HAPPY NEW YEAR

Got a message from the gang that they have carried/ dragged their gear up a hill, and thru a swamp for 7 long hours across 2 KM. , camped on the river bank and are now paddling down the RIO NEGRO for about 25-30 KM. back to the Pacific Ocean. There they will be paddling the open waters of the "Golfo De Penas"

(???? Are you sure, Yosale', that this is the correct name of that bay??)
Anyway, they will be exposed to the big Ocean swell and braking waves.
Happy surfing guys. (got your helments?)
With a big smile they wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to their friends and families.

I'M PUSHING AN ELEPHANT UP THE STAIRS…

One month exactly since the start, today after 54 km. the boys arrived at San Rafael Glacier, so as you can imagine it is very cold. They are surrounded by ice caped mountains, a big glacier and lots of ice burgs floating around them. They are experiencing much more rain lately so spending more time paddling. They said the REED clothing are doing a fantastic job keeping them worm.
They were invited one night to stay at a small farm owned by a local indigenous and learned about the Mapuche culture.

now its time to get out of the kayaks, get a good rest and prepare to portage their kayaks and gear for 2 long Km. Up, Up, Up, and then Down Down Down thru a forest into a river so they can keep paddling south.
Watch your back guys.
Best regards to their families from beautiful Lagoona san Rafael:

Yemima and Erez, Naama and Yerachmiel, Avigail and Ehud……

and Yosale's Sharon.

You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

(but you definitely need Karel to know what it will be like tomorrow. )

Its been 4 days now since the boys have left Cisnes Town and On has recovered from his stomachache.
But the wind isn’t in their favor much; they are struggling into head winds and getting off the water early or not getting on it at all.
Well they are paddling in the area of the Roaring Forties
Yosale' wrote:
Roy and On bought me "rabbit underwear" for my birthday. They found it in a shop in Valdivia. Its G string underwear for men, shaped like a rabbit. It even has a tail at the back... haven't tried it yet, maybe when it's colder.
On`s Spanish is getting better, he asks for goat cheese
(queso de me… me…) or cow cheese (queso de moo… moo…)
Shatz had to shave his mustache after it started getting into his teeth.
(Ask Steve what can be done about it.)
Since they are spending more time on shore they are eating lots and lots of fish.
Yesterday they used their strong Carbon Werner Paddles to shovel lodes of shells into a bucket for dinner and today On got 10 fish.
Wow!!!!
All we can wish them from our worm seat at home is:
NOTHING IS BETTER THEN THE WIND IN YOUR BACK, THE SUN IN YOUR FRONT AND YOUR FRIENDS BY YOUR SIDES.

I AM FINE MOM! REALY!

Woke up this morning, and found out that On´s stomach is still not in perfect shape…
So we decided to delay our departure, since we will be out of any major city for more then a month, it´s prefered to start when all systems are well.
We decided to go to the (new) local hospital to get their opinion.
The paramedic and doctor that examined On were really helpful. And after letting him trying to read thit sign,("lack of sex causes vision problems") they said it´s nothing series and gave On some intervene treatment, just in case…(we didn´t understand why, but were cooperative).
As you can see in the pictures, he is “joking with his doctors”.

Or maybe it´s because shatz just offered a “HOKEN” (sorry, don´t know the English word).
The diagnosis is that it´s not series and he should be fine in no time.
Since On is feeling well, after the hospital we decided to hitch hike to Puyhupy, the nearby town. Just to see some more places if we arn´t paddling. The town is about 2 hours drive from Cisnes. 30 km up to the Caratera Austral, and then it´s on the main road.
3 hours later, we understood that no cars are getting all the way up the main road and gave up. Maybe hitch hiking with sandals and birds next to a cemetery is not such a good idea.
Meanwhile, we are getting to know the town a bit better. I think that we didn´t leave one person here un asked “how do we get to….”
Last night On and Roy spent an evening eating lamb with the family we are staying at, and we already know where is fastest computer at the internet center.
Weather got much better, and we hope to be on the water again tomorrow.
If not, there will be another post telling nothing about the dangers of the sea, wildlife (a few Orcas were seen in the canal next to the town 2 days ago. So maybe), Indians, cold weather and tent gossip…
One more from the hitch hiking for the horses lovers.


