Mentoring is the best way to teach a newbie how to sea kayak. But many beginners and even advanced paddlers don’t have the luxury of a knight to patiently teach them all they know about sea kayaking. Or even if you have a mentor, you may still wish to learn something your mentor doesn’t know. […]
Sea kayaking skills
Surf Kayaking Etiquette
by Eric Soares and John Lull Ever been kayak surfing backwards and get speared in the kidney by the bow of another boater who didn’t even know you were there? Ever have a bloke broach down a big wave and land hull first on your head? These calamities have happened to us. We don’t want […]
Exiting the Surf Zone
How to kayak from outside the breakers to the beach by Eric Soares and John Lull “Ah thought Ah’s goin’ t’ DIEEEE!” Georgia girl Bonnie Brill loves to tell the tale of how she was hit by a sucker wave at Maverick’s in Half Moon Bay, was turned over, under, sideways and down, dragged across […]
Entering the Surf Zone
How to kayak from the beach to outside the breakers Sea kayaking adventurer Valerie Fons once said, “My greatest fear was waking up in the morning and having to kayak through a surfzone.” She had faced a bear in her tent and an anaconda next to her boat on her journeys; how could she fear […]
Tsunami Rangers’ Rock Garden Class in August
Paddling through surf zones and rock gardens is the frontier of sea kayaking and something you can do right now. Why fret about surf zones and avoid rock gardens like the plague? If you are ready to improve your kayaking skills and take the plunge into the next dimension of kayaking, then I have good […]
Scouting the Sea
A few months ago I promised to run a column on scouting. So here it is. Scouting is one of the most crucial sea kayaking activities; and ironically, it is often done perfunctorily or not at all. For logical convenience, let’s place scouting into three phases, starting with the most distant and ending with on-water […]
Between a Rock and a Hard Wave
HOW TO SURVIVE A CRASH IN WAVES AND ROCKS WHILE KAYAKING IN AN OCEAN ROCK GARDEN Why do most sea kayakers stay away from waves and rocks? They don’t want to die! Any paddler with a lick of sense dreads the scenario of getting smashed head first into a rock by a breaker. Today, let’s […]
Sea Kayaking as a Martial Art?
Sea kayaking is a lot like martial arts. The judo principles of “balance, leverage, and momentum” are needed in ocean adventure kayaking. In judo, you want to keep your balance while your opponent loses his. While kayaking, you definitely want to stay up and not fall over. Right? Leverage is used in judo to obtain […]
Golden Gate Sea Kayaking Symposium 2011
At this time next week I’ll be setting up to speak at the GGSKS on the shores of San Francisco Bay. I’ll be giving a multimedia show titled Tsunami Rangers Retrospective. It will cover 25 years of our adventures exploring the microcosms of surf zones, ocean rock gardens, and sea caves. There should be thrills, […]
Surfski Racing, part 2
(Special blog post from Don Kiesling, Tsunami Rangers officer) Once you’ve decided to get your feet wet with surfski racing, you’ll need more info about training and races to achieve maximum fun and success. Many paddlers choose a specific race that’s convenient, or suits their athletic aspirations, and make it their goal to finish said […]
Surfski Racing, part one
(Special blog post from Don Kiesling, Tsunami Rangers officer) Racing is a fun and effective way to improve your paddling skills. In order to go fast, you must hone both your technique and your fitness. Your improved stroke and athleticism will carry over to all of your paddling endeavors. Additionally, you may want to improve […]
Cross Training for Sea Kayakers
A common New Year’s resolution goes something like, “I’ll stay fit this year.” As couch potatoes know, it’s easier said than done. But we kayakers really do keep physically active. Some paddlers kayak daily to stay in shape, which is a good idea if planning to compete in the Olympics or complete a major expedition. […]
Four Ways to Learn Sea Kayaking
I learned how to sea kayak from a book. Written by Derek Hutchinson, it was called SEA CANOEING. From that book I learned how to roll, how to outfit a sea kayak, how to surf and seal land, and how to stay safe on the water. But that was not the only way I learned […]