balagan balagan

This is the Hebrew word for a big mess, and describes the sea conditions over the last couple of days. Not as accurate as the Beaufort Scale or MAGS, but very descriptive anyway. Strongish winds of 18kn, waves breaking in all directions and foam flying around, even the seagulls had a hard time flying against the wind.


If I had to grade today I would guess its force 4 to 5 on the Beaufort Scale, that is winds of 17 to 20kn, waves of between 1 to 2m, paddling is difficult with paddle flutter expected and difficult to go against the wind, according to Gordon Brown in his new book the limit of adequate reserve in these conditions is 2 hours. If I use the MAGS scale I only get grade 3 which doesn`t sound too bad, classified as intermediate regular seas with easy landing and the risk factor is a chance of injury, reliable roll required. I would rather class it as grade 4, confused seas and injury likely during incident.
In our club the decision to go out is made by the Boss but all owners of private kayaks have the freedom to make their own choices. I think its important to challenge yourself in poor conditions but to know your ability and not push your luck. As you get more experience you can make more informed choices
Today only Hadas and Hod decided to challenge the sea in surf kayaks, I watched from the shore and was glad that I decided to stay dry. It was like paddling on a treadmill, lots of effort and not enough progress and the waves were not too good for surfing anyway