Kayaking
When there's not a lot of surf, kayaking is a great way to explore all the nooks and crannies in a coastline, and lets you get really close to nature.
Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.Ratty - The Wind in the Willows
There's almost an inevitability that those who surf, find their way into kayaks and canoes at some point. The original Polynesian style of surfing centred around their canoes, and only in the modern era has moved to the flat surfboard.
Surfers will always end up giving kayaking and canoeing a go, and likewise Kayakers and canoeists will try surfing. Both are activities that require the same skills and traits, and it would seem pedantic to try to separate the two.
History
Kayak comes from an Inuit word meaning "hunter's boat". Traditionally made around a framework of driftwood and / or whale bone, and animal skin, particularly seal skin, to create a small, mobile, and very stealthy craft from which to hunt prey.
While the Inuit can lay claim to the common name that defines the craft and sport, and the style of propulsion that defines it, it would be wrong to ignore the fact that kayaking, canoeing, messing around in boats has existed in some shape or form since before recorded history.
Wherever humans find themselves next to a body of water, canoes and kayaks have always provided the best means of finding food, and carrying goods and people long distances via means often a lot more preferable than long, and difficult journeys often through difficult terrain.
The modern era
Kayaking and canoeing are very much intertwined in their development. The first explorer to cross the North American continent, Alexander Mackenzie, used canoes extensively, as did David Thompson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is this imagery that has become the popular origin story, of canoes being used by fur trappers, and North American native tribes for exploration and transportation.
With industrialization towards the end of the 19th century they became popular as recreational or sporting watercraft, finding their place alongside the more traditionaly European rowing and skulling sports.
John MacGregor popularized canoeing through his books, and in 1866 founded the Royal Canoe Club in London and in 1880 the American Canoe Association. The Canadian Canoe Association was founded in 1900, and the British Canoe Union in 1936.
Sprint canoe was a demonstration sport at the 1924 Paris Olympics and became an Olympic discipline at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The International Canoe Federation was formed in 1946 and is the umbrella organization of all national canoe organizations worldwide.
There are now around 30 canoe and kayaking events at the summer Olympics, in a combination of slalom (over white water with gates that must be passed through) and sprint (over calm / flat water), kayak (the "K" events) and canoe (the "c" events), solo and team, for men and women (so the Slalom mens K-1 is the Kayak Slalom for solo men - probably the best event men or women).
But why a kayak rather than a canoe?
The critical difference between a kayak and a canoe is not as you may be excused for thinking, the nature of the craft, but much more in the position of the rider and the means of propulsion.
Canoe
- Kneel or sit facing forward in an open or closed-decked canoe,
- Single-bladed paddle
Kayak
- Paddler faces forward, legs in front,
- Double-bladed paddle
In kayaking the paddler adopts a much more "relaxed" seated position. In canoeing the paddler is usually much more in a leaning forward position. Good examples are Chinese Dragon boats and Maori wakas. The double bladed paddle of a kayak does allow a smoother paddling action, but does limit a kayak to tandem propulsion rather than side by side propulsion that can be found in canoes. Overall this means that kayaks are traditionally slimmer craft with a more consistant flow to the paddling action. But in all honesty it depends on what the paddler is looking to achieve.
But what if you're not an Olympian?
Believe me you soon will be - did I metion kayaking is a great way to get close to nature?
Well you don't have to be. Kayaking and canoeing are a great outdoor activity for anyone.