For a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, Thursday nights are reserved for kayaking on the bay. Islands, bights, caves, and more . . . no corner of the bay and its history are left unexplored. While the tales in this volume chronicle only the paddles in 2010, they are part of a longer time flow, starting in 2000. Better than any travel guide on San Francisco Bay, these volumes capture the flavor of one of the world's most renown bodies of water.

This solo, wilderness kayaking journey began many years ago, years before I even knew anything about kayaks and paddling down remote, legendary rivers. Poring over maps of those pleases revealed very little. The blank spaces spread far and wide. At last, after decades of dreaming, I stood on the shore of Lake Atlin in British Columbia where the headwaters of the Yukon River are. I stood there and thought about all those hope filled years and thrilled at the anticipation of leaving that morning in mid-June.
Crossing the expanse of Lake Atlin in a fine mist, I guided the kayak toward Graham Channel, which would take me to Tagish Lake. There I met Jim and Marion Brook at their cabin. After hot coffee and freshly baked cookies, they sent me on my way. They were the first of many people who helped me on my journey.
That evening, having found the "perfect" campsite, I inspected the area for bear tracks. Finding none I started a large campfire before setting up the tent. Supper had been eaten at a previous stop, so there was no cooking where I stayed for the night. This was the procedure I followed every night. It kept animals bigger and hungrier than me from visiting my campsites.
As I paddle down the lakes, I stopped at villages such as Tagish; I paddled down Marsh Lake, down dangerous Lake Laberge; stopped in historic towns such as Whitehorse and Dawson City. I passed by wrecked and beached steamboats form the gold rush days and finally crossed the US/Canadian line into Alaska. I had paddled through a forest fire so immense that it took a day to pass the flames. The current carried me past Eagle, Circle City, though the Yukon flats (where he river was 10-20 miles wide) andcrossed the Artic Circle at Fort Yukon. Then came the small villages of Beaver, Stevens Village, and then the oil pipeline.
I paddled on to Rampart where the fierce head wind nearly drove me back upstream. Next I passed through Tanana, where I met Emmet Peter who has won the Iditarod long ago; then on to Ruby, Galena, Nulato and Holy Cross where Bergie Demientieff served me coffee and gave good advice.
Finally I arrived at Russian Mission where I ran out of time after 51 days and 2, 000 miles of paddling my kayak. There Harvey Pitka and his wife Ester fed me a wonderful dinner before I flew out. As the plane climbed and banked toward Bethel, I knew that I would return one day to finish my Kayak trip to the Bering Sea.

We're a loosely knit group of kayakers who paddle San Francisco Bay every Thursday night. Most of us in our 50s and 60s, we've been at it since 2000. Launching in the early evening, we paddle to a deserted beach for dinner, returning in the dark. These tall tales - written to entertain - chronicle what we're up to.

A year's worth of tall tales kayaking on San Francisco Bay in words and pictures.

Verlen Kruger and Steve Landick came up with the idea of a canoe trip that would surpass all others, and they did it. Paddling their canoes or carrying them on the connecting land passages, they toured North America, from Montana to Manhattan, from New Orleans to the Arctic Ocean, from Baja California to home in Lansing, Michigan.

They mastered wild storms on the ocean, often paddled 75-100 miles or more in a day, shot through deadly rapids going downstream, and paddled up several major rivers, reaching the climax by going up the Grand Canyon. Again and again they were warned, "It can't be done" or "You'll never make it," but each time they rose to the challenge and kept going, finally completing a canoe trip of 28,000 miles that lasted three and a half years and was appropriately named "The Ultimate Canoe Challenge." This is the story as Verlen lived it.

"Around One More Point" is a journal sketchbook of writings, photographs and drawings that capture the adventures of B.C. artist and paddler Mary Gazetas, who has journeyed with family and friends on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage and Haida Gwaii for almost 25 years. This work, with its powerful visual imagery, includes stories and art created when Mary first started taking ocean canoe trips in the '80s with her twin sister and her children. Since those pre-Gore-Tex days of primitive beach camping and paddling in all kinds of weather, the trips, the people and the artwork have changed.What hasn't changed, though, is her passion for the character of the coast, and she returns every summer, bringing home material to be transformed into a variety of artistic expressions. The journeys include paddle trips in Barkley, Clayoquot, Nootka and Kyuquot sounds, the Broughton Archipelago, the central coast and Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). This evocative journal will take readers on a journey, inspiring some to go to these beautiful places themselves-to go around one more point.

