Guidebooks

Stand Up Paddleboarding is the fastest growing watersport worldwide. The comparatively low cost, the convenience of inflatable boards and the fact that you can just get on and go all add up to its appeal. But, as with everything, a little bit of knowledge and technique makes the experience so much more enjoyable! That is where this book - the first UK how-to book on paddleboarding - comes in. It provides a perfect introduction to the sport: how to paddleboard, what kit to use and where to go. The book guides you through launching, the correct stance, paddling in a straight line, the different types of turns and landing. It shows you how to choose your board and paddle, inflate and deflate an inflatable board, and talks about where to ride as well as weather, safety, maintenance and repair of your equipment. It covers the main types of paddleboarding: touring, racing, surfing and yoga / fitness. All aspects are heavily illustrated with colour photographs and diagrams making it easy to understand and clear to follow.

Paddling Britain: 50 Best Places to Explore by SUP, Kayak & Canoe

  The author, Lizzie Carr, says: 'This book responds to the countless questions I receive regularly from paddleboarders looking to explore new places and get new experiences from their SUP. Whether people want to take their families for a weekend adventure or enjoy a camping getaway with friends, this book - the first SUP guide on the market - aims to answer these questions and inspire people to get outside and explore the UK water scene both coastal and inland.'

The Wye is one of Britain's finest canoe and kayak touring rivers, and offers something for every kind of paddler. This guide provides the information and advice you need to plan your own Wye journey, whether it's a single or multi-day trip, whitewater or sedate cruising. The author, Mark Rainsley, has divided the river into 15 sections, which are described in detail with distances, grades, access points and campsites. These sections can be paddled as single-day trips, or combined into multi-day adventures, and there are suggested itineraries for both whitewater and touring expeditions that range from 3 to 5 days. To help you plan your journey there is advice on equipment, safety and access, as well as information on wildlife, culture and landscape. Mark Rainsley has spent three decades using paddlesport as a means of avoiding adulthood and responsibility. He is a fanatical paddler who has descended challenging whitewater rivers worldwide, and who is dedicated to exploring every nook and cranny of the UK's coast by sea kayak. He created the UK Rivers and UK Sea Kayak websites and is a prolific contributor to paddlesport magazines and other media. Mark authored the Pesda Press guidebook South West Sea Kayaking, and has contributed to other Pesda titles such as English Whitewater and South East England and Channel Islands Sea Kayaking.

Welsh Canoe Classics is an illustrated guide to some of the finest tours of Wales' waterways. Scenic lakes, broad estuaries and whitewater rivers, as they can only be seen from canoe or kayak. Eddie, Adam and Wilf have chosen the best inland touring routes which are described in great detail and illustrated with numerous colour photos and maps. The selected routes are suitable for open canoes, sit-on-tops and touring kayaks, and include seven whitewater trips. Many of them can be tackled as a single voyage, others as a series of day trips with campsites en route. The journeys are all accessible but highly varied, travelling along lakes, estuaries, rivers and canals. This is a wonderful book for planning voyages and inspiring dreams or sharing your experiences with others. Eddie Palmer has kayaked and canoed extensively in the UK, Ireland, Europe, the USA, Canada, and Southern Africa. He is the author of
several paddling guidebooks. Adam (or Robson as he is more commonly known) is an experienced paddler and paddlesport coach and guide. He has completed several solo, unsupported long-distance expeditions in the UK and Europe including Wales' River Dee source to sea trip. Nigel Wilford has been involved with canoeing for most of his adult life, paddling throughout the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, USA and New Zealand. In 1991 he joined the BCU Coaching Service, helping others to improve their canoeing or to become better coaches. Nigel is also the co-author of the English Canoe Classics series.

Previously published under the title Scottish Canoe Touring, this is a completely redesigned, revised and updated 2nd edition. Where can I go paddling? Find the answers right here, with 135 great canoe, kayak and paddleboard trips, 12 cross-Scotland routes, and numerous short easy trips in a unique guide for those seeking gentler waters. This guide is aimed at those looking for calmer waters - rivers, canals, inland lochs and sheltered sea lochs. Routes described cater for all tastes, from those seeking an idyllic afternoon's paddle to those looking for a multi-day canoe-camping expedition.

English Canoe Classics is an illustrated guide to some of the finest tours of northern England's waterways, from the North Tyne in Northumbria to the Shropshire Union Canal in the West Midlands. Scenic lakes, placid canals and broad rivers, as they can only be seen from a canoe or kayak. Eddie and 'Wilf' have chosen the best inland touring routes. They are described in great detail and illustrated with numerous colour photos and maps. The selected routes are suitable for open canoes, sit-on-tops and touring kayaks. Many of them can be tackled as a single voyage or a series of day trips, with campsites en route. The journeys are all accessible but highly varied, taking place on lakes, sheltered coastline, rivers and canals. A wonderful book for planning voyages and inspiring dreams, or sharing your experiences with others. Eddie Palmer bought his first kayak over 50 years ago. It was a wood and canvas one in which he set out to paddle rivers in his part of middle England and Wales. Since then, he has kayaked and canoed extensively in the UK, Ireland, western and eastern Europe, the USA and Canada and southern Africa. His passion over the past few years has been for long-distance canoe-camping. After a competitive career in slalom and whitewater racing, he still paddles whitewater. Eddie is a Board Director of the SCA and is the co-author of Scottish Canoe Touring, author of Scottish Canoe Classics and co-author of Irish Canoe Classics (all published by Pesda Press). Nigel Wilford has been involved with canoeing for most of his adult life, paddling throughout the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, USA and New Zealand. Born in northwest Leicestershire, his first canoe experience was on the gentle River Soar. Not long after, he moved to Yorkshire to attend university. The enjoyment he found while paddling the rivers of the northeast firmly established canoeing as his activity of choice. In 1991 he joined the British Canoe Union's coaching service, helping others to improve their canoeing or to become better coaches. Nigel has held various roles within the BCU including Local Coaching Organiser and English Whitewater Safety Coordinator. He is a BCU Level 5 Coach and member of Team Pyranha.

