Motorboating Start to Finish is the perfect book for you if you are new to motorboating and need to learn the basics, or if you are experienced, but wish to broaden your skills and develop your techniques. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide takes you through the basic principles, preparing to go to sea, your first voyage and safety at sea. It includes advice on choosing and buying a motorboat, essential equipment, boat handling, tides, weather and navigation, all taken from courses delivered by the UK's biggest sailing school, the UKSA. This book is accessible to all levels, giving those new to motorboating straightforward advice, and showing experienced powerboaters how to take the sport to the next level with professional tips that will help improve speed, skill, safety and enjoyment. It is a complete reference for every level of tender, RIB, fishing boat, motor cruiser or sportsboat driver. This book is packed with hundreds of illustrations and photographs, and is a great way to learn, develop and refresh your powerboating skills.

In this autobiographical account of a lifetime spent observing, researching and photographing birds, Peter Steyn shares experiences that span some 70 years.

His story starts and ends in Cape Town, South Africa, but in between we read about:

• the 17 years he spent in Zimbabwe – his most productive in terms of ornithological research
• his worldwide travels in a quest to study birds
• his regular spells as a lecturer on cruise-ship voyages
• trips from the Arctic to the Antarctic, to remote Southern Ocean islands and to several Indian Ocean islands and St Helena
• travels also to the USA, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Ethiopia – all in pursuit of birds

His detailed and fascinating memoir captures the author’s great enthusiasm for birds and their role in his shaping his life and experiences.

Kingdom of Daylight: Memories of a Birdwatcher is well illustrated and features more than 400 photographs taken during Peter’s lifelong journey with birds.

'A Practical Manual of Camping, Hiking & Wilderness Techniques'. How to live outside in complete comfort, enjoyment and safety.

This book is the story of James Baxter's 2700 kilometre ski up the entire length of Norway, followed by his 3100 kilometre kayak down the whole of Norway's coast. This eight month journey took him through Europe's most pristine natural wonders; the empty snow-covered spine of Scandinavia's mountain chain, the Arctic taiga forests and tundra, the busy seabird colonies in the Barents Sea, the daunting seas of the Arctic Ocean and the magnificent fjords of the Atlantic coast were just some of the wonders encountered. Through the four seasons of this breathtaking land, James unfolds his story as he slowly passes through it, solely under his own steam. Sheltering during storms and journeying through abundant good weather, he is immersed into the ebb and flow of nature as if on a pilgrimage. Yet there are many encounters with the personalities of the rich rural cultures and communities scattered across this wilderness. The book is intended to be both a narrative and a guide. The entire 6200 kilometres of the outdoor expedition has been split into 35 sections.Each section is around 200 kilometres, or a week's duration, and many are a very good ski or kayak in their own right; such as Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen or Kungsleden on skis or Nordkapp, Vestfjorden or Helgelandskysten in a kayak. The chapters are not only to inspire a journey, but are also valuable to help plan it, as there is much information about local conditions, natural features and logistics for each section to be gleaned from the story itself. This book is a must for any outdoor enthusiast planning a visit to Scandinavia. The book is not only an account of James' entire expedition but also delves into a wide spectrum of observations about rural communities, local economies, farming and even regional politics, and of course the continual commentary about the extraordinary natural features, geology, fauna and flora which surprised and delighted him at every corner. The book is richly illustrated with over 800 colour photographs throughout to illuminate the text.

From the bestselling author of Breath, a “fascinating, informative, exhilarating” voyage from the ocean’s surface to its darkest trenches (Wall Street Journal).

Fascinated by the sport of freediving—in which competitors descend great depths on a single breath—James Nestor embeds with a gang of oceangoing extreme athletes and renegade researchers. He finds whales that communicate with other whales hundreds of miles away, sharks that swim in unerringly straight lines through pitch-black waters, and other strange phenomena. Most illuminating of all, he learns that these abilities are reflected in our own remarkable, and often hidden, potential—including echolocation, directional sense, and the profound bodily changes humans undergo when underwater.

