This is a practical guide that will help the reader to master the skills needed to manoeuvre a sea kayak efficiently. For beginner and intermediate paddlers. Doug draws on his personal and coaching experience to help the reader master sea kayak handling skills and techniques. Accurate sequential photos and simple concise language make the descriptions easy to follow and understand. The foundation skills of posture, connectivity (how your body is connected to the kayak), power transfer and learning to 'feel' how the boat responds, are explored initially. The author then goes on to tackle forward paddling, keeping the kayak on course, reverse paddling, edging, turning on the spot, forward turns on the move, reverse turns on the move, stern rudders, moving sideways, support strokes, and the use of skegs and rudders. "Sea Kayak Handling" is recommended as support material for the British Canoe Union 3 and 4 Star (Sea) awards. (The 1 star is a novice 'encouragement' award, the 2 star covers basic generic kayak skills, the 3 star basic/intermediate sea specific skills and experience, and the 4 star covers intermediate sea specific skills and leadership in moderate conditions).

Boating Essentials references everything a boater needs to know about boating laws, safe operation of water craft (including boats, sailboats and jet skis), useful knots, navigation, signals, weather, boating hazards and emergency first aid. An indispensable reference, it is the perfect companion to have on hand whenever you are on the water. Made in the USA.

There has been an explosion of interest in paddling right across the world - in 2020, British Canoeing reported a 40% rise in members, with 19,000 signing up in a 3-month period. Much of this interest has been in inflatable kayaks, with the author's own website (inflatablekayaksandpackrafts.com) averaging 1,000 visits a day. The comparatively low cost, the convenience of inflatable kayaks, and the fact that you can just get in and go, all add up to their appeal. And with thousands of miles of waterways in the UK, most are within reach of a river or canal where you can paddle your kayak and enjoy being in the fresh air, gently travelling through the natural world. You see the country from a different perspective and in an eco-friendly way. But, as with everything, a little bit of knowledge and technique makes the experience so much more enjoyable! That is where this book comes in. It provides a perfect introduction to the sport. It takes you through the different types of inflatable kayaks so you buy the one that is right for you. It shows you the basic on-the-water skills that you will need, including getting in and out, how to paddle straight and turn. It outlines the gear you will need and talks about where to paddle as well as weather, safety, maintenance and repair of your equipment. It covers kayaking in rivers and canals, lakes and lochs, and coastal kayaking. All aspects are heavily illustrated with colour photographs making it easy to understand and clear to follow.

The act of surfing involves highly-skilled humans gliding, sliding, or otherwise riding waves of energy as they pass through water. As this book argues, however, this act of surfing does not exist in isolation. It is defined by the cultures and geographies that synergize with it - by the places, ideas, images, and other representations which at once reflect, create, and commodify this spatial practice. This book innovatively explores the spaces of surf and surf-riding, informed specifically by the perspective of human geography. Based on a range of critical turns within the social sciences, the book explores the locations, relational sensibilities, and transformative nature of surfing spaces, and examines how the spatial practice has been scripted by dominant surfing cultures. The book details how prescriptive (b)orders of access, entitlement, and marginalization have been created, and how, with the advent of new craft, media, and ideals, they are being actively challenged to redefine surfing spaces in the twenty-first century.

An immersive, unforgettable, and eye-opening perspective on swimming—and on human behavior itself.

We swim in freezing Arctic waters and piranha-infested rivers to test our limits. We swim for pleasure, for exercise, for healing. But humans, unlike other animals that are drawn to water, are not natural-born swimmers. We must be taught. Our evolutionary ancestors learned for survival; now, in the twenty-first century, swimming is one of the most popular activities in the world.

Why We Swim is propelled by stories of Olympic champions, a Baghdad swim club that meets in Saddam Hussein’s palace pool, modern-day Japanese samurai swimmers, and even an Icelandic fisherman who improbably survives a wintry six-hour swim after a shipwreck. New York Times contributor Bonnie Tsui, a swimmer herself, dives into the deep, from the San Francisco Bay to the South China Sea, investigating what it is about water that seduces us, despite its dangers, and why we come back to it again and again.

