touring kayak
Inside the Kayak Airways
11.06.2012
C&K sits down with Kayak Mainline podcasters David Johnston and Kelly Blades
After the Dam, a new Northwest Classic
11.05.2012
What lies beneath?
It’s a question that’s been on paddlers’ and naturalist’s minds alike since the 98-year-old Condit Dam was removed from Washington’s White Salmon River in October 2011. With the dam gone, the still waters of Northwestern Lake drained away, revealing nearly two miles of riverbed coated in a nearly100-year accumulation of silt and downed timber from the surrounding forests. Access to this new run officially opened this weekend, November 3, and C&K has a preview from the first paddlers to document the stretch.
He Rocked the Boat
10.18.2012
A tribute to the late Derek Hutchinson, with a look at the outspoken Briton’s life, words, and accomplishments which left a lasting impact on the development and popularization of sea kayaking around the world.
The Utmost Missouri
10.18.2012
C&K’s exclusive post-trip interview with expedition kayaker and explorer Mark Kalch, who just completed a 117-day, 3,780-mile, source-to-sea descent of the Missouri-Mississippi River system, becoming the first paddler to do so from the system’s utmost source to the ocean.
Ready to Rumble: The 2012 Nile River Festival
10.12.2012
Words and Photos by Seth Warren We made the pre-event journey to Itanda Falls today. This is going to be one of the best river festivals of all time here in Uganda. There is still plenty of whitewater to be had, despite the tragic damming of Bujagali, which has drastically impacted the whitewater tourism. In [...]
Small Wave Goodness
10.09.2012
The first annual Pacific Paddle Surf Series kept rolling this weekend with a healthy showing at Washington state’s popular Hobuck Hoedown. Competitor/correspondent Bryon Dorr covers the multi-discipline surf-off in his dispatch from the second of five West Coast contests.
SCENE: Waiting for Gales
09.24.2012
This October, the Illinois- and Michigan-based organizers of the Gales Storm Gathering hope the mighty Michipicoten is at its gnarliest best for their second-annual rough-water sea kayaking festival, which debuted last year on Lake Superior’s south shore in Marquette, Mich.
Back to School
09.14.2012
As Dave and Amy Freeman’s three-year, 11,700-mile North American Odyssey enters the homestretch, the Illinois-based outdoor educators have issued themselves a challenge that could amount to the expedition’s crux: To visit 50 schools as they sea kayak the Atlantic seaboard from Maine to Key West.
The Home Stretch
09.12.2012
Catching up with Ohio’s Josh Tart, who set off on his fishing kayak 15 months ago to complete the 6,000-mile Great Loop around the eastern United States, nearing the end of journey.
Message from the Coast Guard: Put a sticker on it
09.10.2012
All of us have one thing in common with screen legend Russell Crowe: If we get lost at sea, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard will come looking for us. Here the USCG provides timely information on Operation Paddle Smart with advice for small craft enthusiasts on how to stay safe, be responsible, and help SAR responders during an actual emergency by obtaining an “If Found” sticker.
Down The Dnieper: The Shortcut
09.10.2012
Entering a small inlet at the southern tip of Hortitsa we find peaceful and clear water. This place seems to be made for baidarkas, and we soon meet three families paddling Neris 3 baidarkas in the calm canals and flowery marshes. We again have a small island to ourselves, apart from some locals who spend an hour drinking and shouting on the neighboring beach. From our campsite, which seems lost in in time and space, we only have to walk 15 feet through the trees to see the lights and factories of the nearby city. Unbelievable.
Down The Dnieper: There’s a Yacht Club in Ukraine?
09.06.2012
Alexander was a trainer of champion triathletes during the Soviet era but is now retired and sticks to sailing and regattas. He is very humorous and manages to fit swear words into sentences in ways that Pushkin or Ukraine’s revered national poet Taras Shevchenko would be jealous of. His cursing is an art form; poetry in emotion. Alexander tells us to set up our tent in the club’s yard and come join everyone for dinner posthaste. In the meantime another club member pulls up in his giant Landcruiser and invites us on a light-speed tour of the city, using the curbs as a mere navigational suggestions.
Woodenboat Workshop: Day 7
09.04.2012
In our final installment, the crew load their nearly finished kayaks for the trip home, and John extolls the virtues of wood-composite construction. In a series of short videos over seven days, Canoe & Kayak follows first-time kayak builders as they turn boxes of wood, wire and fiberglass into handcrafted wooden kayaks. A typical workshop [...]
Woodenboat Workshop: Day 6
09.03.2012
In a series of short videos over the next seven days, Canoe & Kayak follows first-time kayak builders as they turn boxes of wood, wire and fiberglass into handcrafted wooden kayaks. Today, veteran builder Michael explains why he’s still making kayaks. “It’s kind of the Pinocchio effect, where you’re taking something that’s inanimate and assembling it and it has it’s own life after that,” he says. “It has its own personality.”
Woodenboat Workshop: Day 5
09.02.2012
In a series of short videos over the next seven days, Canoe & Kayak follows first-time kayak builders as they turn boxes of wood, wire and fiberglass into handcrafted wooden kayaks. Today, Tammy explains why she and her husband Matt decided to attend the Woodenboat Workshop. “We should probably take the class if we’re going [...]
Woodenboat Workshop: Day 4
09.01.2012
In a series of short videos over the next seven days, Canoe & Kayak follows first-time kayak builders as they turn boxes of wood, wire and fiberglass into handcrafted wooden kayaks. Today, Paul tells about his two kayak projects–the unfinished one in the garage, and the one he’s building at the workshop. “The workshop was [...]
C&K Heroes: Martin Litton
08.31.2012
In the annals of wilderness conservation, Martin Litton is a singular force of nature—a Category 5 hurricane of eloquence, passion, and pig-headed obduracy quite unlike anything that has ever blown across the American landscape.
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