When you can’t be out on the water yourself, there’s nothing like curling up with a good book about sea kayaking and living vicariously through other people’s adventures. There are many books on the market to choose from, but unfortunately, some of the best kayaking stories are either no longer in print or can be very difficult to find.
My favorite hard-to-find paddling books of the past and not-so-distant past aren’t necessarily the best or most popular of the genre, but they are the stories I reach for time and time again.
Several of the following books have the word “canoe” in the title, but don’t be misled—these trips were made in what we would today call a kayak. The books are listed in chronological order by their first printing. Whatever your taste, with a little patience you should be able to find any of the books included here.
A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe (1866)
The student-turned-soldier came up with the idea of constructing a kayak in 1865. In less than 30 days, he made his dream a reality, then immediately set sail across the waterways of Europe. The original Rob Roy, preserved in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, measures 15 feet long with a 28-inch beam and was propelled with a seven-foot double-bladed paddle. MacGregor explored the rivers and lakes of France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. He set off for the entire summer with a spirit stove, a wooden fork and spoon (carved at opposite ends of the same stem), one spare button and nine pounds of luggage. In his inimitable style, he recounts the diverse adventures that befell him, never failing to display his comportment and dignity as an Englishman! MacGregor also wrote The Rob Roy on the Baltic (1868), an adventure that takes him to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, the North Sea and the Baltic; and The Rob Roy on the Jordan (1869), a tale about his voyages on the Jordan, the Nile, the Red Sea and Gennesareth during his kayaking cruise in Palestine and Egypt and the waters of Damascus.
An Inland Voyage (1879)
Like MacGregor, Stevenson undertook a canoeing “voyage” across Europe in 1877, and he brings a literary skill to his narrative of the adventure that casts new light upon the subject. This book is lucid, brilliant and at times very funny. I had to re-read the first page after I started, not realizing at first that “Cigarette” was not the name of a kayak but his nickname for his paddling companion, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, Baronet. It only gets better!
Down the Danube (1892)
America’s answer to John MacGregor! After reading MacGregor’s adventures (he includes a sketch of the first Rob Roy in this book), Bigelow undertook a similar adventure with two companions in an American sailing canoe, the Caribee. He cruised the length of the Danube, Europe’s most significant waterway besides the Rhine, from its headwaters in the Black Forest to its effluence in the Black Sea. His observations of the peoples and politics of the time are precise, and his adventures in the canoe fascinating. Bigelow’s illustrations are clever and reflective of his sense of humor, as is his writing.
Folbot Holidays (1930s)
A series of short articles about trips using Folbot’s folding kayaks. Although originally published in the 1930s as an advertisement for Folbot, this 308-page paperback gem is chock-full of vintage color photographs and articles, including “Enchanted Honeymoon Adventure,” “Folboting with the Scouts” and “Way Down Upon the Suwannee.” Looking at the pictures and reading the stories may just convince you that what you need is a folding kayak to throw in the back of your car, SUV or truck.
Canoe Errant (1935)
Raven-Hart was one of the most prolific cruisers in the early 20th century. Canoe Errant chronicles his trip throughout Europe in a folding canoe (kayak) from 1929-1933. Let him tell it: “Canoe-cruising has occupied my summers for the past five years, giving me some 10 thousand miles—from Lubeck in the north to Les Saintes-Maries on the Mediterranean and Kotor on the Adriatic, and from Budapest in the east to Nantes; and even within this area there must be another two thousand miles of worthwhile waterways, to say nothing of Poland and Greece and Scandinavia and Finland; that canoer’s paradise. Many people like to use the canoe as an accessory; to camp somewhere, canoeing around the central fixed camp and returning there every night. Personally, I prefer to move on every day, to ‘cruise’ in fact, eating and sleeping at riverside inns rather than camping and cooking.” Canoe Errant on the Nile (1936), Raven-Hart’s second book, provides an interesting contrast/companion to MacGregor’s The Rob Roy on the Jordan. Finally, Canoe Errant on the Mississippi (1938) is about a thousand-mile trip from Hannibal to Baton Rouge along Mark Twain’s river.
Enchanted Vagabonds (1938)
The newly married Lambs, Ginger and Dana, left San Diego in 1933 and paddled and sailed their hybrid kayak/canoe/sailboat to the Panama Canal. The Vagabond was a 16-foot vessel they had built themselves. What followed is one of the greatest adventure travel tales ever to emerge from the action-packed 1930s. The Lambs shot through mountainous surf, landed on fabled islands, lived through violent storms and weathered nearly a dozen near-fatal wrecks. They were upset in a traffic jam of whales, caught in quicksand, trapped inside an extinct volcano and lost in a shark-infested lagoon.
Kingfisher Abroad (1938)
In 1937, Tean and Tommy Rising took a canoeing holiday with their folding canoe Kingfisher. With very little money, they camp-cruised through Holland, Germany, Austria and Hungary. The Risings encountered many friendly Germans on their cruise, but their writing is tinted with a concern over what they saw. While they could not foresee the scope of the tragedy that would come to be known as the Holocaust, there were some ominous overtones of what lay ahead. Witness this little passage about a visit with Karl, an acquaintance in Germany: “As we walked up the mountains, we passed a swimming bath. It was made of clean white concrete, with good and effective diving boards and sparkling water. ‘Jews are not allowed to swim in this bath,’ said Karl.” The Risings have a talent for summing up a complex scene with a simple phrase, and the narrative is all the more powerful because of it.
