On the tail of a couple months of sea kayaking, we encounter the first sea kayaking party that we actually get to talk to in Adams Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Of course we are excited. Some one new to talk to!

Note: Last Updated 2 April 2014

Lothar and I kept our long distance sea kayaking dream alive with a couple years of gathering gear and working our way through a stack of guide books. A few dog eared classics still travel with us in The Blue Book Bag.

This page is for my favourite sea kayaking resources. It is a work in progress. I have provided some quick comments. At some point, I will add more books and comments.

How To

Dowd, J. 1997. Sea kayaking: a manual for long-distance touring. The classic guide. Updated. Expanded. Fourth Edition. Greystone books. Vancouver/Toronto. University of Washington Press. Seattle.

  • This book provides essential information and inspiration for long-distance sea kayaking. John’s paddling experience and experiences make mine look like a trip to the local pool. The thought of having to paddle out to sea to survive a storm threatening to break my boat onshore gives me the willies. This is the book that convinced me to learn more about weather.

Dowd, J. 2013. ‘Sea Kayak Videos Episode 1: Getting Started. YouTube video. Dowd 2013, Getting Started

Area Guides

Frazer, Neil. 2001. Boat Camping Haida Gwaii: a small-vessel guide to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC, Canada.

  • This book is outstanding. With a small motor boat, this guy has probed a plethora of nooks and crannies along the the coast of Haida Gwaii. If you want to know where you can sneak into shore to camp, this is the book for you. Mixed with natural and local history, this book is well worth the effort of two carries, up and down the beach, per day.

Kimantas, J. 2006. The Wildcoast 2: a kayaking and recreation guide for the north and central B.C. coast. Volume 2. Whitecap books.

  • A great book.

Kimantas, J. 2010. The Wildcoast 3: a kayaking and recreation guide for B.C.’s south coast and east Vancouver Island. Volume 3. Whitecap books.

  • Another great book.

Miller, Robert. 2005. Kayaking the Inside Passage: a paddler’s guide from Olympia, Washington, to Muir Glacier, Alaska. The Countryman Press, Woodstock, VT, U.S.A.

  • This is also an outstanding, must-have guide. When we were preparing to paddle from Prince Rupert to Glacier Bay to Juneau, I took this book to the local stationary store and asked them to split it into three. They hole punched and spiral bound the spine. We took the introduction and the relevant northern section and left the middle at home. It worked great. This book is not only an excellent guide with information about some key hazards and the locations of campsites, it also doubles as a great read with snippets of natural and local history and travel stories.

Navigation

Dowd, J. 2013. ‘Sea Kayak Videos Episode 2: Navigation. YouTube video. Dowd 2013, Navigation

Weather

Dowd, J. 2013. ‘Sea Kayak Videos Episode 3: Weather. Youtube video. Dowd 2013, Weather

Lange, O.S. Living with weather along the British Columbia Coast: the veil of chaos. Environment Canada, Ottawa. Distributed by Gordon Soules Book Publishers Ltd.

  • Lange dedicated this book “…to those who live in the small coastal communities, who sail between the waters of ocean and air, who died at sea and passed over the threshold, beyond the veil of chaos.” There is a theme here. The ocean clearly attracts and produces great writers. I aspire to write like Owen. He shook the mystery out of a topic that left me perplexed in university, leaving me open and ready to learn more through experience. This book is extra dog-eared. It’s made it into the essentials pile for all my trips.