What makes a working mother and average athlete decide to take on a massive physical and mental challenge to run, cycle and kayak the perimeter of South Africa, covering 6 772 km in less than five months? Kim van Kets was inspired by her desire to demonstrate to her daughter the fact that mothers are heroes too. She was able to justify the 'time-out' after having built up a credit balance of 150 days owed to her by her adventurer husband. Her story is a positive and enthusiastic 'off the beaten track' South African adventure and is amusing, anecdotal and inspiring.

It tells of the physical and mental challenges of the journey but focuses on stories surrounding the people and places she encountered along the way, including those of the ancient Kalahari farmer who pronounced her to be a 'Ramkat' and the Nama goatherd who seemed doubtful about her gender and anxious to be rid of her. The book is also a wonderful South African travelogue and is studded with nuggets of history and fascinating trivia about the plants, animals, characters and places as well as brief summaries of important life lessons the journey highlighted for the author.

It will leave the reader feeling upbeat, inspired and eager to explore the splendour of the beloved country and its people.

The Columbia and its tributaries are rivers of conflict. Amid pitched battles over the economy, the environment, and the breaching of dams on the lower Snake River, the salmon that have always quickened these rivers are disappearing. On a warm day in late May, Mike Barenti entered the heart of this conflict when he slid a white-water kayak into the headwaters of central Idaho's Salmon River and started paddling toward the Pacific Ocean. This account of his two-month, nine-hundred-mile solo journey into the world of the Columbia Basin plunges us into the adventure of navigating these troubled waterways.

"Kayaking Alone" is a narrative of man and nature, one-on-one, but also of man and nature writ large. In the stories of the river guides and rangers, biologists and ranchers, American Indians and dam workers he meets along the way, the rich and complicated life of the river emerges in a striking, often painfully clear panorama. Through his journey, the ecology, history, and politics of Pacific salmon unfold in fascinating detail, and with this firsthand knowledge and experience the reader gains a new and personal sense of the nature that unites and divides us.

A thrilling account of two friends kayaking 1000 miles though the Inside Passage of BC and southeast Alaska. This is a story of exploration and adventure, with rough seas, calving glaciers, bear encounters and persistently bad weather. But equally enjoyable is the story of this dramatic and culturally rich region, which the author weaves fluidly throughout the book. With flowing prose and non-technical language, the author provides a fundamental understanding of the area's rain forest, glaciers, wildlife and both past and present cultures. In addition to maps, instructive sidebars offer further information and tips about the many issues that arise while discovering the beauty and danger of this region. History buffs will like the many stories about the Pacific Northwest's early explorers; sea kayakers will benefit from the kayaking information; wilderness adventure buffs will be inspired by the exciting tale of paddling the Inside Passage. This book is sure to appeal to many and be enjoyed by all.

A kayak may seem an unlikely place for adventure, but that's exactly what you'll find in "Paddling in Paradise." Author Alison Hughes has created the definitive guide to sea kayaking in Atlantic Canada. Whether she is describing the exhilaration of experiencing the world's highest tides in the Bay of Fundy, or the pure beauty of the coast of Cape Breton, Hughes shares her deep and genuine conviction that life is only truly lived with paddle in hand.

In "Paddling in Paradise," Alison Hughes describes eight multi-day trips off the coasts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, ranging from beautiful nature paddles that neophytes will dream about for the rest of their lives to adventures that will test the mettle of experienced sea kayakers and their guides. Photos and a map enhance each description, and each ends with a Fact File that includes contact information for outfitters, a list of special preparations or equipment, advice for travelling to nearby cities, detailed directions to put-in points, and suggestions for whale watching, cycling, and other activities that visiting kayakers would enjoy. "Paddling in Paradise" also includes an introduction to the region and the unique appeal of sea kayaking as well as a chapter on trip planning, safety, and all aspects of camping along the shore.