Along the way, Nestor unlocks his own freediving skills as he communes with the pioneers who are expanding our definition of what is possible in the natural world, and in ourselves.

Neal Bascomb, the New York Times bestselling author of Faster, presents the riveting, true story of the three world-class athletes who individually became the first runners to break the four-minute mile.

There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed, and in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three world-class runners each set out to break this barrier.

Roger Bannister was a young English medical student who epitomized the ideal of the amateur — still driven not just by winning but by the nobility of the pursuit. John Landy was the privileged son of a genteel Australian family, who as a boy preferred butterfly collecting to running but who trained relentlessly in an almost spiritual attempt to shape his body to this singular task. Then there was Wes Santee, the swaggering American, a Kansas farm boy and natural athlete who believed he was just plain better than everybody else.

Spanning three continents and defying the odds, their collective quest captivated the world and stole headlines from the Korean War, the atomic race, and such legendary figures as Edmund Hillary, Willie Mays, Native Dancer, and Ben Hogan. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and Chariots of Fire, Neal Bascomb delivers a breathtaking story of unlikely heroes and leaves us with a lasting portrait of the twilight years of the golden age of sport.

Following on from the bestselling Play the Forest School Way, here is a whole range of new games, crafts and activities to get kids developing skills and exploring the natural world all year round. Structured around the year's four seasons, each chapter is packed full of step-by-step Forest School games and activities that harmonize with the weather and what's happening in nature at that time of year, with a nod to seasonal festivals such as Easter and Christmas. In spring, for example, you could make a mud birthday cake to celebrate Earth Day on 22 April, or (inspired by bird song) craft sistrums from sticks and bottle tops. In autumn, you could have a fun day out in the woods making leaf mobiles, playing "Creeping Commandos" and baking apples with nuts over a campfire. At Forest School, children return to the same location again and again, building a lasting connection with a specific part of the natural world, and this book in its year-round approach will bring this aspect of Forest School play to the fore. Each of the four seasonal chapters includes a description of an extended session (combining active and quieter activities plus, for some, an idea for foraging/cooking) to guide Forest School leaders planning themed days and parents looking for party inspiration. The Forest School ethos of nature-based play and learning that encourages children to develop confidence, self-esteem and emotional intelligence is exactly what's needed in an era when childhood problems such as obesity and anxiety are on the rise. Woven through the year are stories from the authors' own Forest School classes, as they make a passionate case for the importance of ensuring children's access to nature and the incredible benefits they will gain from being outside, even in the heart of a city.

Perfect for any parkrunner, or wannabe parkrunner, this concise and joyful book reveals how a Saturday 5km run in the park has become a worldwide phenomenon.

The Ultimate Guide to parkrun (always with a lower case p!) covers how parkrun started, how it is staged every week, how to get involved as a runner, walker, or volunteer – and even how to start your own run.

Written by a running writer and qualified athletics coach, this celebratory book goes behind the scenes to tell the heartwarming human stories behind parkrun. But it also brims with practical information, with training plans for different types of runners so that you can (if you wish to) improve your own finishing time.

Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the founding of the mass participation event in Autumn 2024, the book delves into parkrun’s origins as the brainchild of Paul Sinton-Hewitt, an unemployed man in London. Just 13 runners competed in the first Bushy Park Time Trial on 2 October 2004.

Now parkrun has more than 9 million runners at more than 2,200 parks in 23 countries, with the most popular countries being the UK, Australia, and South Africa.

The book features all aspects of parkrun, including how public-spirited volunteers put on the event, sustainably and for free, every week, and fun boxes such as the most interesting courses around the world, from Poland to the Falkland Islands.