The Danube Flows through Fascism: 900 Miles in a Fold-Boat (1938)
This is really a travel book that combines social and political observation with reports of river travel in a Klepper folding kayak down the Danube through Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Van Til and his wife Bee started at Ulm, in Germany, and went all the way to Belgrade. Through sun and storm, through friendliness and suspicion, for five weeks they drifted with the timeless flow of the Danube across the ephemeral borders between nations. Among the many falt-booters—paddlers using folding kayaks—on the great river, the Van Tils found an easy fraternity that broke down the cultural barriers that had set the stage for World War I. In 1938, The Van Tils took American river trips that are chronicled in “Connecticut River Cruise” and “The Rideau Canal,” chapters of Folbot Holidays by J. Kissner (see earlier reference).
Kayaks to the Arctic (1967)
The author, her husband and three sons pack five knapsacks, two duffel bags and eight canvas bags with the parts for three Klepper folding kayaks, including five sets of paddles and much more equipment, and head from San Francisco to Fort Providence in the Canadian Northwest Territories. They kayak 1,000 miles down the Mackenzie River in 10 weeks and finally take out at Inuvik. The trip is filled with sudden storms and idyllic days of fishing and rafting together. Fifty photographs grace the book depicting the Indians, Eskimos, Mounties and missionaries they meet.
Return of the Tiger (1970)
This is an account of Operation Jaywick and Rimau—both of which were World War I Anglo-Australian covert raids, led by British officer Major Ivan Lyon against Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbor. Both attacks involved the use of folding kayaks to penetrate the Japanese defenses in Singapore. It’s a good read, and Connell provides vivid descriptions of the character of those personalities involved. The photographs are also extraordinarily useful, as official records are scant, and many Jaywick participants were killed a year later during Operation Rimau.
Kayaks Down the Nile (1979)
Goddard was the first man to explore the entire length of the world’s longest river, the Nile. For 6,000 years, it has been the world’s most important -watercourse, with a vital role in the -development of the human race. Two other men went with him on this 4,200-mile, 10-month trek. According to Goddard, he had yet one more traveling companion—he contracted a tapeworm that he named Rodney. Each man paddled his own folding kayak, which were built by Jean Chauveau on the banks of the Seine near Paris. They used three folding double kayaks measuring 16 feet long and 32 inches wide, each of which weighed 100 pounds empty. Taken down and strapped into their cases, they shrank into a packet six feet long by 20 inches wide. Nearly drowned in a cataract, attacked by bull hippos and vicious wild dogs, and shot at by Egyptian River pirates, the trio finally arrived safely in Rashid after dipping their paddles a million times each into the Nile. A great companion book is Andre Davy’s own version of this trip, entitled 4,000 Miles of Adventure: Down the Nile by Canoe (1958, Camelot Press, London). Davy’s kayak was put out of action almost immediately in the cataracts at Kagera, and they had to wait for replacement parts from Paris. In nine months, they traversed 3,100 miles on the river and the other 1,150 miles, being non-navigable or forbidden, mostly on foot.
Blazing Paddles: Scottish Coastal Odyssey (1988)
This is an exciting account of an 1,800-mile, four-month kayak journey around Scotland. The reader is taken with Wilson on his voyage, experiences his highs and lows, meets all the interesting characters he encounters and joins in the hilarious situations that occur periodically. A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable story, I have read my copy at least five times and still appreciate it. Wilson’s wonderfully detailed description of the Scottish coast brings into focus several environmental problems but still has its hilarious moments with shark hunters, nudists, gold panners and cave dwellers. Another of Wilson’s excellent nail-biting adventures, Dances with Waves (1998), chronicles his 1,200-mile voyage around the coast of Ireland. Filled with ghost galleons, pirates and the near loss of his kayak, this book provides Irish history, adventure, humility and humor all in one narrative.
Seekers of the Horizon: Sea Kayaking Voyages From Around the World (1989)
A great book to take on a sea-kayak camping trip. It includes 11 compelling sea-kayaking adventure stories from Hawaii to the Arctic. Included in the anthology are stories from
The Last of the Cockleshell Heroes (1992)
The film Cockleshell Heroes made famous one of the most daring British commando operations of World War I. Training for the operations involved mental ingenuity as well as physical toughness, and trainees were occasionally turned loose in the English countryside to make their way back to camp as best they could, dodging British troops and police along the way. In December 1942, the Royal Marine Commandos attempted to paddle up the Gironde River at night in folding kayaks (“cockleshells” to the Royal Marines) and attach explosives to German ships at dock in Bordeaux. Inflicting some damage, only William Sparks and a Marine officer, “Blondie” Hasler, managed to escape and elude capture on a lengthy chase across southern France to neutral Spain.
The Dreamtime Voyage (1994)
To paddle around Australia’s 9,500-mile perimeter using muscle power alone is an unimaginable feat. There are vast areas of extremely inhospitable coast, including desert, cliffs and mangrove swamps, not to mention sharks and crocodiles. The narrative is a blend of history, hair-raising moments and descriptions of the harshness and beauty of Australia. Caffyn achieved the circumnavigation paddling for four months solo with his support vehicle–driver Lesley sharing the highs and the lows for the duration. The book is not only about the kayaker, his boat and his driver-partner—it’s about history, personal development and conflict. Illustrated with stunning full-color photography, Dreamtime Voyage is an epic. Caffyn also wrote Obscured by Waves (1979), describing his circumnavigation of New Zealand’s South Island; Cresting the Restless Waves (1987), about paddling 1,700 miles around the coast of the North Island of New Zealand; and Dark Side of the Wave (1986), a gripping account of a circumnavigation of Stewart Island—New Zealand’s southernmost island.