Us.

An extra dry day

Well, I assume that stop eating rice and lentils in one day isn´t that good for the stomach. We decided to stay another day in Cisnes to get our stomach back in order.
Tomorrow we will set of, if the weather allows.
It´s a good oportunaty to thank u all for the comments, it´s great to read! And to share some of our daily routine. And I apologize, this time with no spell check…
Our mornings starts at 6 or 7 am (actualy it was 6 twice and 7 in all the rest).
After 5 minutes of recovery, we start our day with big mug of quaker poridge, mixed with milk pouder, raisins, sugar and 6 spoons of Chia seeds. We found the seeds that we didn´t know before, very useful, since it grow bigger in touch with water and adds `volume` to the breakfast.
Then we open the satellite phone, get weather report from Karel and send our position by SMS to Hadas. Hadas sends it to the Chilean navy. When we arrived in Cisnes, we were glad to know they knew who we were and where we come from.
Later on, we pack the kayaks and carry them (usualy dragging…) down to the water.
This morning episode, takes about 3 hours. We aren´t morning people.

Then starts the paddling day. Every hour and a half, we stop for a few minutes for a LARABAR

break.
At the night before each of us put a few in his PFD and it´s a great energy solution for us. It saves us the need of carying dried fruits, it´s water sealed, and it has became a ritual. Compairing what flavor each of us pulled out.

At noon we stop, usualy on a beach, for lunch. We eat half of what Roy coocked the night before. We also have some tea.

Durring the time on the water each of us has a map (some more detailed then others) and a GPS on, on one of the kayaks.
Around 18:00 we start looking for a landing spot for the night. usually after 35-40 km. When we paddle alot we send hadas the distance in km and when it´s a short day, in NM.
The souther we go, camping ground will become rear. The best beaches has a good platform for our 3 person huge tent and a sweet water stream nearby.

Usualy, at that time On goes fishing and charging the batteries from the solar pannels larger batteries., I arrange the tent and make the beds and Roy starts coocking rice (just in case there will be no fish).
In this one, you can see the first fish dance, by On.


We add smoked Salmon to the rice and lentils, which are made with diferent spices every day (On says that they all taste the same).
Half of the pot goes to plastic boxes for tomorrow`s lunch.
So, after having dinner by the fire (usualy), some streches and yoga, we write a little and of to bed.

Paddling days are spent thinking, singing, meditating, arguing, navigating and seeing.
Seeing the amazing nature around. Mountains, seals, dolphins,and millions of sea birds.
After checking out the maps today, we felt like this is the place we would like to paddle in.
The next 10 days looks amazing, and the great thing is, that this is where we want to go, and all we have to do is take the kayaks down to the water. (long 20 meters of fully loaded kayaks..nothing is perfect)
Cant`t wait to setting of for another month of that tomorrow.
Untiill next time,
On Shatz and yosale.

Hello from Cisnes!

Arrived yesterday in a little town called Cisnes. After paddling for 17 days, it was the first landing we had in a town. We took advantage of today to do some shopping and reading the blog. Well, it looks like our team manager is doing a great job, and it looks like it´s better without us…
BUT, pictures are missing….
So here are a few, and since many people only look at the pictures (like we would), the pictures are first, and the stories below.

seals finding Roy interesting

Albatros:

some pinguins

lunch:

our chef coocks with sea weeds

they are easy to fish...

those are more dificult:
much better:

and one for Ehud:

