Iconic chalk cliffs The Seven Sisters Country Park, in the south of England, features precipitous chalk cliffs, where the sea has cut into the undulating dry valleys and ridges of the south downs. To the east of the seven sisters, the cliffs peak at Beachy Head. At 530 feet high, this is the tallest chalk cliff in England. Diminutive by comparison, a red and white painted lighthouse stands below on a wave-cut ledge.   Beachy Head with lighthouse Beachy Head Lighthouse, and Belle Tout This elegantly tapered granite tower was the last traditional offshore lighthouse to be built by ..read more

  What is Sculling? I don't mean saying cheers in Swedish: skål, or  Icelandic: skál. Sculling  is a term used to describe two ways of propelling a boat using oars. One of those can also be used to propel a boat using a paddle. As a kayaker and canoeist, I'll focus on efficient paddle technique, but here is some context first. Sculling or rowing? Technically, there is a difference between sculling and rowing, particularly in competition, although the two terms are often used indiscriminately. Rowing (or sweep rowing) requires at least two oars, one oar for each rower. In ot ..read more

Learning to feel. Blind people learn to read Braille with their fingertips, rapidly scanning patterns of bumps, gathering meaning as I do when I sight-read a book. On the street, a blind person surveys their surroundings with a cane. So, how much information about the water does a kayaker or canoeist gather in this way from their paddle? As a beginner, only a little, but more with practice. Imagine standing with your paddle on the end of a dock with your eyes shut. You reach down to dip your paddle into a current flowing past the end of a dock. You should be able to feel the direction of ..read more

 Stevns Klint, in Denmark: When my friend Mette Carr invited me to join a Køge Kajak Klub kayaking tour along Stevns Klint, I leapt at the chance. These club members know their spectacular white cliffs well, so as we paddled, I was treated to a host of details about this UNESCO World Heritage site.    Stevns Klint, Denmark The Greenland-paddle maker Erik Vangsgaard, and his wife, also Mette, pointed out rickety ladders dangling from the cliffs here and there. These were structures, built by landowners above, to access the hidden cobble beaches at the base of the cliffs ..read more

Evening sun on an impossibly calm evening saw a small flotilla of kayaks weave along the shore and out from Sjaelland along Denmark’s Great Belt Bridge as far as its central span. It boasts one of the longest spans of suspension bridge in the world. Denmark's Great Belt Bridge from Sjaelland to Fyn. The water became so quiet we could hear every breath of the harbor porpoises. We were guests of our friends Mark and Jane, in kayaks courtesy of Korsør rowing and kayaking club. As the sun slipped slowly down, the water reflected like a sheet of silver. Silvery reflections of eveni ..read more

 In 1981 I had a plan! My Vyneck sea kayak ready to leave. I would airfreight my kayak to Iqaluit on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada, and follow some weeks later. Launching my kayak into Frobisher Bay, I would head south to Resolution Island. From there I would cross Hudson Strait to northern Labrador and continue south as far as Labrador’s northernmost village Nain. From there I could catch a coastal steamer south to Goose Bay, to a flight home. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Robert Burns, the Scottish poet wrote something like that in his poem To a Mouse. So ..read more

  Reflections fascinate me. They invert my world and offer me an alternative view. There is an above-surface world and another below: reflections appear as the latter. Across a motionless mirror, my gliding kayak creates a wake that visually buckles the virtual clouds. Plane trees reflected in Canal du Midi at sunset  When water moves, it animates the sleeping reflections, constantly scattering and reassembling the view. Ripples make reflections jiggle. If a city street shows me reality, then a canal offers me augmented reality. I catch the movement of a cloud, or ..read more

  The Dream Exploring tree-lined canals, past wineries and chateaux, in the south of France, was a dream I had put on hold for too long. Now was the time for action. And what could be simpler than going by kayak? Well, we might have rented a boat, hiked along the towpaths, or cycled instead, but kayaking has always been fun for me. I enjoy camping too, so we would carry a small tent in our tandem kayak, and sleep beside the canal. Food? In France? No problem!  Plane trees line the Canal du Midi.  Our plan was to paddle from sea to sea, from Mediterranean to Atlantic. A ..read more

  I looked down. Goldfish swam in the clear shallows beneath my kayak. I looked up. A beefy water buffalo, heavy, grey, and sturdy-horned chewed nonchalantly at the foliage at the water’s edge. A few yards beyond began the steep green climb to the caldera rim more than two thousand feet above the lake.   Water Buffalo at the lake edge I had not heard of Lake Toba before kayaking guide Priyo Utomo of Legendary Guides tempted me with an invitation to paddle there with him. “We want to discover more about Toba Batak culture,” he explained. “You know they have a paddling culture ..read more

  Where is the world’s biggest volcanic caldera lake? Lake Toba in North Sumatra. And yet this remarkable lake did not appear on the map until 1852 when it was first seen by European eyes. Even then, stories of headhunters and cannibals deterred all but the most dedicated explorers from seeing it. Order book Heart of Toba now in Paperback and Kindle.  Siallagan Village, Ambarita Samosir Island World Map shows location of Lake Toba in North Sumatra Toba is a super-volcano, one of just half-a-dozen active worldwide. When it erupted some 74,000 years ago it left a h ..read more