Following the success of the first edition, this new edition has been expanded and improved with additional images and enhanced drawings. The subject matter has been expanded with the chapter on grammar and pronunciation extended. There are examples of how Gaelic personal names and the human body are used in place-names and many etymological sources have been added to place-name tables. In addition to the generic index, there is now an index of specific place-names. Finally, there's more to say about hares, bears and boars! Reading the Gaelic Landscape is essential for anyone who is interested in the Scottish Highlands and its native language. It enables people to read and understand place-names in Gaelic, providing insights into landscape character and history. The book enriches the experience of walkers, climbers, sailors, bird watchers and fishers by sketching the named context, where they practise their pursuits. Outdoor enthusiasts need no longer struggle with unfamiliar spellings and words, as they can develop a new perspective of place through an understanding of Gaelic toponymy. The ways Gaelic poets like Sorley MacLean and Duncan Ban MacIntyre used the named landscape in their work is explored. Names are used to speculate about species extinctions and the history of the Caledonian Forest. Readers learn how place has been defined in Gaelic and how this has been recorded, through a deeper understanding of how native speakers applied their language to the landscape. This new edition will build on the praise for the first: * ...essential for those interested in the Highlands and its ancient, living language. It helps readers and outdoor enthusiasts understand seemingly obscure words on maps, with insights into landscape history and ecology. The Scots Magazine * ...John Murray's book is unique ... The result is a triumph. ... Just occasionally you come across a book whose lasting value is so obvious that you know people will be referring to it in 50 years' time or more. Reading the Gaelic Landscape is one of those books. Undiscovered Scotland * ...the scope of the book is admirably broad, with primers on the history of the Gaelic language in Scotland, how the first maps of the country came to be made, and how the Gaelic speakers of old would have conceptualised things like colours and sounds, seasons and time. Roger Cox, The Scotsman * ...this book is a useful resource for those interested in Scotland's landscapes, environment and history. Wild Land News

Discover dramatic landscapes and the most spectacular sights. From sea to shining sea, America is host to some of the most dramatic landscapes on Earth. Whether you are a camper or a nature buff, you will find here such spectacular sights as the tallest trees of the Redwood, the desert of Death Valley, the gorge of Grand Canyon, the snowy mountains of Mount Rainier and the jagged peaks of the Grand Teton. With facts and trivia that reveal the majesty and diversity of these national treasures, along with inspiring nature quotes, The Little Book of US National Parks covers all 63 parks, highlighting the most-visited conservation areas. Among them are Acadia, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. For nature-lovers, hikers and visitors, this journey through the nation's natural wonders, their landmarks and inhabitants, is both armchair tourism and inspiration to get out there and explore. SAMPLE QUOTE: 'National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.' Wallace Stegner, novelist and environmentalist SAMPLE FACT: At Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, visitors can see and touch rocks that are half as old as the planet Earth. (Daily Telegraph, 21 May 2015)

Gold medal winning coach, Jon Emmett works with sailors and coaches around the world and is frequently asked things like: 'What is a good exercise to improve this?' 'Why do we do this exercise?' 'How do we make the exercise more / less difficult?' This book is the answer to those frequently asked questions. It contains training exercises for each element of a sailing race. As well as describing and illustrating the exercise, it tells you what skills you are trying to improve, why and how to make the exercise harder or easier. The book will enable coaches to deliver better, more focussed, training sessions, but it will also help sailors who don't have the benefit of a coach to practise and improve their sailing skills. The exercises are marked as to whether they are suitable for solo boats, groups of boats or those with a coach boat. As Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." Armed with this book, get out, do some training and improve your sailing skills!

"Besides drooling over the gorgeous photos, it is guaranteed that you will salivate over the recipes that accompany each adventure and hopefully utilize Morgan's sustainable outdoor cooking tips." American Trail Running Association Outlandish is a sun-soaked starter manual to fueling your own epic, equal parts fuel for the body and food for the soul. In this guide, the canyoneering wordsmith and adventurer Morgan Sjogren shows how outdoor adventure can become your lifestyle. Through her riveting personal stories, flavorful recipes, and the book's gotta-go-there photographs, Sjogren shares her advice and lessons learned from years exploring the desert Southwest while living out of her canary-yellow Jeep Wrangler. Outlandish is a gorgeous guide to a more adventurous life. In Outlandish, Sjogren shows how to sleep better in a car, build a cooking fire, overcome calamity, repurpose bacon grease, leave no trace, sun-dry tomatoes on your car hood, cook food on a hot engine block, and select practical gear for your tailgate kitchen. Equipped with little more than Outlandish, a backpacking stove, a cooler, and a few staple foods, you can seek out your own adventures fueled by Sjogren's inspiring outdoor lifestyle as well as her favorite burritos, dandelion salads, campfire blondies, and prickly pear margaritas. Sjogren offers up dozens of recipes that draw from the places she's been Sedona, Bears Ears, Yosemite, Silverton, Utah and help her tell intoxicating tales of exploration and mishap. There are taco recipes remembered from the highest mountain in Mexico and "50 Shades of Burritos" with flavors taken from around the Four Corners. This smart and meaningful guide comes straight from the Utah canyon country and deserts of Arizona to share lessons learned from a life lived in wilderness. Sjogren's exhilarating guide will stoke your desire for adventure while offering tools, tips, and tricks that can help you launch your epic.