For a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, Thursday nights are reserved for kayaking on the bay. Islands, bights, caves, and more . . . no corner of the bay and its history are left unexplored. While the tales in this volume chronicle only the paddles in 2010, they are part of a longer time flow, starting in 2000. Better than any travel guide on San Francisco Bay, these volumes capture the flavor of one of the world's most renown bodies of water.

In this book you will find descriptions of over 1500 miles on 59 rivers and creeks in Northern Illinois.

You will also discover the Indian villages and early settlers and their stories.

The author spent over ten years exploring these unique watersheds. From the "Mighty Mississippi" to smallest canoeable creek, it has all been covered in "Canoeing Adventures in Northern Illinois."

For a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, Thursday nights are reserved for kayaking on the bay. Islands, bights, caves, and more . . . no corner of the bay and its history are left unexplored. While the tales in this volume chronicle only the paddles in 2010, they are part of a longer time flow, starting in 2000. Better than any travel guide on San Francisco Bay, these volumes capture the flavor of one of the world's most renown bodies of water.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Tall Tales of kayaking on San Francisco Bay.

The Sailors Classics library introduces a new generation of readers to the best books ever written about small boats under sail

The incredible story of Captain John C. Voss, who, in 1904, completed a three-year journey across three oceans in a Native American dugout canoe converted to sail.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed covers 64,000 square miles and drains parts of six states and Washington, DC. Along with its 400-plus rivers and creeks, the Chesapeake boasts 4,600 miles of tidal shoreline suitable for kayaking. Sea kayaking is booming in the Chesapeake region, and the state of Maryland is fully supporting paddlers in finding access and creating routes and safe places to explore. This new guide will describe dozens of trips along the Eastern and Western shores, in the Bay proper, and in its tributaries. Trip descriptions will include important information on put-ins and take-outs, winds, and currents, equipment, paddling techniques, and safety issues. The authors enliven their instruction with informative sidebars on topics such as salt marsh ecology, wildlife, and social and maritime history. They also touch on low-impact paddling techniques, hypo/hyperthermia awareness, and many other paddling-related topics.

Recreation -- Travel -- Nature

From Bayou Bartholomew in the north to the Atchafalaya Swamp in the south, from the Sabine River in the west to the Pearl River in the east, Louisiana abounds with water to explore. "Canoeing Louisiana" is your guidebook for paddling through a Deep South region that boasts a great variety of waterways.

The book takes a broad focus, covering the state in a way that anyone--local or visitor, day-floater or wilderness tripper--can enjoy. The book especially highlights waters that are in or near public lands, including wildlife management areas, parks, national forests and national wildlife refuges. In Louisiana there's no shortage of options, from easy day jaunts to semi-wilderness expeditions.

Although there is no whitewater in this bayou state, there is nature galore--a wealth of woods, water, and wildlife. And there's considerable variety: clear sandy streams like Tangipahoa and Whiskey Chitto; vast swamps like Atchafalaya and Honey Island; hill-country bayous like Bodcau and D'Arbonne; gorgeous lakes like Chicot and Bistineau; and sea kayaking destinations such as Grand Isle and Lake Pontchartrain. Paddlers who still want an adrenaline thrill can try finding a way through seemingly endless cypress swamps, dodging cottonmouth snakes, or paddling among alligators.

Author Ernest Herndon has identified more than thirty waterways which meet criteria for good paddling. "Canoeing Louisiana" provides general descriptions and specific information on where to go and what to expect. It also discusses types of boats and gear most suited to Louisiana, as well as techniques for camping, navigation, and fishing. And it explores relevant facets of history, ecology, folklore, and biology since most paddlers want to know more than just the logistics of a paddling destination.

This is the only comprehensive guidebook about Louisiana's waterways. It will appeal to all those who have an interest in the natural wonders of the Bayou State.

Ernest Herndon is a staff writer and outdoors editor of the "Enterprise-Journal" in McComb, Mississippi. He is also the author of "Canoeing Mississippi" (University Press of Mississippi). See the author's Web site at www.ernestherndon.com.

