10 Best Adventure Paddling Books

2. On Celtic Tides: One Man's Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayak, by Chris Duff

A 1,200-mile circumnavigation of Ireland by kayak is bound to convince anyone of the island's captivating beauty and majesty, and this paddling memoir does a fine job of capturing the sights, culture, history, and people of the Irish coast. The range of experience is great, from fighting violent seas off the western coast to having tea with the locals in old stone cottages. This one will inspire you to start packing your bags.

Another wave from the left arched overhead. I snapped the paddle into a low brace, tucked into the wave, and felt its cold weight collapse on my back. Seawater flooded my eyes and filled my sinuses. I straightened, spitting and blowing. The rear wave and the sideward slam of the second one had twisted the boat seaward. I was being pushed sideways into the waves, which were getting bigger and steeper the closer I got to the headland. I backpaddled on the right. Another wave tossed the boat high, almost out of the water. When it slammed into the waves again, I was suddenly back on course.

3. Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni, by R. M. Patterson

Nahanni - even the word evokes mystery and intrigue - is a river in Canada's Northwest Territories that is shrouded in the legends of those who have disappeared exploring it. A banker by trade, R. M. Patterson set off in 1927 to explore the river's remote reaches, living off the land and exploring for gold. His marvelous tale of paddling, poling, and tracking the rapids in these vast and lonely canyons strikes deep within the soul of the canoeist.

The passage through the Lower Canyons was the sort of thing that comes to a man perhaps once in a lifetime - if he's lucky. The scenery is the finest on the Nahanni, and the weather was perfect - clear, with cold nights and blazing hot days. And it was all strange and new: rounding a bend was like turning a page in a book of pictures; what would one see this time, and would this next reach hold, perhaps, some insuperable obstacle? But it never did, and always one found some way around by means of some new trick with the line or the pole.

4. Keep Australia on Your Left: A True Story of an Attempt to Circumnavigate Australia by Kayak, by Eric Stiller

This account of two men - one a kayak salesman from Manhattan, the other a fashion model from Sydney - trying to paddle around Australia is irresistible in its description of harrowing sea conditions, crocodiles, and endless hours at the paddle. And then there is the magnificent coastal scenery and the friendly, but often quirky, natives they meet along the way. The pair separates before completing the trip, but the story of their journey is simply unforgettable.

Every ache, pain, and malady in my body that had been so effectively anesthetized in my dream state returned with a vengeance. I suddenly felt a rash running a ring around my torso and I noticed that my hands were extremely puffy and dotted with septic sores all over them and in between all of my fingers. My hands felt hot, but a splash of water gave me instant chills. The sea had become more confused and "splashy" as we reached shallower water. Seawater slapped my burning hands over and over, sending shivers through me. Spasms fired rapidly through all my major muscle groups, lurching the boat with each ignition.