Good racing doesn’t just happen. It’s a skill that must be honed with training and hard work. In Personal Best Running, Coach Mark Coogan shares his successful formula for running fast—while staying healthy and happy—without running taking over your life. Coach Coogan has excelled in running as both an athlete and coach, producing numerous Olympic and champion runners. His success is founded in his belief that long-term running success is impossible if you’re not training and racing in the right environment and that running should never come at the expense of your overall physical or mental health. In addition to training strategies that will shave minutes off your time, Coach Coogan will also show you how to sleep and eat properly, surround yourself with supportive people, psychologically navigate setbacks and challenges, lower your injury risk, and have a life outside of running. Get the physical and psychological strategies needed to build an aerobic base, balance hard work and recovery, achieve good running form, and turn adversity into an advantage. Learn the importance of strengthening and warm-up exercises, and master running drills that will make you a stronger runner. Plus, access the 30 online video clips that showcase the exercises and drills in action. Coogan provides numerous training schedules for the mile, 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon as well as schedules for running multiple races in a short period of time. For each distance, choose the length of training (from 6 weeks to 16 weeks) and weekly mileage range. The plans are supplemented with training and racing tips to help you better understand how to apply the concepts to your own running strategy. You’ll also get a personal look at what successful runners do as Coach Coogan shares some of his own experiences as a runner and coach. And you’ll draw plenty of motivation and inspiration from the athlete profiles of eight of his accomplished runners, including Drew Piazza, Alexi Pappas, and Elle St. Pierre. If you want to run better and race faster, now is your chance to train with Coach Coogan and Personal Best Running. Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam. Note: A code for accessing online videos is included with all print books.

A magical book featuring Tanja B. Linde's gorgeous illustrations, In My Nature will help you realise your own potential by unearthing your connection to the natural world. Having lived nomadically for the past decade, Tanja has found ways to make the most out of every experience. She believes that if we choose to listen to our higher nature and live life on our own terms, we can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Divided into three sections - Venture Inward, Go Explore and Journey Beyond - In My Nature guides your journey on a free-spirited path. It opens you up to your own transformation and growth process using the elements of fire, water, earth, air and spirit. Throughout the book you will be offered up inspiration and ideas for activities that let you explore both your inner wilderness and reconnect with nature as a whole, which are bound to enrich your body, soul and spirit. Find encouragement to go beyond your limits, set intentions, manifest your goals and venture out into a world full of possibilities. Know what it means to be in your element and live a life that is both meaningful and endlessly exciting.