since we started 18 days ago in Puerto Montt, we had sun over our heads, some head winds (not to much) and a lot of flat, amazing water.
As the map shows, we crossed to Chiloe. This was the first time we met the tidal currents. We knew they were out there, but the phenomena is amazing. As we got closer and closer to canal Chacao, that separates Chiloe from the main land, the water started to act more like a river and less like an ocean. We planned the crossing for the slack time the next morning (the exact time when the tide stop rising/dropping and start going the opposite way).
That gave us a chance to scout the channel as it would look in 12 hours time. And it didn´t look good. In 15 knots wind and some waves, it really did look like a rapid in a class 3 river.
The next morning, karel arranged perfect weather for us. Got up early, to be ready to cross the 2 miles channel exactly at the slack. With no wind, it was very easy. But even at the slack, around the had land, u could notice `boiles` of moving water. Great experience.
We continued south along Chiloe, and then started crossing back to the main land. Skipping between the islands, timing the bigger crossing with the tidal currents. Ahead of us, the smoking volcano above Chaiten got closer and closer.
With each day, we got used to the klayaks and to leaving so close to each other (Barak, that`s not funny, Asaf, that`s not wiered). As the days passes by, we found ourselves not dealing with where to go now and what to do next, and more and more enjoying the views. And it´s amazing After buying food for 30 days at the beginning, we had all we need in the kayak. So u wake up in the morning and paddle to lunch. As the evening comes (sun set at 2100), u start looking for a nice landing beach. Preferred with not to much carrying the kayaks up (because of the tide) and a river near by is a major bonus. For water, shower and fishing.
Fishing was a major issue. On dragged the Rapala dummy for almost 2 week, and as Hadas mentioned, almost nothing. One night, on a beautiful sandy beach in the middle of Corcovado bay, Shatz asked On to show him how to use the rod. In the third throw, Shatz felt something pulling and threw the rod back to On that pulled out the first 1.5 kg (mas o menos) fish. A few nights later, On brought 4 fish for dinner and gave up the towing fishing to a more traditional bate fishing from the shore.
So, after crossing the Corcovado bay, and visiting the ash covered Chaiten, we went into the channels towards Cisnes. The mountains grew higher and higher as we went south, and in the past 5 days, we have been paddling next to more then 1 km mountains, rising up from the water. The winds in the channels are a bit stronger also, but nothing series so far. Surrounded by islands, it feels like real freedom. Take your kayak and paddle where ever u want. Just make sure u find a enough space for the tent above high tide level (after moving it one meter higher once, at 00:50, we try to keep that one)
Over here in Cisnes, we bought supply for the next 30 days, hoping to get the next supply much further south, in Torttel or Puerto Eden.
Some conclusions…
U can eat rice and lentils every day. (lunch and dinner)
U can eat smoked salmon every day (lunch and dinner)
There is sun in Chile
If there is no sun, you should be in a guest house (rainy today and we are writing the blog…)
Fishing is all about beginners luck.
Sometimes a shell fish is more usefull then a 15$ green Rapala.
Where ever u go, tidal currents are against u. (maybe it´s the southern hemisphere)
Wind too.
When it´s with u, u don´t remember it.
Always leave the tent window open.
Never close the tent`s window.
Make sure that with all that windows open, u are high enough above high tide level…

So, next update will probably be after Golfo the Pennas (´bay of pain´, and not what u think). Starting to paddle to San Rafael glacier tomorrow, probably get there in about 10 days, and then a big portage across Istmo de Ofqui, and down south to Golfo de Pennas.
Hope things are going well at home, and that all of you have a good winter.
Good luck in the sea of Galilee paddling,
On Roy and Yosale.

I C THE FISH AND THE FISH SEAS ME...

There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on shore like an idiot.


Just got a phone call from Yosale', he said it is so hot where they are that they are walking around in their shorts on the beach.
Anyway, this morning they were woken by 3 dolphins swimming by their tent at the beach and as they set off, found themselves in the middle of a huge seal colony feeding on jumping fish with many Albatross birds circling from above. wow!!!
After 2 weeks that On is towing the fishing gear and not catching anything,,, Shatski picked it up on the beach , through it in the water and got a fish immediately. mmm???
So the next evening On did the same from the beach and got 4 nice fish for dinner. YUM YUM!!!
Tey got a small BBQ stove with them that is finally getting some use.
Their longest paddling day so far was 45 km and most of the days they are paddling into a southern head wind….mmm
From this side of the expedition (at the computer), I got a few emails from the Chilean cost guard whom I send the expedition position to every day. They were saying they want positions twice a day…oooo….
Thing is, the boys must same battery energy so,,, the cost guard are suppose to give me a call to sort this out. I will up date if there is anything interesting to tell.
'till then…..
Hasta La Vista Muchachos.
HF

Good night, sleep tight and don’t lets the bed bugs bite.

