Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71740 in Books
• Published on: 1986-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

Amazon.com
Anyone who kayaks--or would like to--will get a laugh out of Kayak: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique. Author William Nealy draws on his 12 years of whitewater experience to combine instruction and kayaking philosophies with his offbeat sense of humor. Through animated diagrams, Nealy explains intermediate paddling techniques, different types of Eskimo rolls, river rescue, and running a river at flood stage. The chapter on hydrotypography ("the art of using watery features to your maximum advantage") provides an excellent tutorial on river dynamics. The book's animated style is especially useful for illustrating the dynamics of eddies, ledges, holes, and other river features. Despite the humor, safety is Nealy's primary message in Kayak.

Les Bechdel, co-author, River Rescue
"Nealy has laid the foundation for tomorrows experts. Kayak finally fills a serious void in whitewater literature."

Charlie Walbridge
"Kayak contains a great deal of material which, although known to experts, has never been described in printThe rescues information n particular is excellent."

Customer Reviews

GREAT book on everything that is kayaking
This is a great book on kayaking. William Nealy does a great job of explaining basic and advanced techniques through a combination of words and illustrations. He does all of this while adding a great dose of humor at the same time. Even though this book is a few years old, it is the best book I have found at explaining how rivers work and what is going on under the surface of the water. William Nealy explains how to roll, brace, self-rescue, and rescue others. He explains many concepts that are difficult to explain. As someone just starting to kayak, I have found this book an invaluable asset to have in my aresenal. If you find this book available - get it - you will not regret your purchase.

Kayak: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique
Great book! The best book I have found for those looking to understand whitewater.

If you paddle rivers, you want this book!
Most introductory paddling books begin with equipment and clothing, run through basic strokes and present a couple of simple moves, eddying out and peeling out, for example, with some fundamental river information thrown in at the end. The assumption is that you will learn what you need to know on the water.

This book is different. It may very well be the best introduction to flowing water on the market. Though it is supposed to be for advanced paddlers, the information and techniques it imparts are useful to boaters of all skill levels. It teaches you to approach a rapid and to figure out how it works, and what it will do to you when you get into it. Nealy's cartoons are humorous and engaging, and offer him a visual means of explaining a sport that doesn't generally translate well into print.

I generally re-read my copy a couple of times a year.