In 1974 the Chattooga River became the first river East of the Mississippi to be included in the National Wild and Scenic River System. It was included because it was a clean, free-flowing mountain stream located in a relatively undeveloped mountain environment. Forming part of the Georgia-South Carolina Border, the Chattooga is the only free-flowing portion of the Savannah River System. This book gives a comprehensive overview of the river including the topography, physiography and geology, weather and climate, human history, plant life, wildlife, and recreation opportunities.

For any sea-farer, splicing rope is an essential skill. But the traditional 3-strand rope is fast disappearing. So how do you splice braided ropE? This is the definitive pocket-sized guide to all rope splicing techniques. Most of the techniques are quite easy to master - and also fun to do. See why splices are better - and stronger - than knots or shackles for joining or shortening rope, and follow the step-by-step photography and clear instructions to find out exactly how to splice efficiently.

High Performance Youth Swimming provides an in-depth view of the physiological, biomechanical, and multifaceted underpinning of swimming success, with a focus on youth. Considerations of both growth and maturation processes and the intricacies of the swimming training environment are core throughout the book. Divided into sections on physiology of swimming, motor control, biomechanics, and long-term well-being, the book also includes chapters from international contributors on: Strength and conditioning Skill acquisition Overtraining Burnout Respiratory health This volume is for those interested in enhancing their art of coaching through a deeper understanding of the science of swimming, including swimming coaches, those who wish - and question how - to best support youth swimming performance, or anyone interested in swimming science more generally.

America's most experienced and renowned sailing instructor has put down in this volume all he knows about his subject. And he has done it in a way that reflects years of searching for and finding the best way to teach sailing. The result is an incomparable book for anyone who wants to become an expert sailor.

In 2007, Adam, then a toaster salesman, was inspired by a film about a man attempting to change his life by swimming the English Channel to try to emulate the feat. After a year of rigorous training without a coach, Adam achieved his goal in 11 hours 35 minutes, despite a ruptured bicep tendon leading to medical advice to give up long-distance swimming. In 2011, after two operations and a change to his swimming style to take pressure off his injured shoulder, he became the first Briton to achieve a two-way crossing from Spain to Morocco and back. In the process, he broke the British record one way. Shortly afterwards, the Ocean's Seven challenge was born, a gruelling equivalent to the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. At first it seemed that injury would prevent Adam from participating but, ignoring medical advice, he developed an innovative technique - the Ocean Walker stroke - that would enable him to continue with the ultimate aim of completing this seemingly impossible feat. Whether man would triumph over ocean, or fail in the attempt, forms the core of this extraordinary autobiography. Always intriguing, sometimes terrifying, and occasionally very funny, Adam's story is about sport in its truest form: rather than competitions between teams and individuals, it is about man against nature - and against his own failings and demons. In that, it is truly inspirational.

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.

With over two-thirds of the globe covered by water, the ability to navigate safely and quickly across the oceans has been crucial throughout human history. As seafarers attempted longer and longer voyages from the sixteenth century onwards in search of profit and new lands, the tools of navigation became ever more sophisticated. The development of instruments over the last five hundred years has seen some revolutionary changes, spurred on by the threat of disaster at sea and the possibility of huge rewards from successful voyages. As this book shows, the solution of the infamous longitude problem, the extraordinary impact of satellite positioning and other advances in navigation have successfully brought together seafarers, artisans and scientists in search of better ways of getting from A to B and back again.

The ultimate guide to paddling whitewater in the western Carolinas, Carolina Whitewater has guided boaters to the best water in the Tar Heel and Palmetto states for almost 30 years. This latest edition includes expanded and updated information for the classic rivers, like the Chattooga, French Broad, and Nantahala, in addition to many new steep creeks including Cove, Rockhouse, and Hurricane. New to this edition is a section on flatwater that is suitable for canoe camping and can be handled by beginner and novice paddlers. Profiled runs are from the Broad River and two of its tributaries, the Enoree and the Tyger. The convenient at-a-glance format for each river section makes it easy to find critical details such as difficulty, length, paddling time, gradient, and more. River descriptions, shuttle and gauge information, and topographic-based maps complete the useful information needed to help boaters pick rivers to match their ability. With over 80 detailed profiles and more than 60 maps of the best canoeing and kayaking waterways in the Carolinas, this guide is indispensable. From quiet float trips on the French Broad to exciting runs on the fast-flowing Nolichucky, Carolina Whitewater details the best paddling experiences in both states.

