working days delivery, it came in less than one week. Not too bad, only problem is that its Pink. Not the ideal color for a boy, but what the hell, I know that it will only last a year if I`m lucky. Thats also the reason that I bought the cheapest model that I could find and stayed with Olympus so my old battery and card can still be used and I dont have to buy them too.

I would have liked to get the new Canon, but its too expensive to take a chance with and I had written to them offering to be the real life tester, but up to now have not gotten an answer. Its blue as well, a better color for me. Oh well maybe next time round.

Lets see how long this Olympus lasts .

up the creek without a paddle

Well as we all know stuff happens, usually things go ok, but inevitably bad stuff comes our way and then there`s no excuse. If you usually bring along a spare paddle and never need it , be sure that the day you don't you will. That's how things work and I'm sure that someone coined a law that explains it all.

Today was that day.

The spare paddle was with Yossele, but he turned around early and didn't get to Jisser , fat lot of good that did.

When Aviv tried to roll and we all heard the CRACK I knew that his paddle had broken. Luckily we were only 6 km from home and the weather and sea was calm.He was determined to paddle back with half a paddle or even tried to hold the parts together and paddle.

The easiest thing to do was to tow, and so we did. With Aviv helping with his shortened paddle we managed to get home quite easily.

I even managed to get some video footage with my dying Olympus. Funny, it wont take stills but has no objection to video, albeit the quality is poor.

Ok, I know , always take along a spare paddle and at least one tow rope amongst the other emergency kit that you should ALWAYS have with you.