Is this winter and happy new year

The last day of the year and a great paddle. At last the weather changed and with it the sea. The forecast was for stormy weather and high seas but at 7am the sea was still flat and so as we went out we expected changes. A few of us [3] went to play in the rising surf while the rest of the group paddled away, when the group came back things got interesting.
As the sea had risen and the waves began breaking on the shore, landing became a bit of a challenge for the inexperienced . Also as our beach has changed since the last storm the landing site is now much smaller and so if you cant control your boat in surf it becomes more difficult.
As you can see in the movie, lots of swimming went on .
The moral of the story is.. get out there in rougher conditions and practice practice and then practrice some more.

Here is a short video that Zohar made showing us the winter of 2010.


AND ON THIS NOTE I WISH EVERYBODY A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LOTS OF PADDLING IN 2011

now you see it ..now you dont

The outer wall of cesearea harbout s it was for many years




After the last storm a large part of the wall has been lost, all the part on the left of the picture is now history

And as the year ends and 2011 begins, I wish everybody a happy Christmas and Great NewYear .
From what I see a lot of paddlers have nowhere to paddle as all the water is turning to ice, except here, our weather is still warm and pleasant for paddling. It seems like winter is just not coming this year


My new kayak is coming along very quickly, I have almost finished stripping the hull, it will take me a few more days and then its over to the deck. It sure is a long boat, 7.7m, takes me 10 paces to get from one end to the other,and each strip is made up of 3 strips joined together.






 

the first few strips after the sheerline



and then some more,















essential equipment and a rescue at sea

The sea has been a good playground for the last few days. The effect of the huge storm that we had is still causing big surf and thus lots of excitement for us.Private kayaks only, no club outings just yet, this encourages members to acquire their own kayaks. They can then go out whenever they want, in any conditions and thus develope those rough water skills that you dont get if you only go out on flat water.

Two pieces of equipment should always be taken whenever you go out.The first is a towrope, probably one of the most useful pieces of equipment for helping a distressed kayaker or surfer for that matter.

 See the video below where we find a surfer out of energy and unable to get back to shore by himself.

The second piece of equipment is a camera for recording those rescues and other extraordinary events that you are likely to come across as you paddle.
And yes I agree with those who say that you should be selective with your pictures, a few good ones are much better than a lot .

Almost forgot, I wanted to write about rolling in the waves. When surfing you often get flipped over, when you are sidesurfing its very easy to roll if you use the momentum of the wave. As you go over begin your roll and use the wave energy to get up again. Watch the video and see how Zviki gets it. It needs good timing and lots of practice .

fun in the surf

Zviki surfing to shore

Thats me on a wave

Hadas doing backflips

yoni on his new Chaos surf ski

What can I say about this one

I was using my Greenland paddle in rough water, it works

Zohar punching out

the BIG storm continued



It started on Friday, continued on Saturday and reached the peak on Sunday.



Brave paddlers on Friday afternoon in the wind and rain



Who knows what will happen tomorrow.



Rain on Friday afternoon. Its nice to paddle in the rain



Meanwhile the news is full of incidents, trees falling on power lines, Turkish ships getting into trouble at sea, swimmers getting lost at sea,[ which idiots would go swimming in these conditions anyway?] and most of my patients not venturing out of their homes to keep their appointments, thus giving me an excuse to close shop, go check out the beach and then go home for an early afternoon.



View of the parking lot at the beach on saturday afternoon





When I got to the beach I met Zohar who was also attracted to the beach by the huge waves and fierce wind, here you can see her in the parking lot and check out all the rocks and stuff that the sea has thrown up .

Zohar in the parking lot on Sunday afternoon

 By the way Zohar is a great photographer and has just began to blog too so pay her a visit, its worth a few moments.

Visiting in the sandstorm

Yesterday we went to visit my daughter Michal who has just started her national service, here in Israel our girls also have to go the the army. The storm in the north was rain but down in the south it was all dust , sand that got into every crevice and crack and turned the daylight into an eerie yellow.We had a picnick in the car as the outside conditions were very unfriendly.

When we came home we went to see the sea, this was the beginning of the storm and then look at what the sea threw up, the power is unbelievable.

Leaning into the wind on Saturday afternoon

No kayaking for the next few days.

Sunday afternoon, the road to the beach is ruined



The parking lot on Sunday afternoon



storm coming

Winter has arrived at last, and with it the first of the winter storms . This weekend the seas will reach 5 to 7m so no kayaking for us. Today we had a small taster, 20kn winds in the afternoon made for an interesting outing. There were only 6 of us playing in the bay, hundreds of windsurfers were out too but as soon as the lightening began  they scattered and we were left on our own. A sudden squall of heavy rain hit us for a while and then the sea flattened out again and the wind dropped.
It was an exciting afternoon.
On wednesday we had some nice waves to play with so all in all it was  a great week on the water.
The video shows some of the action.

mossad trains sharks

Egypt: Sinai shark attacks could be Israeli plot


Well now I know what that secret place is that we as kayakers are not allowed to enter. Its obviously the training ground for the Mossad`s newest agents, the special agent sharks, trained to sabotage the tourist industry in Egyptian Sinai
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=198286
 
And it seems to be working, but then again the Egyptian authorities have begun a campain to get rid of all the Israeli agents, oops, I meant to say sharks in the Red Sea resorts.
I, for one would not go swimming in those waters for a while, at least not until we have a peace agreement in place and stop sending those agents. Oh I forgot, we do have a peace treaty with Egypt.
Maybe the sharks are being trained for another mission?
 
It`s been a terrible week with the huge fire up in the Carmel forest, and now in the aftermath all the squabbling by the politicians to put the blame on everyone else.
 
Better to go paddling.

 At least in your kayak its up to you, you can`t blame anybody if things dont go right.Talk about personal responsibility, you may be out there in a group, but your personal skills are what you rely on when things go wrong and the better you are the better your chances get.  Otherwise stay in calm water.