and then when I am not paddling

I am finishing the paint job on my Matunuck  surf kayak

Helping Eli build a chicken coop for his newest project

Its taking longer than I expected

And Lynn is also helping, I suspect she wants me to finish so she can have her parking space back

While the paint dries I am making a new Greenland paddle

And Eli is finishing the hatch, soon the chickens will have a home

more symposium bits

Rescue practice takes up a big part of our symposium lessons and makes life interesting.
From the simple T rescue in quiet water, through self rescues and how to deal with a flooded kayak when all your hatches pop off and your kayak becomes a submarine. We had them all, and then ended the day with hauling our kayaks up on the rocks. We spent a lot of time in the water next to our boats and also paddled a bit with them full of water.Ben does not like to see anyone emptying out their cockpits with pumps or sponges, he reckons that we should all learn to paddle with a swamped boat, or at least with some water inside. Actually this makes a lot of sense because sometimes rescues in rough water does not allow you to drain your boat and you have to get in and paddle out to safer water as fast as you can, only then can you empty out the water. So if you have experience with paddling  a swamped boat you don't feel threatened at all.
The last day we spent in the current learning how to deal with flowing water. Luckily for us , just down the beach there is the power station, they use seawater for cooling and have 2 outlets creating a nice safe playground for learning.
First of all we went up to look down on the water and Ben identified all the different conditions, like the hydraulics and hole as the water falls over the outlet, the rooster as the water rushes over a rock and the eddy line which is very clear to see from above.

Next we learned to spin our boats along the eddy line, useful for getting ready to cross or checking our line.
PAVES is the acronym , for crossing an eddy line, position, angle,vision,edge and speed, all taken into account when crossing.
Last of all we got to practice some rescues in moving water, and also had to retrieve a thrown water bottle  in the current.
 All in all a very active exciting fun day

Now its back to normal until next year.

in the current WMV V8 from steve gordon on Vimeo.

The Greek definition of Symposium is actually a drinking party, and I am pretty sure if that's what we advertised we would have had a lot more participants. Non the less all the classes were full for all 4 days and we had a great time without the drink during the day, at night  well that's another story.

Ben Lawry, Helen Wilson and Roddy McDowell were the leading instructors,and they each brought their own unique styles with them.
I was lucky enough to get to spend a day with each of them and what great days they were.

Helen managed to get us doing  storm rolls for the first time , she is a great teacher and has the ability to break down the rolls into their components and then show you how to do each part, in the end all you have to do is to stitch the bits together and there you go.Now we just have to practice and refine the rolls before we loose them. That's the problem with rolling, if you don't use it you tend to loose it.

Optimist Symposium 2012, some bits

Hadas and Helen last year

Hadas and Helen now, can you see the difference?" They have been working out.

Meanwhile out on the water Ben was up to his usual tricks

He tried to sink our kayaks

By filling them up with seawater

And then showing us how to empty them

Scoops were also part of the drill

As were exercises in swimming to the rocks and dragging the kayaks up

We did try to be kind though

Wood fiberglass and plastic all got  new scratches

More to come..

our own little rockgarden

Just around the corner from our beach there is a small rock garden

it makes for an interesting outing

you need a certain skill level to negotiate around the rocks

The level of difficulty changes with the condition of the sea

In flat water its a piece of cake

but when there are waves and wind its a more demanding place to play

 All you need is a bit of patience and the desire to try something different, the rewards are many. You get to improve your directional control, the views are great and in conditions it becomes an exhilarating   place to paddle, and its right under our nose

Rosh hanikra to Sdot Yam 2012 second version

We had our annual trip from the northern border Rosh hanikra down to Sdot yam over the sukkot holiday. there were about 24 kayaks all paddling together

Yossele giving final instructions

first we headed to the grotto 

Yos did a quick check to see if we could go in

We could and we did

Its crowded and noisy inside but exciting too

Everybody brings something unique to the trip from strange fruit to the ability to keep us rolling around laughing at jokes round the campfire 

we pass Acco or Acre on the way

Camp on the beaches at night

pass Haifa in the morning

lots of good food for energy

cakes too

rest whenever we can in the shade

always help one another

pass Crusader ruins at Atlit

we know how to chose the best beaches with the best attributes

we pose for many pictures

and rest when we can

its hard work paddling against the wind

resting 

and sleeping too

collect firewood for the night 

keep hydrated at all times

stretch those paddling muscles in the morning

and pose again 

my double gets a good workout

the early morning clouds make dramatic skies

theres an old wreck near habonim beach

and nice caves along the way

we eat

and eat

and then set out home 

they prefer to land in reverse

while Racheli surfs in

If you want to see more pictures you can go here