With two slender sixty-pound kayaks, a ten-pound medical kit, twenty pounds of books, triple-digit temperatures, and no contact with the outside world, Jonathan and Deborah Waterman spent two months paddling through the violent tides and storms that define the mythically charged Sea of Cortes. Amid the lore and romantic past of the Baja they discovered that what began as a mutual exploration would soon become an unforgettable test of will. Exhilarating and lyrical, filled with images of death, beauty, and adventure, this paradisiacal journey depicts the past and present of a legendary body of water -- and the struggle of a man and a woman to find each other.
Myth has it that Baja California was once ruled by a giant queen, Calafia. Her subjects were black Amazon women, and they lived in a land of ferocious griffins, tall mountains, precipitous cliffs, and deep valleys. Baja was also said to be an island of gold and precious stones. Spanish explorers, lured by tales of riches and beautiful women, were drawn to this mythical place. Jesuit priests, adventurers, fishermen, hunters, and the curious soon followed. In Isle of the Amazons in the Vermilion Sea, Gregory MacDonald has assembled a superb collection of excerpts from diaries, letters, field notes, books, and journals. These short impressions give us the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of mountain hamlets, lush valleys, hot deserts, and blue seas, and together, they create a stunning narrative of the mythology, history, and topology of the Baja land, sea, and people. Montalvo, Cortéz, and Padre Eusebio Kino—in 1400, 1535, and 1701, respectively—describe the flora and fauna of a peninsula untouched by civilization, and in the twentieth century, Bancroft, Cannon, Crosby, Gardner, North, Steinbeck, and Octavio Paz, among others, speak of the fishing, the hunting, and, despite hardships, the pure joy of being. The writers observe fish pileups and feeding-frenzies; suffer insect bites, cactus pricks, and jellyfish stings; and are awed by magical sunsets, the silence of the desert, and the stars. Original illustrations by award-winning printmaker Judith Palmer transform the work into a masterpiece.
Sea Kayaking covers the basics of equipment and technique, including types of paddles and strokes, as well as such essential skills as how to read the weather and the water, how to navigate with and without GPS and how to travel with a group. Still regarded as “the bible” for both new and experienced kayakers after more than thirty years in print. Drawing on his many years of experience paddling in all climates, John Dowd presents practical advice on dealing with potential hazards (from surf to sea ice to sharks), carrying out rescues and planning for long-distance expeditions. New for this edition are hints about digital technologies for planning and navigating while kayak touring as well as lots of tips for outfitting boats, adapting equipment and finessing fishing technique while kayak angling—whether casting and jigging for fun on a day trip or trolling for dinner on a longer expedition. Also fully updated are the sections on managing risk and the inspiring stories of adventure, including Freya Hoffmeister’s record-breaking circumnavigation of Australia and Japanese paddlers’ increasingly challenging trips around the islands and beyond. As a sport, sea kayaking continues to evolve. Once the sport of a very few long-distance paddlers embarking on international expeditions, then the recreational pursuit of many weekend tourers, sea kayaking is now popular with many day trippers as well. As more and more paddlers take to the water—for the day, the weekend or many months, this classic guide continues to be required reading for those seeking adventure on the open ocean.
An examination of the cultural impact of Native Americans on the English language studies seventy words borrowed from Native American languages, revealing what each word means, the role it played in traditional Indian societies, and its role in America today.
Successfully navigate the rich world of travel narratives and identify fiction and nonfiction read-alikes with this detailed and expertly constructed guide. Just as savvy travelers make use of guidebooks to help navigate the hundreds of countries around the globe, smart librarians need a guidebook that makes sense of the world of travel narratives. Going Places: A Reader's Guide to Travel Narratives meets that demand, helping librarians assist patrons in finding the nonfiction books that most interest them. It will also serve to help users better understand the genre and their own reading interests. The book examines the subgenres of the travel narrative genre in its seven chapters, categorizing and describing approximately 600 titles according to genres and broad reading interests, and identifying hundreds of other fiction and nonfiction titles as read-alikes and related reads by shared key topics. The author has also identified award-winning titles and spotlighted further resources on travel lit, making this work an ideal guide for readers' advisors as well a book general readers will enjoy browsing.
The author, a naturalist and sea kayak guide, provides an account of her 750 mile solo journey along the Inside Passage between Alaska and Washington state.
In this insightful account of her solo voyage in a sixteen-foot kayak, Jennifer Hahn vividly relates the ecstatic moments and terrifying predicaments of paddling against the wind through Alaska's Inside Passage. Hahn's adventures include dramatic encounters with animals and heartwarming experiences with coastal characters. Much more than a memoi...
