This handbook is an invaluable source of information for both novice and expert. For the beginner, it provides an overview of all aspects of the different paddle sports, whilst the expert can use it as an update to the current theory and practice.

A manual of coaching techniques, advice and guidelines for the canoe and kayak coach. This book is a mine of useful information and practical tips. If you aspire to be a better canoe or kayak coach, this is the book for you. The book divides into three sections: Part One deals with coaching theory and fundamentals such as psychology and physiology explained in terms that make sense to a practical coach. Part Two looks at generic coaching skills that will provide useful tools whatever discipline the coach is involved in. It works its way from introducing people to canoesport right through to coaching elite athletes. Part Three looks at specific aspects of canoesport such as slalom, racing, sea kayaking, white water kayaking, open canoeing and freestyle.

Back in print: A revised second edition of a classic how-to book on canoe building. The new edition is updated to include advances in glues and techniques since the original was published, as well as five new canoe plans, builder tips and paddle carving.

The Wilderness Paddler’s Handbook offers paddlers of any stripe Alan Kesselheim’s personal, engaging writing and his unsurpassed experience. Helpful sidebars, interspersed throughout the book, provide step-by-step instructions on all critical technical considerations. Everything a new or experienced paddler can expect to encounter is included, from trip planning, choosing the right gear, and packing, to camping, cooking, modifying your boat, and dealing with conditions on every kind of water. Whether it’s how to pick the right partner, negotiate a tricky rapid, go solo, or bring the entire family, it’s all here in this entertaining, inspiring, and informative guide. Alan Kesselheim has paddled thousands of wilderness miles – alone, with his wife, Marypat, and with his young children strapped into the canoe like babies in car seats. He’s paddled fast-moving rivers, windswept lakes, and quiet ponds. (One trip took him on a 13-month, 2000-mile journey from Grande Cache, Alberta, to Baker Lake in the Northwest Territories.) He’s also one of North America’s preeminent canoeing writers, and his hard-won opinions are highly respected.

Parks and Recreation actor and Making It co-host Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in this New York Times bestseller. Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman—who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking—he runs his own woodshop—Paddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offerman’s childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois—“I grew up literally in the middle of a cornfield”—to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally. It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees. A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, Paddle Your Own Canoe will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.

The most comprehensive book ever written on canoeing technique ... essential guide for recreational paddlers is packed with information. -- Bushwacker's Wilderness Journal 09/2003.

Go with the flow! You’re no idiot, of course. You love being on the water and in the great outdoors. But when it comes to canoeing or kayaking, you’re starting to think you hear a waterfall. Don’t head for higher ground! The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Canoeing and Kayaking will prepare you for your journey—whether you’re heading down a local river, around a regional lake, or into the ocean. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, you get: • Detailed information on the different types of canoes, kayaks, and tips for choosing the right one for you. • Paddling strokes, maneuvers, and techniques for all kinds of conditions. • Foolproof tips on navigating all types of waters—from rough rapids to slow-moving streams. • Great advice on using kayaks and canoes for fitness, fishing, camping, and competition. Learn more about: • Safety considerations, including quick exits, Eskimo Rolls, swift water-rescue techniques, and more. • Safely paddling with kids, to make sure everyone has fun. • Clothing and equipment, including how to choose and care for a personal flotation device. • Paddling techniques and how they evolved through the years. • Planning a trip and choosing an outfitter or guide. • Building your own canoe or kayak.

The essential maneuvers for all canoeists, developed at the acclaimed Nantahala Outdoor Center.

“The Starship and the Canoe is neither a wilderness survival manual nor a book of blueprints. It is another of those rare books impossible to define: the kind that seeks you in time. And you will know it, live it, and consult it thereafter simply by name.” --Chicago Sun-Times “Brower’s superbly written book clutches at one’s imagination.” --Publishers Weekly “In the tradition of Carl Sagan and John McPhee, a bracing cerebral voyage past intergalactic hoopla and backwoods retreats.” --Kirkus Reviews Originally published in 1978, The Starship and the Canoe is the remarkable story of a father and son: Freeman Dyson is a world-renowned astrophysicist who dreams of exploring the heavens and has designed a spaceship to take him there. His son George, a brilliant high school dropout, lives in a treehouse and is designing a giant kayak to explore the icy coastal wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Author Kenneth Brower describes with stunning impact their lives and their visions of the world. It is a timeless tale framed by modern science, adventure, family, and the natural world.