The beaches in the area are covered with volcanic ash as is their camping equipment lately.

They have passed by a huge colony of seals today jumping and playing around their kayaks.

Also, Patagonia has many annoying bugs: mosquitoes, sand flies and horse flies so besides eating lots of Larabar they can be geting some of their protein from the mosquitoes unless the mosquitoes are getting them first. mmm...

one tiny squid

A week has gone since the boys set off. A week in which they got use to the heavy kayaks, finding they must plan their day well du to the strong tides in the area. At times it gets up to 8 knots of tide, which is twice average paddler's e speed.
They have crossed back to main land and are loving all the seals dolphins and birds that escort them along the way.
The weather so far is sunny and beautiful so they are not wearing the dry suits…. YET…
Shatski is surprising with gourmet dinners and they manege to find sweet water streams to wash every day. So… the tent is still in decent smelling condition.
Tonight thy put up camp on a beach facing the Chaiten volcano overlooking Chaiten town.
The town was evacuated in May 2008 when the Chaitén volcano erupted for the first time in more than 9,000 years. The eruption, , became more, throwing up a high plume of ash and sulfurous steam that rose to 19 miles, from which ash fall drifted across Patagonia, and over the Atlantic Ocean. The town was completely flooded on May 12 2008 after a mud flood caused the banks of the Blanco River to overflow about 200 m on each side.

Ido, they are embarrassed to say they have only caught one tiny squid so far…. Cant please the king with that. can you?

leaving chiloe island

The three mosceteers have spent 2 days on th Chiloe island and are now getting ready to cross back thru the small islands in the inner sea, to the mainland to keep paddling south. they had some great paddling weather.


Chiloe is the second largest island in Patagonia after Tierra del fuego.

People there still live in the traditional ways building their homes on stilts right on the water front.
In the inner sea, between the island and the continent, there are a number of small islands separated by channels, some are so close together that, in the ebb tide it's possible to walk from one island to another.

Chiloe has a rich mythology - populated by strange trolls, sea monsters, and ghost ships

Earth ,wind and fire

The boys have been paddling now for 3 days with the volcano's Yate (2187 m.) and Hornopiren (1572 m/) over looking them from the east.
Struggling into 25 knots of head winds and escorted by dolphins they managed to reach the crossing point to the island of Chiloe, camping tonight near the villages of Bahia Pargua.

"six slipery seals slipping silently ashore"

Just heard from the boys, and they are on their way.
Paddling south out of the bay of port mount ,they were escorted by seals and saw penguins along the shore and in the water.
The penguins are HUMBOLDT PENGUINS that are found along the Pacific coast of northern Chile and Peru, with one tiny colony further south on the Island of Chiloe.
Their weather forecast looks good for the next 2 days.

added a position map

Hey,
bad weather forecast for today made us stay in puerto montt for another day.
about 30 knt winds from the north proved it to be a right desicion...
weather looks very good for tomorow and the next few days, so tomorow noon (friday) we will be on our way.
we took advantage of the extra time to finish final arrangments, being interviewd to a local newspaper, and to add a position map to the blog.
the Chilean Navy asked for a daily position updates. Hadas agreed to get them from us by satellite phone and mail it to the Armada. so i believe that the position on the map could be pretty updated.
will be in touch from the next internet.
on, shaz and yos.

starting on wednsday

Got all the permits we needed to get on the water.
if weather is good we will start paddling on wednsday morning.
so now it´s up to karel... (thanks for the updates!)
yesterday and today we spent some time on Google Earth, getting as much info as possible from the internet down to our maps.
we will use 1:250,000 topographic maps, and 1:300,000/500,000/1.000,000 nautical charts.
so in some places, internet is verry usefull.
(u can imagine that 1:50,000 are better, but covering 2000 km with those is to comlicated..)
so, enjoying the beer wine and sea food while we can,
us.

don´t they want to paddle as well?

