Canoeing Books - Page 2

Mind Over Water: Lessons on Life from the Art of Rowing

Craig Lambert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Gaack! Just when I'd given up highlighting my books. . . 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

"Mind Over Water" falls into the category of the memoir, highly personal and considered memories and musings. It's about rowing and, as the subtitle states: "Lessons on Life from the Art of Rowing." If you don't like this kind of book, steer clear. You also won't like "Green Thoughts: A Writer in The Garden." On the other hand, if you do like this kind of book, "Green Thoughts" is also recommended.

"Mind over Water" is about rowing internalized, what it means to row and race and how these lessons can be applied to life. As such, its primary goal is not so much instruction as translation. And translations, of course, are never exact, which may account for some of the animosity of other reviewers.

So what is "Mind Over Water" really about? It's not so much about rowing as it is about what rowing means to the author. As such, you can't really fault it for not being the book you might write about rowing or for not being an instruction manual. It has humbler ambitions. Think of it as an off-water musing.

In any case, I liked it. And, yes, I had to get to get out the highlighter. Among those who like the book, everyone is going to have favorite passages, as some of these reviews attest. Here are some of mine:

"Edges form outlines. If our boundaries determine our identities, then we learn who we are by finding our limits."

"Sliding between dark and shadow, between sunlight and the obscure, is the region of discovery."

"Staying on course limits your attention to the boat and its rowers, who are, after all, the motor that takes you there. The goal does not disclose itself until it is attained."

"Mistakes shine a spotlight on our model of reality and show us its flaws. Unexpected outcomes help us refine our picture of nature."

"Tall smokestacks rise from the powerhouse and waft plumes of smoke into the sky, the epitaph of fuel burned into power."

If this kind of writing disturbs or bores you, look elsewhere. If not, you might find "Mind Over Water" as enjoyable as I did.

Editorial Review:

In this wise and thrilling book, Criag Lambert turns rowing--personal discipline, modern Olympic sport, grand collegiate tradition--into a metaphor for a vigorous and satisfying life.

Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods

Cary J Griffith

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the wilderness, one false step can make the difference between a delightful respite and a brush with death.

 

On a beautiful summer afternoon in 1998, Dan Stephens, a 22-year-old canoeist, was leading a trip deep into Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park. He stepped into a gap among cedar trees to look for the next portage—and did not return. More than four hours later, Dan awakened with a lump on his head from a fall and stumbled deeper into the woods, confused.

 

Three years later, Jason Rasmussen, a third-year medical student who loved the forest’s solitude, walked alone into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on a crisp fall day. After a two-day trek into a remote area of the woods, he stepped away from his campsite and made a series of seemingly trivial mistakes that left him separated from his supplies, wet, and lost, as cold darkness fell.

 

Enduring days without food or shelter, these men faced the full harsh force of wilderness, the place that they had sought out for tranquil refuge from city life. Lost in the Wild takes readers with them as they enter realms of pain, fear, and courage, as they suffer dizzying confusion and unending frustration, and as they overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles in a race to survive. 

“With admirable economy and a flair for suspense . . . [Griffith shows] how even well-prepared wilderness travelers can compound an initial blunder until they are in extreme danger—and what someone in their boots can do to increase his odds of surviving.”—Washington Post Book World

 

 “Simply good reporting, offering an absorbing read and material for thinking about ourselves and the wilderness.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

 

Cary J. Griffith is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about the outdoors.

Exploring the Boundary Waters: A Trip Planner and Guide to the BWCAW

Daniel Pauly

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With more than 200,000 visitors annually, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is among the most alluring wilderness areas in the country, unique because it is most often explored by canoe. Comprised of more than one million acres, the BWCAW is an exceptional combination of expansive wilderness, abundant wildlife, and fascinating natural and human history. Exploring the Boundary Waters is the most comprehensive trip planner to the BWCAW, giving travelers an overview of each entry point into the wilderness area as well as detailed descriptions of more than one hundred specific routes - including a ranking of their difficulty level and maps that feature the major waterways, portages, and the designated campsites. The book is crafted so that readers can design their own route through the almost inexhaustible network of lakes and streams. Daniel Pauly, Boundary Waters expert, worked with the U.S. Forest Service, the Minnesota DNR, and local outfitters to gather information about how to obtain a permit, the rules and regulations of the park, safety tips, and how to help maintain the ecological integrity of the wilderness. As engaging as it is informative, Exploring the Boundary Waters not only contributes advice on the pros and cons of each route, but also brings the reader a natural and historical context for the journey by offering insight into the pictographs, mining sites, logging railroads, and ruins one may encounter throughout his or her expedition. With its accessible and personal style, Exploring the Boundary Waters is the perfect guide for anyone - novice or seasoned veteran - arranging a trip to the BWCAW. A companion Web site, http://www.boundarywatersguide.com, presents useful information that can be downloaded for planning a trip, including gear lists, overview maps, and route updates.

A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Florida, 2nd (Canoeing & Kayaking Guides - Menasha)

Johnny Molloy, Elizabeth F. Carter, John Pearce, Lou Glaros

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Good Guide to paddling Florida 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a good guide packed full with good info. You are going to need to buy a DeLorme atlas for Florida along with it. The maps in the book are pretty scant.

Editorial Review:

Completely updated, A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Florida, 2nd is the most comprehensive guide to the best of Florida’s unique streams, springs, creeks, and rivers. Engaging and concise yet filled with carefully selected details vital to any successful Florida paddling adventure, A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Florida spares readers encyclopedic fluff in favor of practical, no-nonsense information. With expanded regional maps and revised river maps, A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Florida is simply the best and most informative Florida paddling guide available.