Ancient records of canoes are found from the Pacific Northwest to the coast of Maine, in Minnesota and Mexico, in the Southeast and across the Caribbean. And if a native of those distant times might encounter a canoe of our day-whether birch bark or dugout or a modern marvel made of carbon fiber-its silhouette would be instantly recognizable. This is the story of that singular American artifact, so little changed over time: of canoes, old and new, the people who made them, and the labors and adventures they shared. With features of technology, industry, art, and survival, the canoe carries us deep into the natural and cultural history of North America. In the foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winner John McPhee, we dip into the experience of canoeing, from the thrilling challenges of childhood camp expeditions to the moving reflections of long-time paddlers. The pages that follow are filled with historical photographs and artwork, authors Neuzil and Sims describe the dugout and birch bark craft from their first known appearance through the exploration of Canada by fur traders, to the recreational movements that promoted all-wood and wood-and-canvas canoes. Modern materials such as aluminum, fiberglass, and plastic expanded participation and connected canoeists with emerging environmental movements. Finally, Canoes lets us hear the voices of past paddlers like Alexander Mackenzie, the first European to cross North America, using birch bark and dugout canoes a decade before Lewis and Clark went overland, Henry Thoreau, Eric Sevareid, Edwin Tappan Adney, and others. Their stories are a tribute to the First Peoples who, 500 or 1,000 or even 5,000 years ago, built a craft designed to such perfection that it has plied the waters fundamentally unchanged ever since.

Popularly thought of as a recreational vehicle and one of the key ingredients of an ideal wilderness getaway, the canoe is also a political vessel. A potent symbol and practice of Indigenous cultures and traditions, the canoe has also been adopted to assert conservation ideals, feminist empowerment, citizenship practices, and multicultural goals. Documenting many of these various uses, this book asserts that the canoe is not merely a matter of leisure and pleasure; it is folded into many facets of our political life. Taking a critical stance on the canoe, The Politics of the Canoe expands and enlarges the stories that we tell about the canoe's relationship to, for example, colonialism, nationalism, environmentalism, and resource politics. To think about the canoe as a political vessel is to recognize how intertwined canoes are in the public life, governance, authority, social conditions, and ideologies of particular cultures, nations, and states. Almost everywhere we turn, and any way we look at it, the canoe both affects and is affected by complex political and cultural histories. Across Canada and the U.S., canoeing cultures have been born of activism and resistance as much as of adherence to the mythologies of wilderness and nation building. The essays in this volume show that canoes can enhance how we engage with and interpret not only our physical environments, but also our histories and present-day societies.

In the Fall of 1969, Rick Ranson and John Van Landeghem, both barely out of high school, took on the might of the Red and Mississippi Rivers to paddle a canoe from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Combining high drama with hilarity, Ranson tells how the duo, ducked bullets in St. Louis, avoided a whirlpool, worked on a Mississippi tow boat, sailed a yacht through a barge congested Cairo, IL, and spent a few days in the Fargo City Jail, while meeting an eclectic array of unforgettable characters. Paddling South tells the incredible tale of how they survived the three month trip on the often treacherous rivers, beset by snow storms, hurricanes, monstrous waves, and unseen dams.

A veteran paddling guide offers her favorite routes and insights gleaned from years of experience. Spanning the length of the coastal plain, this guide includes the Chesapeake's tidal tributaries, the eastern shore, and the blackwater cypress swamps of the south. Each route description goes beyond access points and paddling notes to include estuarine ecology, social and natural history, and sidebars covering a variety of topics from gear to wildlife sightings to local highlights. Beginning and experienced kayakers will appreciate the depth of information, including geographical, wind, weather, tidal, and safety issues. A brief introduction to other area trips effectively doubles the number of trip locations to pursue.

The region from the southernmost point of the Florida peninsula, stretching south and west to the Dry Tortugas National Park, is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the continental United States, and there's no better way to explore it than by kayak. Here the freshwater temperate latitudes meld with a tropical marine environment to create unique paddling opportunities. In the nearshore waters, secret mangrove tunnels, unending beds of turtle grass, and colorful sponge flats contrast with the vibrant coral-studded waters found offshore. Bill Keogh is your guide to this paddler's paradise. Each trip in this new guide includes a chart, route suggestions, information on distance, tides, and winds, and safety tips. You'll also find information on the wildlife, habitats, and ecosystems that will be encountered, as well as historical and natural features of the area. 30 black & white photographs, index.

