Sunday, October 25, 2009

One of the Best Kayaking Books I Have Read

I have had the time to do a little more reading lately, which is why in the past couple of days I have finished reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol as well as Sea Kayaker Magazine’s Handbook of Safety and Rescue by Doug Alderson and Michael Pardy (2003 McGraw-Hill). It seems like it took me nearly forever to navigate the 199 pages of Alderson and Pardy’s Handbook of Safety and Rescue but this was one of the best books about kayaking that I have read, and I have read quite a few. This paperback resource is jammed packed with information, diagrams, and charts related to just about every aspect of sea kayaking and I will probably be returning to for years to come. While the texts is not a difficult read, it can be a dense read if one takes the time, like I did, to reflect on the various scenarios and to imagine and think through some of the physical movements of the strokes and rescue techniques. As I read, I found myself thinking back to past paddles involving events and incidents and how they could have been avoided. I also imagined how these events and incidents could have been accidents had it not been for good leadership, experienced paddlers, and a little luck. Hopefully, having read this book, I will not only be a safer paddler, avoiding potential problems by lessoning risk, but if problems do arise, I will have the knowledge to resolve it with minimum difficulty. I highly recommend anyone who paddles on open water buy and read this book.

No comments: