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Last weekend was another windy one which kept us away from the tidal races again :-(. On Sunday I went with Barry to Rhos Neiger beach with our seakayaks and my surf kayak. We figured it would be a good idea to get stuck into some surf in the seakayaks since we’re expecting quite a bit of the frothy white stuff in New Zealand. It started off around 3-5 foot and reasonably powerful then dropped off a bit as the tide went out. It was fun, and not often scary with the weather alternating from sunny to rain that hurts. It was really good to practice in the surf although I’m still not sure what the appropriate stroke is when a wave breaks on top of you! I saw the water rearing up right behind me on one wave and turned side on to it, I raised my paddle into a high brace, but the wave broke on top of the blade and pushed it down into the water, which didn’t really help me in staying upright! I somehow managed to extract the paddle and get it on top of the sea again and with a bit of a weight shift (I think I just threw all my weight into the wave) I stayed where I could breathe air. Still, I was left with the feeling that that tactic probably won’t work in bigger more powerful surf in NZ! Besides just avoiding being in that nasty place where waves land on top of you, I’m not sure what I could do differently!

Thanks to Barry for being brave enough to get into the water in December to take some photos!

Many keen seakayakers will already have seen the impressive preview clip of Bryan Smith’s new inspirational seakayaking DVD, “Pacific Horizons”. Just released in America, you’ll be able to buy the DVD in the UK & Europe right here at Cackle TV from 11th December, and you can pre-order now.

The format is based loosely on the “This is the Sea” series with individual chapters about places, people or tidal races but the DVD is based entirely in the Pacific North West region of America & Canada.

HERE’S THE INFO
Showcasing some of the world’s most sought after sea kayaking destinations, Pacific Horizons captures the essence of the Ocean and inspires everyone to get out on the water and go kayaking! Blending wildlife, people, places and action-packed kayaking, Bryan Smith takes us on an unforgettable journey documenting impressive tidal race surfing, the Orca whales of the San Juan Islands, the Bunsby islands off the remote coast of Vancouver island, “commando kayaking” with Greenland rolling and ropes gymnastics champion Dubside, the wind and waves of the Oregon coast, and to top it all off, a special appearance of Justine Curgenven’s work depicting her journey around the Queen Charlotte Islands with Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme. Pacific Horizons is an entertaining, breath-taking and inspirational adventure film.

The DVD is £19.99 with free postage.

Please see http://www.cackletv.com/pacific-horizons.html
for more information and a preview clip.

The Symposium has been great fun with really nice people. It ended today with 4 star assesment done by Jeff then a paddle home past the ancient city of Ceaseria with it’s 2,000 year old ruins right on the seafront.

We’re here for 1 more day tomorrow and we’ll go for a social paddle in the north of Israel, then home to cold wintery wales and my lovely wood-burning stove!!

More photos from Rami here

It feels like I’ve been in Israel for much more than 3 days! I’m here with Jeff Allen working at a symposium organised by Hadas for one of the 2 seakayak clubs that she works for ( the Optimists Club) They are working us hard ( in the nicest possible way!) with long full days!

Wednesday was a fun day with a trip to seakayak on the Dead Sea. Yosale, hadas and Steve were our local hosts and drove us inland and down down down to 417 metres below sealevel where the Dead Sea lies. The weather was more typically Welsh than typical for Isreal with rain hammering down at Hadas’ house, and 20 knots of wind whipping the Dead Sea up into choppy waves. Hadas assured me it was usually flat calm, but today we had to keep our mouths shut or salty spray would sting our lips and mouths. One wave broke on me, sending mineral-rich water up my nose, into my mouth and eyes. It’s paniful and you have to try really hard not to lick your lips. It was definately worth it though, as the setting of steep mountains on either side of the Dead Sea, and the sheets of salt crystals on the edge of the sea were really beautiful.
And of course we got to float in the sea afterwards which is incredibly buoyant – it’s actually hard to stand up as your legs tend to float up to the surface. Finally, we rubbed ourselves in Dead Sea black mud which is full of minerals and meant to be good for your skin. I don’t know if it is good for you but it was a lot of fun. I squirmed into a hole full of mud up to my waist! When we washed it off afterwards my skin did feel good, except for the places where I cut my legs on the sharp salt crystals!

On the way home we drove through Jerusalem but unfortunately the traffic was bumper to bumper and the rain was torrential so I didn’t get to see much of the old city.

The last 2 days Jeff and I have been coaching at the symposium with Hadas. I was itching to go surfing on the first day as the recent bad weather had kicked up some lovely waves. In the end we did have a bit of a surf as part of an incident management session in the afternoon which was great fun! The water is wonderfully warm and a real treat after getting numb fingers last weekend in Wales!


More pictures here