Friday, April 29, 2011

Making a 2 piece Greenland paddle

Sometimes you would like to have a 2 piece G paddle, for travelling or as a spare on your deck, or just to be cool.Its quite easy to make if you have the right connections.
First of all take one of your handmade paddles, get hold of one of Joe`s carbon ferrules, cut the paddle and shape the end to fit inside the ferrule. It helps a lot if you have a friend like Meir with a machine shop who can help with a lathe, otherwise you have to carve it by hand.
All thats left to do is glue the pieces together with epoxy and strengthen toh joint with some carbon and epoxy

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Equipment failure, yes it does happen

Sometimes equipment breaks, and usually at the most innapropriate moment.
 This then becomes a moment of innovation.What usually goes through the mind is .....shit what do I do now......, sometimes we succeed, sometimes not.





Monday, April 18, 2011

full moon paddling at the end of a good day

The morning paddle was remarkable for  2 reasons, first off I was in a surf ski, the Fenn XT a very stable surf ski.
Avigail in the Fenn Xt




 Zviki and Israel were with me in the Nelos, a much more advanced boat. We went out west for a few km planning to come back with the wind and the waves.
On the horizon I saw something large jump out of the water, shouted with excitement and then they did it again, There were 2 dolphins playing in the water in front of us, albeit quite a way in the distance.
If the above article is correct we should be seeing them more and more.If we were closer this is what we would have seen. I didn`t have my camera with me [ on a surf ski there is not much room for anything except the paddler] and I didn`t have my pfd on.  So the picture is  not mine.
We have a saying here that if theres no photographic proof then it didn`t happen, but Zviki was with me and saw them too, so thats official then.

Later on I got an invitation to go out on a moonlight paddle. Now thats an offer I cant refuse, so at sunset there I was again getting ready to go out on flat water illuminated first by the setting sun and later by the full moon. what a great day

Setting out at sunset

Moon rising over Cesearea

Full moon over Jasser

Sunday, April 17, 2011

happy passover

Wishing all a happy Passover, have a good holiday and dont eat too much.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

kayaking for all ages and Greenland paddle making


My workbench at the beginning of the day, there are some old paddles showing lots of wear and tear that need a bit of elbow grease to get them in shape again, and some Cedar blanks for the new paddles

What we need is another set of hands, that would make life easier. On the other hand yuou can use clamps as well.

At the end of the day Avital oils her new paddle

Josh and Danny cant believe this moment,

This is my front yard, I love the colour

Josh got out on the water as soon as possible to try out his new paddle  and he took the Tiderace kayak out for a trial too. He was happy with both.

On Saturday I met Ben out kayaking with his dad Zviki, Ben had a great Greenland paddle, just the right size for him and showed considerable skill in using it too.
Well paddle carving is a great way to spend a day. you start out with a piece of rough lumber, some sharp tools and a picture in your head. Slowly you get rid of all the wood that isn`t part of the paddle, and at the end of the day you have a  Greenland paddle that you can use with pride.
There are so many variations in paddle styles that almost whatever you make will be usefull and you can  always modify it as you paddle and get to know what you need.
 Maybe the loom is too large, or the blades are too wide to hold comfortably when rolling.
No problem,a couple of minutes with a plane, some sandpaper and your paddle is now modified  and ready to go again.
It takes time to get used to paddling with the Greenland paddle , but those that persevere are rewarded with new skills and a very versatile paddle.
Try it, you may just like it.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

inflatable toys for boys and girls, and other interesting stuff

Oh no, its just a kayak

Looks promising

Early this morning at the rock

friends on the water

Hadas was in the new Nelo

Nice logo

Zviki was out there too

As was Zohar

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Surf Ski vs touring kayak


Actually it gets better pretty quickly. After a few capsizes most people learn to balance on the new Nelo pretty quickly

The whole style of paddling is different, rudder for direction control, have to overcome those edging instincts

This morning was a foggy windy beginning

the chimneys looked surreal in the morning mist

and the light was teriffic

We played in the wind and the waves

and improved our bracing

and then Hadas got on the Nelo