"The definitive guide to kayaking the Florida Keys."--Jeff Klinkenberg, St. Petersburg Times

"The author has gone to great lengths to provide the necessary details to make kayaking in the Keys easy."--James Bell, Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge

Spanning the 200-mile stretch of the Florida Keys, this field guide to the entire island chain highlights 50 paddling adventures, many for canoeists as well as kayakers. Trips include short paddles suitable for beginners and children, half-day trips as well as day-long and overnight excursions.
Kathleen Patton provides an overview of the region's environment, describing its terrestrial and marine habitats. She covers equipment needs, safety concerns, weather patterns, and adapting tide tables for specific areas. Trips are arranged geographically, beginning near Miami at the top of the Keys in Biscayne National Park and stretching 73 miles past Key West to Dry Tortugas National Park. Each profile includes directions to the launch site, estimated paddling time, kayak rental availability, a detailed itinerary, and a route map. Icons mark each route's particular strengths: for example, great snorkeling, historical interest, camping, and appropriate trips for canoeists and for children. Patton also directs paddlers to the best reefs, swimming holes, and pristine sandbars for wildlife viewing--birds, manatees, dolphins, tropical reef fish, coral heads, sponges, sea stars, and huge spotted eagle rays.

Clear, concise trip descriptions and detailed maps make "Kayaking the Keys" the most complete guide for paddlers of all ages and abilities who want to explore the only tropical waters in America that are accessible by automobile.
Kathleen Patton is program coordinator for Florida Keys Discovery, a nonprofit community education project.

Jerry Dennis has earned a reputation as one of the finest writers on nature and the outdoors in America today. Now in From a Wooden Canoe, he turns his attention to old passions and discovers new reasons to appreciate them.

This engaging collection explores the quintessential American sports of canoeing and camping and pays tribute to the things worth keeping, from wooden canoes to pocket knives to cast-iron skillets. At a deeper level, it is about respect - for our possessions, for the natural world, for ourselves - and about the pleasures of a life well spent.

From a Wooden Canoe is a celebration of the good things and the simple pleasures of life outdoors. It is a book to be treasured, to be read on winter evenings and rainy afternoons, and to be kept handy on a cabin shelf.

A paddling guide designed for canoeists and kayakers who want to explore the Cape's rivers, marshes, and shoreline and learn about the region's natural history. Paddling the Cape's waterways is the best way to see its wildlife and to understand the ever-changing forces of sand, tide, and wind that define this land-and it's a perfect way to escape the crowds. The authors are experienced paddlers who own a canoe and kayak touring business. Full of natural history, this guide also has practical details, like where and when to go; tides, currents, and safety considerations; and information about where boats can be rented. This guide is endorsed by Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

Lourie completed his trip. It took him three weeks and marked the first time anyone has traveled from the source of the Hudson to the mouth in a single vessel. The Hudson proved to be a very changeable river. It includes seven locks and nine power dams. The northern half is a true river with strong current, but the lower half is tidal, a sunken river from the days of glaciers. In its first 165 miles, it drops more than 4,000 feet to Albany. The second half falls no more than a foot. Lourie's account of his trip is a fresh look at one of America's great and complex waterways, one of the few, in fact, that still contains its historical and biological species of fish. It is also the longest inland estuary in the world. Henry Hudson called it the "great river of the mountains." Nowadays, too often the Hudson is stereotyped as a ruined, polluted industrial river. its glorious past is compared to its present neglect. In River of Mountains, Peter Lourie combines the Hudson's rich history and descriptions of some of the region's most impressive landscape with the residents of its mill towns, the loggers, commercial fishermen, and barge pilots - all of whom are proof that the river is still a thriving, vital waterway.

With two slender sixty-pound kayaks, a ten-pound medical kit, twenty pounds of books, triple-digit temperatures, and no contact with the outside world, Jonathan and Deborah Waterman spent two months paddling through the violent tides and storms that define the mythically charged Sea of Cortes. Amid the lore and romantic past of the Baja they discovered that what began as a mutual exploration would soon become an unforgettable test of will.

Exhilarating and lyrical, filled with images of death, beauty, and adventure, this paradisiacal journey depicts the past and present of a legendary body of water -- and the struggle of a man and a woman to find each other.

As well as being a comprehensive guide to the many rivers and streams in the state, Canoeing & Kayaking Ohio's Streams includes chapters on water safety, paddling instructions, how to read and rate white water, and even tips for paddling with children. For each of over 45 rivers in the state, you will find suggested stopover point for natural and human history, information on potential hazards and portages, detailed maps with river miles and car shuttle miles from access points, and listings of game-fish for each waterway.