You don't need to be ultra-fit or highly experienced in the outdoors to enjoy outdoor guru Patrick Kinsella's selection of 30 activities across Britain. 'A sense of adventure and an explorer's heartbeat' is all that's required, he says, and he should know, having spent two decades walking, running, riding, paddleboarding, swimming, canoeing, kayaking... and more besides, in all corners of the country. Bradt's Caving, Canyoning, Coasteering... is both an atlas of adventure and book of secrets, enticing readers out of their comfort zone to explore the often-unseen elements and quieter corners of Britain, where the wild experiences live. Some of the activities described take place on the very edges of large urban centres, easily accessible for anyone, yet even many locals don't know about them. Others happen in far-flung corners of the country - places people may never have considered exploring. 'This title will take you on a highly adventurous tour of Britain's extraordinary cliffs, caves, canyons, coasts, forests, fells, beaches, Munros, moors and tors, via a range of outdoor pursuits - many of which were conceived and pioneered on this island' says Kinsella. 'It's all about wild time spent in wonderful places, from the mysterious depths of the labyrinthine limestone underworld beneath the Mendip Hills to the top of ice-clad arêtes and snow-dusted peaks of monstrous Munros in the Scottish Highlands, via seascapes and sub-aquatic environment in Devon and Cornwall, tumbling streams and ghylls in the Lake District, and cascade-concealed caverns in the waterfall-soaked world of the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) in Wales. It's not for the faint of heart, but there are escapades here to excite everyone.' Whether you're an experienced outdoor type or someone who's new to the outdoors but seeking guidance on where to go and what to do, a wildlife and fresh-air enthusiast or an armchair traveller, a lone adventurer or family with young children, Caving, Canyoning, Coasteering... is brimful of ideas. And if the adrenaline gets too much, you'll even find advice on the sedate Japanese art of forest bathing.

Two crucial components of a healthy life are nutrition and exercise. The importance of appropriate diet, food and nutrition are extremely important to be successful in sports, and, especially, in extreme sports. Extreme sport is an activity where a participant must demonstrate both mental and physical skills. This type of activity provides an adrenaline rush to individuals who are part of the "community of extreme sportsmen." Extreme sports provide opportunity for individuals to be active and fit with added enjoyment of partaking in a fun activity. Extreme sports in conjunction with proper nutrition helps to boost immunity and resistance against common infections. Studies have also exhibited that sports and exercise activities help in managing effective work-life balance as well. Extreme and Rare Sports: Performance Demands, Drivers, Functional Foods, and Nutrition provides a comprehensive treatise on extreme sports emphasizing the importance of nutrition and research-driven nutraceutical supplements in injury prevention and treatment. The book presents information on the nutritional requirements of sports activities on land, in water, or with high altitude-base. It covers a wide variety of definitions, philosophies, thoughts and practices involved with structurally diverse extreme sports. Features: Discusses specific food and nutritional requirements in extreme sports Provides information on the importance of functional foods, nutrition and structurally diverse phytonutrients for different sports Features information on Olympic and diverse extreme sports Details the importance of hydration and use of gelatin; skeletal muscle damage and recovery from eccentric contractions; and information on dietary supplements and antioxidants Presents analysis on growth, marketing, techniques, and future of extreme sports

All you need to help you learn the important knots, and a perfect gift for the keen sailor or outdoor adventurer. The pack contains 3 one-metre lengths of coloured rope (the colours may vary) together with the beautifully illustrated 64-page Knots & Splices book. The book features the ten knots everyone should know, plus 16 other knots and 7 splices and whippings. It illustrates clearly how to tie each knot using sequential diagrams and a step-by-step approach. The use and benefits of each knot is described and the times when special care is needed highlighted. Combined with the practice ropes, this is an ideal way to learn how to tie knots which will serve a lifetime’s sailing or adventuring.

'If Ray Mears isn't a Great Living Englishman, then goodness me, who is? Ray is a persuader, pragmatist and populariser in the Durrell-Attenborough-Bellamy tradition.' - Robert Crampton, The Times Ray Mears is a household name through his television series Tracks, World of Survival, Bushcraft Survival, The Real Heroes of Telemark and many more. He is a private individual who shuns publicity whenever possible and would prefer to let his many skills tell their own tale - until now. In My Outdoor Life, Ray tells of his childhood and the formative years when he first developed a passion for both bushcraft and the martial arts skills that are central to his life. Having travelled the world several times over, he is no stranger to risk and has had more than his fair share of dangerous and life-threatening encounters to share with his readers. But his life is so much more than a tale of derring-do. Shortly after he returned to England having narrowly survived a serious helicopter crash, his father died. Just a year later, he had to face the death of his first wife Rachel. The book conveys the many sides of Ray Mears, taking us up to the present day - including the previously untold story of his involvement in the man-hunt for murderer Raoul Moat. My Outdoor Life gives us all a chance to share a life-story as rich and as inspirational as a walk in woods with the man himself, Ray Mears.

