happy Pesach, or how to escape the cleaning

Dror and Nissim  getting ready to go surfing , rough water, confused seas and strong winds kept all sane people out of the water, but these two have no fear and in order to stay away from their wives who are cleaning the house for Passover are prepared to endanger themselves rather than get roped into Passover cleaning

I must admit it does look like more fun than the alternative

Nissim gets wet going over a nice wave
Wishing all a Happy Passover holiday or Happy Easter.
Enjoy the holiday, I know that I will .

is this this is the sea 5

Everybody is talking about it
and blogging about it too
And they are all right
Its one of the best out there
Justine does it again.
I have already watched it 3 times
and cant get enough.
These days everyone has a go pro on their head or kayak and puts out many minutes of video.
If its not done well its painful to watch.
Justine knows how to put it all together in a way that makes you want to watch it again and again.
And the Oscar goes to Justine for This is the Sea 5.
Or should we have a new symbol
And the Otter goes to Justine for This is the Sea 5

Here we go again, round and round again

Every year we have a number of recurring outings, one of them being the annual circumnavigation of the Sea of Galilee, or as the locals call it the Kinneret.
We begin on Friday morning at Kibbutz Ginnosar on the western side and paddle north going up the Jordan or Zaki rivers as they enter the sea, then make our way to the guest house at Kibbutz Ein gev on the eastern side about half way round.
This year we changed our accommodation plans and made it a camping weekend,and moved from January to March so as not to be in the middle of winter.
The forecast was for a heatwave on Friday, in fact that same weekend the Tel Aviv marathon was postponed and made into a half marathon  due to the extreme heat expected, breaking on Saturday with cooler weather and more wind.
So equipped with lots of water to drink and tons of sunscreen we set off.
The biggest change this year was the water level. Over the last few years of drought the water level has dropped and the lake was missing about 5m, this made for larger beaches, and longer walks to the water from the many resorts and sights along the shores. Places that had originally been built on the waters edge found themselves getting further and further from the water and access for boats became difficult.
Not this time, due to the great amount of  rain this last winter the water levels have returned somewhat. There is still about a metre missing, but this was the fullest that I have ever seen the Kinneret for about 10 years.

  I looked for old pictures from more or less the same point of view to show the difference.
In fact there is still a huge amount of water flowing into the sea from the Jordan and Zaki rivers, so the levels will continue to rise for a while longer. Add to that the fact that now we are using desalinated sea water for drinking, making it less necessary to use the lakes water  and the outlook becomes more optimistic.
Anyway, back to to our trip.
Friday night we camped at Kursi Beach, when we got there it was full of youngsters having a great time with loud music, drinks  and dancing. When we arrived they dubbed us  the` old folks club`, but we held our own as we danced to their music while putting up our tents and drank our wine . In fact when they switched off to go home we asked them to stay awhile so we could enjoy the music a bit longer.
After setting up camp came time to prepare the evening meal.

This is always one of the best parts of our trips, and the results are always great. Here we see Danny thawing out his Amazing Tomato Soup that he made the night before, froze and then heated up  to our delight.
Later we had a full scale BBQ, and ate until we couldn`t move anymore.
Of course we had plenty of good stuff to drink,and even enough for emergencies.

In the middle of the night a super strong wind sprang up and didn't let up for the whole night and the next day, making it necessary to change plans and paddle back instead of completing the circumnavigation.

After a good breakfast while we waited to see what the wind was going to do we headed north again this time going up the Jordan river.
When we tried to get back into the Sea and head south we hit a 20+k headwind throwing up waves and spray in all directions. We did an about turn and surfed back to a pick up point and called it a day. Organised the cars and made our way home.
Plans need to be flexible and take into account changes in the weather. Although we didnt go all the way round we had a great trip and a wonderful weekend.
What more can one ask for.

kayak fishing in windy waters

Strong easterly winds, offshore, necessitate staying close to the shore, hugging the rocks and avoiding the fishermen, or annoying them.

Its easy to run aground on submerged rocks that you don't see

After getting caught in a fishing line Danny flipped over and had to be rescued by Hadas, 

First she towed him out of range of the fisherman, then helped him back into his kayak after untangling the fishing line

Later we went through the rocks at Cesearea

and for the first time noticed how well camouflaged Noam was

the rest of us stick out like a sore thumb

Close up of the ancient aqueduct that brought water to Herod's palace and the city of Cesearea

And on the way back Ariya also found some new rocks to play with.

The littlest matunuck

At 1m53 Zohar needs a smaller kayak than Izzy and so she shrunk the Matunuck plans by 10%.

this made it a prefect fit

After launching her Matunuck we went for a paddle as the waves were not great for surfing

On the way back we stopped off at the rock for a spell

Ran was there playing in the surf

Izzy too, In fact there were so many kayaks that it felt a bit too busy , so we made it a short day and for sure will be back tomorrow morning.

Happy Purim

an exciting day

Pre paddle instructions were clear, due to windy conditions and rising seas, we were to stay together and at the turning point we would decide on whether to return or continue 

Going out against the wind and the waves was a joyride, the ups and downs caused shouts of enjoyment

Keeping a large group of Israeli kayakers together is an impossible task at the best of times

We eventually regrouped at the end

And some posed for a photo

Half the group returned and the rest continued going out for a short while. When we turned to return the wind had gotten stronger and the sea was rougher, Yiftach was in the lead and I was the collector at the back.In no time at all the group had surged ahead leaving a relatively new paddler behind. I stayed with him and suddenly he capsized. Rescue went ok but I saw he was having difficulty controlling his boat in the conditions and had no control over his direction. I decided to tow to help. The first tug on the towrope caused another capsize, and then I realised that I needed help. A loud call on my whistle was heard by the now distant group and some came back to see what was going on. I decided that the troubled kayaker needed another to assist him in balance and began towing both kayaks back to shore.The wind and waves were helping me and so I declined having another kayak tow me, preferring to have him in the area just in case something happened and we needed another hand.

All went well, the following sea brought us closer to the shore and more kayaks came to assist. 

Most importantly I handed my camera to Hadas to get the necessarry pictures, this after we had passed the reef. 

Suddenly a large wave caught the towed kayaks and swept them shorewards, puling me, the tower backwards and flipping me over

The tension of the towrope prevented me rolling so I had to release it while underwater and then tried to roll, failed and by this time had no more air and so had to bail out. We were close to shore so it wasn't too bad

Everyone got home safely after an exciting morning out on the water and then all the discussion began.
Lessons learnt.
1. important to keep the group close together in rough conditions
2.There should always be 2 sweeps at the back, one is not enough in rough water.
3 .Whistles are a good thing
4.Towing in a following sea is like having a Heimlich maneuver being done on you every few moments
5.Maybe I should have had Izzy tow me as well to make the trip quicker and easier, I decided rather to have him free in the water in case of need.6.There should be at least 2 cameras on each outing