An illustrated guide to some of the finest tours of southern England's waterways, from the Grand Union Canal in the South Midlands to the River Tamar in the South West. Scenic lakes, placid canals and broad rivers, as they can only be seen from a canoe or kayak. Eddie and 'Wilf' have chosen the best inland touring routes. They are described in great detail and illustrated with numerous colour photos and maps. The selected routes are suitable for open canoes, sit-on-tops and touring kayaks. Many of them can be tackled as a single voyage or a series of day trips, with campsites en route. The journeys are all accessible but highly varied, taking place on lakes, sheltered coastline, rivers and canals. A wonderful book for planning voyages and inspiring dreams, or sharing your experiences with others. Eddie Palmer bought his first kayak over 50 years ago. It was a wood and canvas one in which he set out to paddle rivers in his part of middle England and Wales. Since then, he has kayaked and canoed extensively in the UK, Ireland, western and eastern Europe, the USA and Canada and southern Africa. His passion over the past few years has been for long-distance canoe-camping. After a competitive career in slalom and whitewater racing, he still paddles whitewater. Eddie is a Board Director of the SCA and is the co-author of Scottish Canoe Touring, author of Scottish Canoe Classics and co-author of Irish Canoe Classics (all published by Pesda Press). Nigel Wilford has been involved with canoeing for most of his adult life, paddling throughout the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, USA and New Zealand. In 1991 he joined the British Canoe Union's coaching service, helping others to improve their canoeing or to become better coaches. Nigel has held various roles within the BCU including Local Coaching Organiser and English Whitewater Safety Coordinator. He is a BCU Level 5 Coach and member of Team Pyranha.

We love this inspiring, high-quality paddling guidebook for the South East of England. It is written for the recreational, non-specialist paddler and the trips are suitable for all kinds of canoes, kayaks, sit-on-tops and inflatables. The guidebook will also be useful for group leaders planning organised trips. We hope it inspires you to escape the crowds and revel in the diversity of the best trips on England’s most beautiful waterways...

• Paddle past famous royal palaces and country houses,
• Creep up hidden smuggler’s creeks,
• Explore the waterways of England’s industrial and medieval past,
• Glide along secret backwaters and access tranquil havens of wildlife,
• Paddle under spooky ancient stone bridges,
• Make a waterborne assault on a medieval castle,
• See some of England’s most famous tourist attractions from the water!

Welcome to the second edition of English Whitewater, the British Canoe Union's guide to the whitewater rivers of England. Having established itself as a key guide to the best of whitewater and park and playspots within England this second offering adds further to the myriad of challenging steep brooks, classic trips on classic rivers, and previously unfamiliar offerings that is paddling in England. This second edition has been completely revised and updated. There are 340 river runs and playspots, with 90 new entries in this edition. It is a comprehensive guide to the whitewater rivers, playspots, and artificial whitewater courses of England. The guide is illustrated with photos and maps, and the new format makes it even easier to find the information you need. The guide breaks down into five geographical areas: The South-West, The South and East, The North-East, The North-West and The West, with each of these areas being further divided into sections grouping rivers of the same locality. Generally these sections are based around the river basins of the larger rivers and work from upstream down; but we have made exceptions to this in an effort to ensure that the rivers appear in the book in the most useful order to the reader.

Though geographically close the two areas covered in this sea kayaking guidebook are as different in character as it is possible to conceive. The South East of England has a varied landscape of chalk cliffs, pebble beaches, vast expanses of sand, mudflats, and river estuaries. At one extreme the tidal Thames runs through the densely populated City of London and at the other the deserted North Norfolk coast. Conversely the Channel Islands are a small number of large islands and a vast number of islets and reefs. Here we are talking pink granite, white sandy beaches and very strong tidal streams. They are closer to France than to England (a mere 12km between Les Ecrehous reef and mainland France). Many of the routes here are very committing but there are also a good number of gentler paddles. Derek Hairon is a BCU Level 5 sea kayak coach and has paddled throughout the Channel Islands for over 42 years. In 1978 he completed the first circumnavigation of Ireland by kayak and subsequent expeditions to Alaska, Nova Scotia, Faeroe Islands, Aland Islands, Brittany, whitewater rivers in Nepal and most of the classic UK sea kayaking destinations. He owns Jersey Kayak Adventures and runs a range of sea kayak introductory and advanced courses plus guided coastal sea kayak tours. The impetus for the South East England section of the guide was originally provided by Chris Wheeler, whose enthusiasm and commitment to kayaking knew no bounds. On his untimely death on the River Dart others stepped into the breach and the section was a combined effort involving seven different contributors. They are Andy Levick, Mark Rainsley, Mark Gawler, Annie Newport, Guy Smith, John Brett, and Kurt Finch.

In this new edition, the south-west coast of England is described in 50 great voyages, from the Isle of Wight to the Scilly Isles to the Severn Estuary. As well as describing 50 great kayaking journeys, this updated book presents all the navigational and tidal information a sea kayaker needs on this magnificent section of coast. This means that it can also be used as a kayaker's 'pilot' for any journey they might wish to undertake in this area. It follows the successful format of other Pesda Press sea kayaking guides, presenting the information in a user-friendly fashion and making good use of maps and colour photographs. As well as providing essential information on where to start and finish, distances, times and tidal information, the book does much to stimulate and inform our interest in the environment we are passing through. It is full of facts and anecdotes about local history, geology, scenery, seabirds and sea mammals. A fascinating read and an inspirational book.