Become an expert judge of used sailboats. Step by step, the author of the bestselling "This Old Boat" shows you how to evaluate the condition of an older fiberglass sailboat - the one you own or the one you'd like to purchase. Don Casey's expert advice helps you: assess the condition of a used sailboat in 30 minutes; prioritize maintenance and repair tasks for a boat you already own; catch potential problems early; know where to look and what to look for (and how to interpret what you see). A professional survey is recommended before purchasing a boat - and usually required for financing - but with "Inspecting the Aging Sailboat", you can consider and reject any number of boats before settling on 'the one'.This book will streamline your used-boat shopping while saving you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in professional survey fees. 'The perfect place to begin, or to continue your education...As a reviewer of both new and used boats, I own many books filled with advice. I strongly suspect that "Inspecting the Aging Sailboat" is the one I will consult most' - "Sailing". 'A complete reference for the boatowner or prospective boat buyer on evaluating the condition of fiberglass sailboats using common sense and proven advice' - GAM on "Yachting Magazine" (Canada). Don Casey is one of today's best and most trusted do-it-yourself boating writers. His nine books include the bestselling "This Old Boat and Sailboat Electrics Simplified". He writes the long-running "Ask Don Casey" column for BoatUS.com and is a monthly columnist for Sailnet.com and a regular "SAIL" magazine contributor.

'From a young age, I was flirting with the sea and its power.' says Ben Thompson. This is the colourful and moving story of a boy who realised at an early age that the sea was his calling and followed his dream. By the age of twenty-five, Ben Thompson was being paid to dive the world's most exquisite coral reefs. Few people have worked as dive instructors in such varied locations around the world as he has. From exploring the far reaches of South East Asia by local yacht to off-roading through sub-Saharan Africa looking for new dives, Ben sees the world through a diver's mask. Along the way, he dives one of the world's only vertical wrecks (at a top-secret location) just as it ruptures its gas tanks and causes an international incident, is held up at gunpoint by a militia group in the Philippines, rescued by pirates in Indonesia, and visits the Caicos with America's largest naked diving group. His story will fascinate divers, travellers, seafarers, and adventurers of all stripes. It's an exhilarating tale of escaping the humdrum, and also a cheering love story as his ever-patient partner and dive buddy, Vic, accompanies Ben on his escapades around the world.

This mesmerizing photographic and literary log book unravels the mysteries of more than seventy islands dotting the sea from New York Harbor at the mouth of the Hudson to Fishers Island Sound. This magical island world, hiding in plain sight, is revealed aboard documentary filmmaker and writer Thomas Halaczinsky's thirty-foot sailboat. His course follows the route of Adriaen Block, the first European who in 1614 sailed and mapped this area. On old marine charts, these islands have curious-sounding names such as Money Island, Pot Island, and Rats Island, while names such as Rockaway, Jamaica Bay, and Montauk speak of the indigenous people who once inhabited the land. Rooted in history, local tales are interwoven with current themes such as climate change and wrapped in the narrative of sailing in quest of a sense of place.

In the heartland of America rise the Ozark Mountains, teeming with cascading, free-flowing streams. Situated astride the Missouri/Arkansas border, the Ozarks represent a canoeing and kayaking wonderland. Still a comprehensive, accurate and readable guide, but now with a new design and format, A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to the Ozarks (formerly Ozark Whitewater) catalogs the varied rivers of the region. Inside are updated descriptions of all the classic rivers, including the Buffalo National and Little Missouri, as well as exciting new reports of today's steep creek runs: Bryant, Turkey, and many others. This guide is the definitive sourcebook for Ozark river sport.