Quiet Water Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, 2nd: Canoe and Kayak Guide (AMC Quiet Water Series)

Alex Wilson, John Hayes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

a great help 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

we live in broad brook, connecticut and this is the first year we've had kayaks. in the early summer we met a woman on the scantic river near the somersville dam and she recommended this book. best tip of the year. there are so many great paddles in here that you'd never know about just by looking on a map. we'd been driving around, shooting in the dark, and mostly being disappointed by what we found. every paddle we've taken out of the book has been excellent. can't recommend it highly enough.

Quiet Waters with loud praises 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book for those yakers who are looking for an escape from motor boat laden waters. It is well illustrated and has helpful tips on where to put in and what to expect as you traverse the water ways.

My nephew enjoyed reading this! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great reference for a first-time overnight camper who won an award for beginning kayaking at Camp Starfish in NH this summer!

Editorial Review:

Now completely revised and updated, with a new format that's easier to use, Quiet Water Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island describes 100 spectacular paddling destinations in southern New England.

Building a Strip Canoe

Gil Gilpatrick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The most useful book on strip canoe building 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I have many of the common books on canoe building. This book is by far the easiest to use. There seems to be two major schools of thought when it comes to strip canoe building: 1) floating furniture (The Canoecraft way) and 2) utilitarian (Hazen and Gilpatrick). I've built a solo canoe following Gil's methods and it has served wonderfully for 5 years. I've bounced it down rocky rivers and used it for many trips to the BWCA and Quetico and it has served admirably.

If you wish to build a work of art, then perhaps you should follow Moores's methods. Personally, I don't like external stems on a canoe. They widen the entry line and just look weird to me. Building them is also a fiddly undertaking and I'm not sure that they really add much.

If you want a functional and tough canoe . . . that is beautiful to boot . . . this book will help you reach your goal. If you have questions write the author, he has replied to my emails; usually the next day.

Editorial Review:

This completely revised edition includes plans and patterns for eight well-proven designs. Step-by-step directions are accompanied by over 100 photographs plus illustrations. Gil's contemporary construction method augment the traditional wood strips with fiberglass and West System epoxy. The book includes an extensive listing of sources for lumber, tools and supplies. 128 pages.

Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge

Jill Fredston

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jill Fredston has traveled more than twenty thousand miles of the Arctic and sub-Arctic-backwards. With her ocean-going rowing shell and her husband, Doug Fesler, in a small boat of his own, she has disappeared every summer for years, exploring the rugged shorelines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. Carrying what they need to be self-sufficient, the two of them have battled mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds, dragged their boats across jumbles of ice, fended off grizzlies and polar bears, been serenaded by humpback whales and scrutinized by puffins, and reveled in moments of calm.

As Fredston writes, these trips are "neither a vacation nor an escape, they are a way of life." Rowing to Latitude is a lyrical, vivid celebration of these northern journeys and the insights they inspired. It is a passionate testimonial to the extraordinary grace and fragility of wild places, the power of companionship, the harsh but liberating reality of risk, the lure of discovery, and the challenges and joys of living an unconventional life.

Paddler's Guide to the Sunshine State

SANDY HUFF

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Paddler’s Guide to the Sunshine State is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information on paddling in Florida—bound so that it lies open at each page for easy reference or photocopying--and is fully indexed. Whether you’re a first-time paddler or a whitewater veteran, whether you're looking for an easy going two-hour tour with your family or a week-long solo adventure, this book lists the most delightful destinations to explore in a state famous for its scenic waterways.

From the vast flats of the Florida Keys to the rivers and springs of the Florida Panhandle, Paddler's Guide to the Sunshine State gives directions to 91 Florida waterways, separated into 271 individual canoeing and kayaking excursions. For each of the 91 destinations, veteran paddler and outdoor writer Sandy Huff
· tells her readers where to rent or buy canoes and kayaks,
· evaluates the difficulty of each trail,
· supplies emergency phone numbers and a customized map showing launch and take-out sites, average length, and paddling time for each leg,
· and presents a candid discussion of the waterway.

In introductory chapters, she offers safety tips on camping basics, dressing for comfort, coping with insects, sunburn, and power boats, and reading the weather and water currents. She describes Florida flora and fauna that paddlers might encounter--birds, alligators, manatees, snakes, plants, and trees—and lists paddling clubs around the state as well as Internet web addresses for additional paddling information.

6 X 9.
39 b&w photos, 92 maps, appendixes, index, lay-flat binding.
ISBN 0-8130-2282-7 Paper

Chased By The Light

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I normally hesitate to use this word, but...profound. 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I'm a verbal type; I'd rather read a beautifully written description of a frozen lake than stare at a picture of it anytime. Even knowing that, my mother gave me this book several years ago, and I fell in love. I sat with it for hours, seeing, dreaming, and I still take it down often to do the same again. The photographer, Jim Brandenburg, set himself the challenge of taking only one photograph each day for three months, in the boreal forest where he makes his home. The result is a portrait of life as many of us can never experience it: not just "calendar shots," but pictures that show the cruelty of man, the certainty of death, the very simple beauty of a single bright leaf burning on the dark, still waters of an evening pond. Some photos are amazing in themselves and some seem ordinary in the extreme, but it is important to take them as a whole, and see what you learn from the journey.

Editorial Review:

Award-winning nature photographer Jim Brandenburg gave himself a challenge: for ninety days between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, he would take only one photograph each day. This exquisite book, now in softcover, is the result of that bold and immensely personal project. Through the accompanying essay, Brandenburg shares his innermost thoughts and passions as he witnesses the cycle of nature near his home in the northwoods of Minnesota. Brandenburg also contributes new photos and an Epilog that illustrates and discusses the devastating summer wind storm that wreaked havoc on the locations photographed for the original project.