out in the double

I like the posterize button

While my Petrel is in dry dock being repaired I can take out the double

Maybe I need to add a rudder

Its been a while

yesterday the sea showed signs of waves beginning

Nice swells made the home run more interesting

Today was a different story, rougher water and larger waves

Hadas between the waves

Yosele was also having fun

There were some rescues

The blur is not intentional, for some reason my camera had a hard time getting in focus

But it gives the photos character. or not

Izzy had a few good rides too

Danny also enjoyed himself

What starts like this 

ends like this

Zviki and Israel joined us in their surfskis

Looks safe enough, but he actually ran into me

and made a hole in my kayak

Fiberglass cut off and damage assessed

ceramic breast implants and wooden paddles

Storms are over and it`s back to abnormal at the Optimist Kayak Club 

This looks like it could just fit

We have a new wooden kayak on the water

The wooden kayak club

Private Paddle carving classes begin

Sharp tools make the work go easier

Step 1, plane down to size

Step 2, cut out paddle profile

Step 3 have a lunch break

Optimists love to eat good food

Step 4 shape the blades

Step 5 use power tools to do the final sanding

Having an extra foot helps keep the paddle down

Oiling the finished paddle 

And the traditional final photo 

different strokes for different folks

There are many different types of paddles for us to choose from, Wings, Euro, Greenland and now I am playing with the Aleutian paddle.
According to Wolfgang Brink`s article in Sea Kayaker magazine of Dec 2006, this paddle helped the original paddlers achieve speeds of 5 to 10 miles a hour while paddling for an entire day.
My interest came from reading Gnarlydog`s accounts of his use of this paddle and so I decided to try and make one

I managed to get a back issue of Sea Kayaker with the article in it and am using that for my instructions, but have found this picture for more inspiration.
I began by making a template of half the paddle and then drew the outline on my Cedar blank

 Next step was to cut out the entire shape and then refine the outline

 And then to begin carving out the paddle shape with the ridge in the middle.
Soon to be finished, its a nice way to spend the time between paddling sessions.