"Vallely transports the reader to places few will ever go: the very edges of the earth and of human endurance." -Evan Solomon In this gripping first-hand account, four seasoned adventurers navigate a sophisticated, high-tech rowboat across the Northwest Passage. One of the "last firsts" remaining in the adventure world, this journey is only possible because of the dramatic impacts of global warming in the high Arctic, which provide an ironic opportunity to draw attention to the growing urgency of climate change. Along the way, the team repeatedly face life-threatening danger from storms unparalleled in their ferocity and unpredictability and bears witness to unprecedented changes in the Arctic habitat and inhabitants, while weathering gale-force vitriol from climate change deniers who have taken to social media to attack them and undermine their efforts.

'After I finished this book I alarmed my family by going into the garden and climbing the apple tree.' - Damian Whitworth, The Times 'One of the publishing sensations of the year ... For anyone who has ever felt a little overwhelmed in a big city, or wanted to step out of the rat race for an hour or two, Jack Cooke will be something of an inspiration.' - Robert Hardman, Daily Mail A wonderful cocktail of engaging writing, beautiful illustration and heartfelt appreciation for the natural world. An essential oddity for any book collection. In this charming, witty and exquisitely illustrated companion, Jack Cooke explores the city through its canopy; teetering on the edge of an oak's branches, scurrying up a Scots pine, spying views from the treetops that few have ever had the chance to see. He takes us through the parks, over the canals and rivers and into secret gardens on his journey sometimes only ten foot above the street. Part guidebook, part meditation on the consolations of nature, The Tree Climber's Guide is as uniquely odd, alluring and motley as the trees themselves. It is a journey into the tangle of bark and branches that surround us all and a welcome reminder that the best things in life are free - they just sometimes require a step in the right direction.

Peter Christensen describes working for the parks service maintaining trails and warden patrol stations in national parks. It's a job that involves patrolling remote wilderness on horseback, and long days in the saddle give way to wry contemplations on human nature and the beauty of the natural world. While working in the backcountry, Christensen found himself insulated not only from the intrusions of highway noise but also from the stress of modern life. As a result, his thoughtful stories about life in the mountains of Alberta are often poignant, sometimes tragic, but always a great read.

Hiking Central Florida describes thirty of the region's best and most varied hikes, those that offer the chance to observe unspoiled, natural Florida at its finest. With terrain ranging from wet cypress swamps to dry pinewood forests, the region offers subtly striking scenery and it harbors rich diversity.Covering the area from Ocala to State Road 60 near Lake Wales and Yeehaw Junction-and also embracing the northern stretch of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest and the Bulow Plantation/Bulow Creek hike on the Atlantic coast-this user-friendly guide takes you from short family hikes in places such as Canaveral National Seashore, to backpackers' delights. It provides all the information you need to make the most of exploring Central Florida by foot. Look inside to find:* Hikes suited to every ability* Directions to the trailheads* Comprehensive trail descriptions and maps* Mile-by-mile directional cues* Difficulty ratings, average hiking times, and best hiking seasons for every featured hike* Area-specific tips on safety, hiking ethics, plants and animals, preserving the environment, and more

In the 1960s, Iona and Peter Opie observed that although many books had been written about how children should play, none had been written about how they actually played. To fill the gap they carried out an exhaustive survey, through the decade, of the games that children 'in fact play' when aged roughly between six and twelve years of age, and when outdoors -- and usually when out of sight. The result was their classic work 'Children's Games in Street and Playground'. It records games played in streets, parks, playgrounds and wastelands by more than 10,000 children from the Shetland Isles to the Channel Islands, although the majority of the information comes from children living in big cities such as London, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow. In all, around 125 games are described in detail, including the rhymes and sayings children repeat while playing them, together with the different names they are called. Brief historical notes are also included where relevant. There are important lessons to be learned from this book about giving children the time and physical space to be themselves with other children. Previously published as 'Children's Games in Street and Playground, Volume 1' and 'Volume 2'.