Sea Kayaking: A Manual for Long-Distance Touring

by John Dowd

In this guide, veteran paddler John Dowd provides the foundations of sound seamanship and good risk management, including lessons on how to read the weather and the water, how to navigate, and how to travel with a group. He covers the basics of equipment and technique, detailing types of paddles and strokes, and presents practical, concrete advice on dealing with potential hazards and carrying out rescues. The book also contains information on expedition planning, instructional methods, and sea kayaking for people with disabilities. Completely revised and updated, this edition features new photographs, charts, diagrams, and illustrations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Adventure

Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

John Dowd is a true adventurer, as well as a writer and photojournalist. He has worked as a seaman on a Danish freighter out of Libya; taught at New Zealand's Anakiwa Outward Bound School; paddled from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt in Chile on assignment for National Geographic; and established himself in the Guinness Book of World Records by leading a 3600-kilometer kayak expedition from Venezuela to Miami along the Caribbean island chain. He is the author of Hogsty Reef and Rare and Endangered. He lives in Canada.

Awards:
* Arthur Ellis Award Best Juvenile (1994): Abalone Summer

Reviews

[Forest]

The version I read is perhaps 20 years old yet still outstanding. The first hand experiences that accompany sound advice make this and engaging work of non-fiction. Geared toward the serious sea-kayaker, this book provides the skills and knowledge needed to cross oceans, or the pond in your back yard.

[Brian]

Shockingly well-written, intricate, and detailed for a book about moving a sharp oval across the surface of the water. It made me more excited and scared to paddle the Inside Passage. For my survival, I will have to thank, in part at least, this book.

[Mike Parkes]

Dowd was the original editor of Sea Kayaker magazine and an expedition kayaker who did some epic trips. He knows his stuff.