10 things you probably shouldn’t do in a kayak (videos)

by Gadling Staff on

Thought to have been in use for at least 4000 years, kayaks are amazing little boats — and amazingly simple. Capable of holding a single person (or sometimes two), kayaks consist of a hull, a covered deck, and the cockpit in which a kayaker sits. These rugged little boats are designed for all kinds of adventures. Well, perhaps not all kinds of adventures…

The videos below demonstrate some of the best (and worst), and some of the cleverest (and stupidest) stunts anyone has ever attempted in a kayak.

Whale-watching can be an amazing, relaxing experience. It can also be a terrifying, body-crushing experience if a whale decides to breach … and land on top of you.

Buoyancy is one of the traits that make kayaks special. Therefore, jumping off the high dive in a kayak may have repercussions.

Just add water. Seriously: water + kayaks. They’re made for each other.

Pro tip: do NOT add a long, bumpy stair case to the mix. It will end badly.

Who said you need water to kayak? These innovators figured out how to kayak — while staying completely dry. Introducing “Urban Kayaking!”

Kayaking is an Olympic sport. Gymnastics is an Olympic sport. Why not merge the two for one extreme sport: kayak-nastics?

Snow is water, after all, so these kayakers aren’t taking too many liberties with the sport. On the other hand, they are taking a lot of liberties with their bodies … and with their fellow snowkayakers’ bodies.

If you were thinking snowkayaking would be safer if you just removed other people … think again. This guy breaks the world kayaking record by hurtling downhill at 46mph — but does that seem safe to you?

Never kayak alone. Because there’s no “alone” like the alone of being upside-down in the undertow of a waterfall.

Did we mention that you shouldn’t kayak alone? Unfortunately, friends aren’t always that much help, either.

Just keep it in the water and everything will be okay. Right?

Well… “okay” means different things to different people. Check out this last clip for a montage of some of the best kayaking wipeouts, rolls, and tooth-rattling splashes.

Want more? Don’t miss 10 Hilarious (and Painful, and Frightening) Ski Lift Videos.

German woman kayaks solo around Australia

by Kraig Becker on

A 45-year old German woman named Freya Hoffmeister completed an eleven month odyssey on Tuesday as she paddled into the harbor at Queenscliff, Australia, finishing a successful circumnavigation of that continent by kayak. In the process, she became just the second person to complete that journey, and the first woman, while setting a new speed record as well.

Freya set out from Queenscliff, paddling counter-clockwise around the continent, last January, and returned to that point 332 days later. Of those 332 days, 245 were spent in the cockpit of her kayak, covering more than 9400 miles. Perhaps the most difficult and treacherous part of the expedition was when she paddled across the Gulf of Carpentaria, along the northern coast of Australia. That bold move shaved 680 miles off of the journey, but to achieve the crossing, Freya has to spend nearly eight days in her kayak, going so far as to even sleep there. She is just the second person to make that crossing by kayak as well.

This isn’t Freya’s first major kayak expedition, although it is by far her longest to date. Back in 2007 she spent 33 days circumnavigating Iceland, and then later kayaked around New Zealand’s South Island in 70 days, achieving a new speed record on that adventure too.

The only other person to successfully circumnavigate Australia by kayak was Paul Caffyn, a New Zealander who made the journey 27 years ago. Caffyn took 360 days on his journey, and Freya bested him by nearly a month. Upon reaching the finish line, the German kayaker said, “I promise, if anyone will paddle around Australia within the next 27 years, I’ll be at the finish line.”%Gallery-7921%

Photo of the Day (12.15.09)

by Stephen Greenwood on
Today’s Photo of the Day comes from Flickr user Buck Forester – shot from a kayak in Mono Lake, California. The picture was shot (drumroll please) on film using a Canon Elan 7 and Fuji Velvia 50 stock. The photographer “had a 2 mile open water paddle back to shore and got caught in some high winds” along the way…which suddenly makes me think that I need to get out from behind this computer and go have an adventure.

Mono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago.