This step-by-step guide to building a lashed-frame, fabriccovered sea kayak is both a means to a sleek, fast, universally admired boat and an excellent introduction to woodworking and boatbuilding for hobbyists. The Inuit design scales up or down to fit the paddler and can be built using $150 worth of hardware-store materials, a few basic tools, and a minimal investment of time. Also included: plans for a low-volume version designed for Eskimo rolling; an especially stable version for children; and discussions of kayaking equipment, paddling, and rolling techniques.

Ken Weber's guide, in print for more than 20 years, has now been completely revised and expanded. Chapters include day trips on flatwater, selected whitewater runs, and suggestions for overnight trips with 30 trips in all, there's something here for every level of paddler. Each chapter includes information on put-ins and take-outs, distance, water conditions, dams and rapids, portages, what time of year to paddle, and what you'll see along the way. A detailed map and a handy mileage chart for each river make planning easy. New trips in this edition include: In Massachusetts: the Housatonic, Westfield, Deerfield, Blackstone, Taunton, and Nemasket Rivers In Rhode Island: the Pawtuxet River In Connecticut: the Upper Quinebaug and Pachaug Rivers The first edition of this book was titled Canoeing Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 30 trips in all, 7 new for this edition. All new maps and photographs. Suitable for both canoes and kayaks.

A lavishly illustrated, user-friendly guide for novices and experienced boat builders alike, The Canoe Shop provides plans and building instructions for three graceful and rugged touring canoes—a 12-foot double-paddle canoe, a 14-foot solo canoe, and a 16-foot tandem boat—that virtually anyone can build directly from the book.


Following the same critically acclaimed format found in his classic, The New Kayak Shop, leading North American boat designer Chris Kulczycki walks readers through the entire building process for each boat. One standout feature of The Canoe Shop is a revolutionary, simplified approach to lapstrake construction which makes this traditional technique—considered by many to be the finest method of wooden boat construction—available to amateurs for the first time.

- Features three original designs from one of the most respected small-boat designers
- Contains dozens of illustrations and step-by-step building instructions

Resonant, reflective, a legacy of the Canadian canoeing experience Canexus: The Canoe in Canadian Culture is a first. "This book is cause for celebration," says Kanawa Canoe Museum founder Kirk Wipper, "because of the canoe, and because it is created by writers who are, themselves, enthusiastic paddlers."

From "Canoe Sport" to "Canoe Irony" and finding "Motives for Mr. Canoehead," Canexus opens doors to the primitive and explores the canoeing experience from an exciting variety of perspectives.

Travel with some of Canada's best known canoeists to the mysterious Northwest Coast of BC, across constitutional waves on Meech Lake and into a landscape of the Canadian imagination. Hear great canoe stories, bake bannock, weather storms, ponder canoeing and gender roles. For all kinds of paddlers, and lovers of adventure and wilderness, Canexus gives the canoe its rightful place of prominence in Canadian culture.

With contributions by E.Y. Arima, Philip Chester, C.E.S. Franks, Shelagh Grant, Bob Henderson, Bruce Hodgins, Gwyneth Hoyle, William C. James, C. Fred Johnston, George Luste, Roderick A. Macdonald, Kenneth G. Roberts and Kirk Wipper.

"The writers in Canexus bring different perspectives & abilities to these essays, but all of them reinforce the idea of the canoe as an ancient, echoing symbol; one that can illuminate our place in the north like no other." M.T. Kelly, Winner of the Governor General's Award for Literature

"An intelligent person's guide to the place of the canoe in the Canadian culture and psyche...exciting, like fast white water and spray in your face..." Fred Bodsworth"

This new guide features saltwater paddling tours in the northern and central 10,000 Islands, as well as a handful of freshwater tours in the Big Cypress Swamp. Trips emanate out of multiple put-ins and take-outs, including Rookery Bay Estuarine Reserve (Marco Island), Goodland, Port of the Islands, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Everglades City, and Big Cypress National Preserve. Each trip described in this new guide will include information on distance, difficulty, recommended charts, and navigational features, as well as discussing winds, tides, and safety issues. The author also discusses natural and historical features, estuarine and mangrove ecology, and local wildlife. Finally, he provides information on equipment, outfitters, supplies, rentals, and recommendations for low-impact paddling. 35 black & white photographs, index.