Israel, Patagonia & Werner Paddles: It's A Small World

Werner is proud to be supporting Yosef Dror and his team as they prepare for an expedition to Patagonia in sea boats.  Here is what Yosef has to say about preparing for their trip...

On November 8, 2008, Roy Shatzki, On Arnon and I, Yosef (Yosale) Dror from Israel will start our Patagonia expedition. We will fly to Santiago, Chile and will head south to Puerto Montt. In Puerto Montt, at mid November, we will start paddling south, along the island of Chiloe, will pass by San Rafael glacier, and into the heart of the Patagonian Fjords.

The three of us don’t have a real time limit for the expedition, but we hope to get to the city of Punta Arenas, (more than 2,200 km south of our starting point) in about 3 months. The Chilean Patagonia fjords are known for an impressive variety of marine life. Including many different species of whales, dolphins, and many other inhibitors of the sea. The variety of birds is even larger. In addition to the unique flora and fauna, this southern part of our planet, is one of the places where the global warming is most noticeable. The glaciers of Patagonia are declining rapidly, and some of them are already gone. In a few years from now, there might be very little left of them. Another thing we are expecting to encounter is the notorious Patagonian winds that slides of the mountains surrounding our route.

These days, we are busy with gathering the last pieces of gear needed for the expedition. Werner Paddles together with Optimist Sea Kayaking Club from Israel are supporting the expedition and provided us with 2 sets of Ikelos neutral bent shaft paddles for each of us.

Another thing that keeps our hands full is having as much sea time as possible. We take advantage of the warm Mediterranean water and the ever changing weather conditions in the Israeli fall in order to get our surfing, rolling, and rescue skills to the maximum. A few days ago,  Optimist Kayak Symposium took place in our  own back yard, so we got the chance to learn and practice new skills.
 Other supporters of the expedition are Reed that will provide us with paddling wear and gear and LARABAR that provides us with energy bars.

We will update the expedition blog as much as we can via satellite phone and internet access when available. For the 3 of us, spending long periods of time in nature and on the water is a way of life, however, this is the first series kayak expedition and we can’t wait to get started. 3 more days to go… 

Check back here for updates on this amazing trip.

Comments

[Greg Loftus]

sounds like a great expedition. I would have added a sail to the boats as it would be a great benefit. Cheers Greg