Well, karl´s forecast became real. So today it´s winter here. Strong north winds and lot´s of rain.
Add that to the fact that our permits should be ready only on Monday, and you get a few more days to get ready.
Departure will probably won´t be before Monday noon or Tusday morning.
Meanwhile, we have done our shopping. We went to a huge super market and bought food supply for about a month. The idea is to avoid looking for food every few days. We don´t know exactley what´s available in every little village, so even thow there are a few along the first 2-3 weeks, we prefer being ready.
Our diet will be based on rice (10 kg) or pasta (8 kg) for the evenings (plus cooking some extra for the next day´s lunch), porridge ( 5kg) and Chia seeds for breakfast and dried salmon (15 kg) and meat (5 kg) for lunch.
Plus we will have some cheese (6 kg) and about 15 kg of LARABAR for the day.
Plus we bought about 9 kg of choclate
The guidelines are alot of calories and as much protein as possible
We also bought a few Rapalas for fishing, so we hope to get something fresh to eat out of the sea as well. (clams are out of limit south of Chiloe because of Red Tide)
So, we keep ourselves busy and learn something new every day.
For example, our Swiss roomate just told us yesterday over a beer, that ¨Shatz¨ or ¨Shatzy¨means ¨darling¨in Swiss-German. So now we have a good explenation for some weired looks.
The real funny thing is, that Roy (Shatzki) knew it, and didn´t tell us...
Something new every day...

In the pictures:
Puerto Montt at low tide, long shopping list and comparing toilet paper lenths, and the fish market.

sorry for the delay...

While i was writing yesterday, the truck brining the kayaks arrived.

don´t worry, they are in better shape then they looks.

So, as i was saying, sikaflex-


Meditating

And alot of work on the solar pannels

So now the kayaks are in Casa Perla guest house garden, they get a view of Puerto Montt bay and waiting.
The Navy permits should be ready today and we will do some food shopping.

Other then the ¨facts¨ and details, we start getting excited. The look at the bay and the mountains surounding it making everything looks real.
Durring the past week (almost 2) in Chile we learned alot. The spanish got a little better, we find it easier to find the stuff we are looking for (even thoe we looked the police office that will give us permits to buy flairs and smoke bomb for 3 hours).
But i think that most of all we learn to deal with each other. Putting 3 (almost grown uops) together can bring up alot of surprises, but i´m just begining to realize how much each of us has to learn from the other 2. And learning is not always as simple as different ways to tigh a knot or to make a better sweep stroke. Alot of times it involves making some basic changes in our way of thinking, and thats the interesting part.
So, today some more shopping, fixing last peices and some map work.
Maby leaving tomorow or the day after (more likely), we will write when we know.
ON, Shaz and me.

ahh, and one for Avital and one for Asaf:

WHATS NEW

In the last post it was just throwing of the pictures and not much of what´s going on. So...
After arriving in valdivia, we were very glad to meet the guys from Pueblitoexpediciones. Our prior contact was onley by mail, and it´s always good to find out that there are nice faces behind the @blabla.com. it was also very important, because we had alot of work to do, and without them letting us work between their feet and helping with wathever we needed, it was much harder.
We spent the nights in a great backpacker called Aires Buenas, a nice place with people from all over the world. What work? Well, sealing the bulkjeads better was important.
Putting something to alevate the life lines for easy grip,
buying some fishing gear,
meditating and getting ourself fameliar with the local beer.

KAYAKS ARRIVED IN THE TRUCK, TO BE CONTINUED...

pictures from santiago and valparaiso

hey!
had a lot of work lately....
so couldn´t find time to write, so meanwhile, a few pictures and the major details:
http://picasaweb.google.com/royshatzki/SantiagoValParaiso
http://picasaweb.google.com/royshatzki/KayakValdivia
spent a few great days in valdivia. the guys from "pueblito expediciones" were great and helped us with everything we needed while prepairing the kayaks.
as you can see, i swtithced to prijon seayak, deu to a problem in one of the siroccos.
as for the preperations, we sealed the bulk heads with sikaflex, put some new life lines in some places and yesterday went for a trile around the island Teja, our first circumnavigation...

heading to puerto montt soon, to get the arnmada perrmits. the kayaks will be shgipped by truck, again, with the help of roberto, edwardo and jorje from pueblito.
it start getting closer...
first time on the water in chile gave us an idea of what we are heading to. 20 knts and great views!
ahha, and spellers don't work for english in some place, so sorry (steve, ido and barak...)
avital, as i promised....