A complete guide to Scotland's first formal canoe trail. Revised and updated in this 2nd edition. This guide is an essential resource to help you plan your journey through the Great Glen across Scotland. As well as the calm waters of the Caledonian Canal there are the challenging open waters of Loch Lochy and Loch Ness. Here you will find advice on how to deal with the conditions as well as food, equipment, safety, communication and rescue. The best craft for the adventure are open canoes, sea kayaks or touring kayaks. There is advice on choosing the right craft, loading it, and the best ways of carrying it over portages. The coast to coast route can normally be completed in three to five days. We have split the route into a five- day expedition and each day is described in detail, including camping and other forms of accommodation. There are also numerous single day options and, for the more advanced paddlers, suggested routes that link stretches of river with lochs and canal sections.

Every four years the summer Olympic Games capture the world s attention. Over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries gather to prove they are the best in their sports. From the first competition held in 1896 to the 2012 London Olympics, the games have hosted some of swimming s greatest victories and deepest defeats. Fans have witnessed Johnny Weissmuller win back-to-back Olympic gold medals before he found fame on the big screen as Tarzan; they have seen Dara Torres defy age to win three silver medals at the age of 41; and they will forever remember Michael Phelps capturing a record eight gold medals at the 2008 games. The Most Memorable Moments in Olympic Swimming reveals the sport s greatest moments on its biggest stage. Through careful research and the personal recollections from the athletes themselves, John Lohn has brought together the key performances, top athletes, major controversies, and improbable victories of the games. Organized chronologically, the progression of swimming as an Olympic sport comes to life as the top 25 moments are revealed. The best swimmers in Olympic history are featured throughout, from Mark Spitz and Ian Thorpe to Debbie Meyer and Dawn Fraser. Dozens of photographs highlight the athletes and their shared passion for swimming glory. Detailed appendixes include the top Olympic medal winners by country and by athlete, and a bibliography provides key swimming references for the reader. Swimming fans, coaches, athletes, and researchers will enjoy this history of a sport rich in tradition and spectacular moments, as will all enthusiasts of the Olympic Games."

A compact, handy summary of the key things you need to consider when planning a passage by sea and when managing your ship on that passage: the perfect quick reference guide to keep onboard. The book covers the timetable for developing a passage plan and goes through all the elements you should consider: port information, routeing, weather, tides, timings and safety. It then takes you through ship management on the passage: the crew briefing, roles, routines, pre-sail checks, watch keeping and much more. Splash-proof and spiral bound - allowing you to lay it out flat on the chart table - this little book stands up to frequent use and will be a valued companion as you plan and execute your passage.

Get the authoritative guide to the waterways of West Virginia, featuring almost all of the state's paddleable waterways in more than 200 trips. West Virginia's paddling routes are legendary: Gauley River, North Branch of the Potomac, New River, Cheat River, Tygart River, Waites Run, Red Run, Roaring Creek, and Keeney Creek-just to name a few! The best way to experience the Mountain State is by paddle. Canoeing & Kayaking West Virginia is the most comprehensive guide to the best of West Virginia's unique streams, creeks, and rivers. It provides engaging and concise information, while offering carefully selected details vital to a successful paddling adventure. Since 1965-when this guidebook was called Wildwater West Virginia, a collective effort by members of the West Virginia Wildwater Association-Canoeing & Kayaking West Virginia has been a trusted source for paddlers. This updated edition leads paddlers of all abilities to over 120 of West Virginia's waterways. The result of combined knowledge of hundreds of paddlers, this guidebook gives paddlers all the information they need to traverse rivers safely and confidently. Book Features Details on over 200 top paddling trips New river profiles and updated maps and contact information Ratings for solitude and scenery At-a-glance data including river class, length, time, and more Canoeing & Kayaking West Virginia is simply the best and most informative West Virginia paddling guide available. Wet your paddle and whet your taste for outdoor adventure.

Modern braided ropes have transformed sailing with incredible strength from ever smaller thickness. They are a godsend to the racing sailor who is always looking for strength without additional weight. The nature of these ropes requires different techniques to join them together or make eyes to attach to fittings and this is where this book comes in. It is a guide to the different types of braided ropes - where to use and how to splice them for typical uses on a racing sailboat. It provides clear easy-to-follow photographs and is splash-proof and spiral bound, which means that it is perfect to take into the dinghy park or onboard and use where you need to do your splicing. It lays out flat, so you don't have to hold it open as you follow the sequences with both your hands full of rope and fids!