In a montage of interviews with kayakers who sorely underestimated the amount of time it would take them to perform a “self-rescue” (recover from being capsized), one poor soul who believed he would be back upright and paddling in minutes reports that it actually took a half hour to right himself in calm, protected water. Told with a humorous slant, the story clearly illustrates a serious point: practice and preparedness can save your life. Featuring several experts--including skilled kayakers, guides, oceanographers, and meteorologists--offering on-location demonstrations, Practical Kayaking (with much advice that is also applicable to general boating) addresses many topics, including equipment selection, trip planning, how to read nautical charts and effectively navigate, interpreting weather conditions, preventing and treating hypothermia, and much more. The instructors all share their experience and knowledge in a straightforward fashion (no one is reading off cue-cards here) and their genuine love and enthusiasm for both kayaking and safety is evident and infectious. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: P. (C. Block)
Practical Kayaking
(2004) 105 min. VHS or DVD: $19.95 ($39.95 w/PPR). The Dolphin’s Eye. Color cover. Volume 19, Issue 6
Practical Kayaking
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
