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Relax with your dog in a kayak. A trainer named Jess Forte offers classes on Lady Bird Lake in Austin that safely familiarize dogs with kayaking. Sharon Chapman of the Austin-American Statesman took her own pooch out on the water and reported on the experience:
My dog can swim. Because of her tendency to panic, I had her in a dog life jacket (Forte recommends having any dog on the water in a life vest or at least a harness). Besides helping her float as she frantically dog paddled toward shore, the vest served a second purpose: The handle makes hauling a big wet dog back into a boat much easier.
I grabbed the leash hooked to the vest. A little maneuvering to get her alongside the kayak, and a lot of leaning in the opposite direction by me and coaching from the trainer, and I soon had my now much cooler dog back in the kayak. I was proud of myself for staying calm and being fit enough for the task, and of her for not shutting down afterward (cheese helps).
Link -via TigerHawk | Photo: Julia Robinson, Austin-American Statesman
When he was kayaking off the Redondo Beach, California, YouTuber MrRJCtube had a close encounter with a blue whale. He said:
A whale lunge feeding right next to the Kayak, plus some underwater footage. While the lunge feed was heart pounding excitement, I found that seeing one undewater was relaxing and peaceful.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Previously on Neatorama: Petting a Grey Whale in the Wild, Whale Rescue Caught on Tape, and Blue Whale Fun Facts
Captain Linda Cavitt caught some footage of a 20-foot basking shark from the safety of the pier in Panama City Beach, Florida. Josh, the kayaker, was a bit closer.
yes he was eaten part 2? is coming….j/k no it’s a docile basking shark, they eat plankton. The kayaker did jump in the water and swim with the shark though but as soon as Josh grabbed it’s tail the shark swam away from him
Yes, he really did. -via BroBible
Aleksander Doba, 64, crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Dakar, Senegal to Acaraú, Brazil in almost a hundred days. He’s the first person to do so nonstop:
After 98 days, 23 hours, 42 minutes at sea, Doba and his custom 23-foot-long, 39-inch-wide human-powered kayak landed at Acaraú, a city on Brazil’s northeast coast. The trip covered some 3,320 miles in all, and Doba became only the fourth known person to accomplish such a feat, and the very first to do it nonstop.
Of course, Doba encountered his fair share of obstacles along the way — age, a broken desalination unit, 20-foot swells and stifling equatorial heat — but none of that would deter him, as he survived on dehydrated food products, candy and fish (which he caught along the way). He also made time to collect rainwater for drinking, communicate by sat phone (recharged by solar panels lining his vessel), and even send out a few tweets.
Link via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: Arsoba Travel
22-year-old Tyler Bradt plunged over Palouse Falls in eastern Washington and set a world record for a kayak descent. The fall was 186 feet, which he covered in less than four seconds.
As rescue teams waited at the base of the falls Bradt calmly steered his fiberglass kayak into the raging water.
After disappearing under the water he emerged within six seconds with his broken paddle and sprained wrist.
‘Considering the waterfall, the injuries were pretty minor,’ he said.
The previous record for a kayak descent was 127 feet. Link -via Unique Daily
Someone told me there was a canoe in this picture … but I have to admit I got distracted and did not see it right away. Regardless, the canoes are great but the kayaks are even better: they are light-weight, easy-to-collapse and therefore not only entertaining in the water but highly manageable on the shore compared to their conventional and opaque counterparts.
The only question is: what do you do when it gets dirty? Hopefully each dunk back in the water cleans it off. OK, one other question: what else can we make transparent? Cars, maybe even planes, or are the skies the limit in this case?
Glass-bottom boats are nothing new on scenic tours, but with a see-through canoe you can go wherever you want and have a personal up-close view of whatever is below you. Lighter than a wood or aluminum canoe, tough as bullet-proof glass and entirely transparent on the bottom, these designs provide a completely new way to experience water life around you.
