Paddling

Participation in paddling watersports has grown steadily over the last 20 years.  In the 90s and the first part of the 2000s it was kayaking that took the world by storm.  While all types of kayaking continue to find new participants, the new kid on the paddling block is standup paddleboarding, otherwise known as SUP.  And, like its paddling counterparts, there are many facets and types of paddleboarding to consider when buying your first SUP.  Unfortunately, most people don't realize this going in and the simply just go out and buy the first or cheapest one they find.  Do yourself a favor and arm yourself with the knowledge you need to Choose Your First SUP.

We've all had near misses while kayaking, especially the whitewater kayakers of the bunch.  However, how many of us can say that in the pursuit of our kayaking goals that we actually drowned.  There's only one person that I know of.

According to Dr. Mary Neal she was whitewater kayaking, flipped over, was pinned against her boat, and drowned for over 14 minutes.  She wrote a book about this entitled To Heaven and Back.  While I haven't read it yet, I'm very curious to read about her experience.  She says she still kayaks all the time.  Good for her.

What do you think?

Its quite common when kayak fishing in Florida to see alligators.  You actually hope for it as .  Never, however, has a kayaker hoped that one would jump into the kayak with them.

That is exactly what happened to this kayaker and folks, its all caught on video!  Admittedly, this all happens so fast that its tough to make out the beast, but you can see its head in the video before you click "play."

By the way, if the video player doesn't seem to show the video, click the little symbol on the bottom of the video player to go to full screen mode.  Very cool!

Kayaking means different things to different people.  For the adventure seeker there's whitewater kayaking.  To those looking for serenity they can retreat to a secluded lake.  Whether young or old, outgoing or reserved, athletic or clumsy, kayaking simply does not discriminate.

What type of kayaking is your favorite?

It used to be that you couldn't paddle a whitewater river without seeing a Perception Kayak or a Dagger Kayak out there with you. As a matter of fact, that was the norm rather than the exception.  Dagger is of course still going strong.  But I guess I'm dating myself as its been at least 1o years since Perception boats were routinely seen on the river.  Still, it kinda makes you wonder doesn't it?  I mean more than any brand of kayak out there, Perception is responsible for the growth of kayaking and specifically whitewater kayaking in the early 1990s.  So what happened to them?

Read How Perception Kayaks Changed Kayaking to find out.

We take for granted that kayaks are made of plastic.  I don't know the exact statistic, but it has to be something like 19 out of every 20 kayaks sold are made of plastic.  This wasn't always the case though.  Twenty years ago, most kayaks were made of composites and hardly anyone kayaked.

Then plastic came along and Perception Kayaks began experimenting with rotational molding kayaks and the industry was changed forever.  Without this step, kayaking wouldn't have been the fastest growing watersport of the 90s and we certainly wouldn't be writing about them today.

• Read:  How Plastic Changed the Sport of Kayaking

The Summer Olympics is always exciting for an almost infinite number of reasons.  One of those reasons is often overlooked.  That is, for paddlers, we have the excitement of getting to check out the latest and greatest paddling facility every four years.  As we all know technology improves by leaps and bounds and has enabled some pretty cool whitewater facilities to take the paddling world into a whole new realm of paddling.

Well, the London 2012 Games are no different.  The construction of the Lee Valley Whitewater Centre was completed in 2010 and this state-of-the-art whitewater facility opened for public use in 2011.  As a matter of fact it was the first and as far as I know the only newly built facility for London 2012 that has done so.  Man, do I wish I were in London to try her out.

I can't wait for the Summer Games!

Its hard to believe that the Summer Olympics are right around the corner.  Our neighbors across the pond are getting ready to host the 2012 London Olympic games in what is sure to be an exciting summer of events.  For us paddlers out there there's plenty to look forward to, specifically the canoe and kayak events.

You may remember from the 2008 Olympics that the flatwater canoe events share the venue with the rowing events.  This year these races will be held at Eton Dorney Lake, just a short distance away from Windsor Castle.  This beautiful venue is a world class facility that took over 10 years to develop and build.   Just thinking about it makes me want to paddle there.

With the paddling season upon us, our canoe and kayak gear is about to see a lot more action in the coming weeks and months.   For that reason we need to make sure that everything is in tip top shape.  From our pfds and helmets to our paddles and even booties and gloves, if something isn't feeling just right out on the water it can sure throw our game off.  That's where proper storage and maintenance come in and when necessary repair techniques also.  Here's a group of articles on how to care for your paddling gear.

We love our paddling gear, don't we?   Of course we do!  Paddlers of all sorts will hold onto booties, gloves, spray skirts, pfds, and helmets well passed their usable life.  And paddles, lets not even bring up paddles.  Has any kayaker or canoeist ever thrown out a paddle?  I think not.

With all this extra gear lying around, we've certainly come up with some interesting ways to keep them in the paddling rotation.  Duct tape and Aqua Seal are favorites among paddlers for repairing our stuff.  But, what else do you use?

Here's a list I put together of my favorite kayaking gear maintenance and repair items.  Let me know what I missed!

• Canoe and Kayak Repair and Maintenance Products