If you’re inclined to get out from behind your computer and go have an adventure – bring your camera and submit it to Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool! We might just feature it as our Photo of the Day…

The online travel market moves past pulling the trigger

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you think you need to sell seats or rooms to be a player in the online travel industry, think again! Travel research firm PhoCusWright found in a new survey that the online travel marketplace has evolved over the past few years to include a wide selection of non-transactional travel sites that serve as “pointers” to those online destinations were eager travelers can melt some plastic. But, the publication of regular content — at sites like Gadling, for example — is where many travel buyers are forming their relationships, leading to the possibility that the strongest online travel brands may not have any selling capabilities (or interests in developing them) at all.

For companies in the business of selling travel online, this opens a new range of considerations, in which relationships with non-transactional content providers have to be managed carefully. After all, the seller wants to cultivate the customer’s loyalty but also wants to ensure a steady stream of traffic from complementary businesses. “Metasearch” sites, like Kayak, which scour several online travel sales sites, are also playing an increasingly important role in the online travel dynamic.

“Before consumers ever hit the ‘book now’ button, they undergo a whole process of gathering, qualifying and comparing travel options,” says Carroll Rheem, director, research at PhoCusWright. “Both metasearch and review sites are designed to help consumers in this often cumbersome decision-making process. Therefore, it is not surprising that the popularity of these types of Web sites has grown significantly over the past several years.”

As of the end of June this year, Kayak was the top met search site on the web, with close to 7 million monthly unique visitors. Rheem observes that Kayak is among “the most exciting brands in the travel space today.” She notes, “We wanted to take a closer look at which elements of their content and functionality consumers are gravitating toward and what impact they have on booking behavior.”

Markets tend to change during periods of upheaval, so look for the next few years to yield a completely different landscape online. The online travel agencies and other sellers will probably become spots for trigger-pullers only, with the relationship being owned further up the travel information supply chain. Travel buyers will form their relationships with sources of information, not sources of inventory.

SkyMall Monday: Transparent Canoe

by Mike Barish on

You wouldn’t suspect that the world’s preeminent authority on all things SkyMall would be an adventure travel enthusiast. You probably assumed that I just sit in the SkyMall Monday headquarters in a lab coat kick-ass sweatshirt looking in the mirror and calling myself the preeminent authority on all things SkyMall. But, I do get out into the world and attack it with more vim and vigor than a 14-year-old girl at a screening of “Twilight.” I’ve raced camels in the Moroccan desert, jumped out of airplanes and eaten at a Waffle House at 3:30am. I’ve risked my life. I like staring death in the eye and waiting to see who blinks first (Hint: It’s me, but only because my contact lenses get dry). In other words, I’m not one to shy away from danger. In fact, I like to see the perils that surround me so that I can flip them off and disparage their mothers as I conquer them with ease. That’s why I’ve always been frustrated by the opaque nature of my adventure vehicles. Planes, cars and boats only have windows. How can I moon danger through a tiny window? Leave it to SkMall to understand this very specific problem. They understand that I must envelop myself in danger. That’s why I am thrilled that I can finally taunt all the risks that await me when I’m on the water in my new Transparent Canoe.Sure, canoes are small vessels and seeing 360-degrees around you involves little more than minimal neck movements. But, if you crane your neck too much while attempting to sleep with danger, you could wind up treating massive spinal cord injuries. Save yourself the anguish and just look down. No, not at your junk, perve. At the menagerie of sea creatures that would love to eat your junk. You can see them all through the hull of your transparent canoe.

Think you can see right through my attempts to sell you on this amazing product? Well, it’s so clever that it’s more than just a transparent canoe. Just take a look at the product description:

This canoe-kayak hybrid has a transparent polymer hull that offers paddlers an underwater vista unavailable in conventional boats.

What makes this canoe a kayak? I assume the kayak part is invisible, so we can’t tell. Isn’t that amazing? If you can’t see how much you need this boat, it’s because its amazingness is also transparent. Did I just blow your mind? Good!

So, the next time you see me out on the water, don’t be surprised when I’m gesturing wildly towards my crotch and yelling, “I don’t care how big you are, sea snake! I own you!” I’m just yelling at the wildlife below my transparent canoe. Because I dominate danger.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.