Customer Reviews

Kayak: The New Frontier: The Animated Manual of Intermediate and Advanced Whitewater Technique

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What a great book, the drawings are wonderful to see what to do when kayaking.

I learned a lot from Nealy's books and maps when I first started boating. I was lucky enough to meet him. He had such an imaginative way of looking at things and making them memorable. His art puts an easily remembered view to the way things work and what actually happens when your moves don't. In the lower corner of the pages he shows a roll in progress; as you let them flip by under your thumb. Even today "if you can't spit, don't run run it" still applies, unless you enjoy being severely thrashed. Even if you are a short boat hot dog, give it a read and get an idea of what it was like in a 13' 2" boat running stuff without seeing videos, reading blogs/forums, depending on the few books available and often Nealy's maps to get even a clue what was over the next drop or round the corner. Oh yeah, no cell phones, imagine that, no help coming, on your own.

I just started whitewater kayaking with a class late last autumn and began paddling outside 2 1/2 months ago. So far I've put in about 90 hours boating in that time and the concepts in this book finally feel like they're starting to sink in.

The explanations are really clear. The illustrations are (of course) fantastic. And humorous, which helps keep the topics interesting, for those of us who would prefer to be actually ON the water, rather than reading about it!

Sometimes it really helps to experience physical visuals, too. Nealy describes eddy fences and boils in a way that really makes them seem like 3-D features. Which they are. But until I paddled the Ottawa River, the ones I encountered were so subtle that their shape wasn't clear. While there on the Ottawa, I really *saw* and *felt* them, and had my "Aha! This is what he means!" moment.

I've read the book once, and I think it's time to read it again. I imagine I'll be reading it over and over as I progress, picking up different useful things at each stage of my development.

Rolling On the Floor Laughing (aka: ROFL)
This is a suprisingly well written and illustrated book that should be sold along with a new white water kayak!
It was lent to me by another kayaker, and I amazoned my Item that very evening.
I Loved the book so much I googled William Nealy and bought another three books, one about kayaking hazards and two about my other hobby: Mountainbiking.

Love it. Adds to his previous book to give detailed explanations, diagrams and a 'sensory' picture of trouble, how to spot it, how to avoid it and what happens if you don't - all while maintaining a sense of humour. Great fun as well as informative for GradeIII+ paddling.

I am (extremely) Left-Brained and found this hard to follow. However, Right-Brainers should find this book helpful. I preferred the book by Eric Jackson.