Kayarchy - the sea kayaker's online handbook and reference

 

Links

Other websites and blogs of interest to sea kayakers

Watercolour of Sophie kayaking off Mull

 

Kayarchy has more than 500 links to other websites. Here we repeat the main ones and add a few more. See also:

Courses & vacations in North America
Courses & vacations elsewhere
Tours, treks, races & raids
Meetings & symposia
Gifts for sea kayakers
Sea kayaks, kayak kits, paddles
Clothing
Accessories
Magazine & book publishers
Parts & materials
Sailing kayaks
Sailing canoes
Book list

Sea kayaking organisations by country

Sea kayakers are usually represented by small organisations with unpaid staff. Most of the sites listed here have some really interesting resources. The sites shown in bold have particularly impressive resources and usually a magazine. If we've overlooked yours, please Get In Touch.

If you'd like to link to us, thank you. If you'd like to use a graphic, the Kayarchy puffin logo is in the right margin.

North America - Canada

Province/State Organisation Mainly based in: Website language(s)
Canada Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association (Paddle Canada / Pagaie Canada)   English (and French?)
Alberta Lesser Slave Lake Sea Kayak Club Edmonton English
British Columbia Nanaimo Paddlers Nanaimo English
British Columbia Pacific International Kayak Association Langley BC English
British Columbia Sea Kayak Association of British Columbia Vancouver English
British Columbia South Island Sea Kayak Association (SISKA) Victoria English
British Columbia Victoria Canoe & Kayak Club Victoria English
New Brunswick Atlantic Kayak Association Moncton English
Newfoundland & Labrador KNL   English
Nova Scotia Canoe Kayak Nova Scotia Halifax English
Ontario Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Association   English
Quebec Chinook Club de Kayak de Mer Montréal French
Quebec Fédération Québecois du Canot et du Kayak   French
Quebec Le Kayak de Mer dans le Nouveau Monde   French
Quebec Québec Kayak   French

 

North America - USA

USA (traditional sea kayaking) Qajaq USA logoQajaq USA    
Alaska Knik Canoers & Kayaker Anchorage  
California Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) San Francisco  
California California Kayak Friends Newport Beach  
California Environmental Traveling Companions San Francisco  
California North Coast Sea Kayakers Association Arcata  
California Penguin Paddlers Sacramento Valley  
California Sacramento Sea Kayakers (formerly Sierra Sea Kayakers)    
California San Diego Kayak Club San Diego  
California Sequoia Paddlers Santa Rosa  
California Valley Wide Kayak Club San Jacinto  
California Western Sea Kayakers San Jose  
Colorado Rocky Mountain Sea Kayak Club    
Connecticut ConnYak Chester  
Delaware Delmarva Paddlers    
Delaware Storm Paddlers    
Florida Florida Sea Kayak Association Jacksonville  
Florida Florida Sport Paddling Club    
Florida Paradise Coast Paddlers Club Naples  
Florida Tampa Bay Sea Kayakers Tampa Bay  
Florida Wilderness Trekkers Orlando  
Georgia Coastal Sea Kayakers SE Georgia  
Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Florida Gulf Area Sea Paddlers (GASP)    
Hawaii Hui Wa'a Kaukahi Kayak Club Honolulu  
Illinois Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association (CASKA) Chicago  
Louisiana Lafayette Paddle Club Lafayette  
Louisiana Pelican Paddlers SW Louisiana  
Maine Maine Paddlers Connection    
Maine MDI Paddlers Bar Harbor  
Maine Southern Maine Sea Kayaking Network    
Massachusetts Boston Sea Kayak Club Boston  
Massachusetts North Shore Paddlers Network    
Michigan East Coast Paddlers Saginaw  
Michigan Great Lakes Paddlers    
Michigan Great Lakes Sea Kayak Club Ann Arbor  
Michigan West Michigan Coastal Kayakers    
Minnesota Superior Kayak & Outdoor Adventure Club Minneapolis  
New Jersey Jersey Shore Sea Kayak Association    
NJ, NY, PA, DE & MD Atlantic Sea Kayakers    
New York Long Island Paddlers New York  
New York Metropolitan Association of Sea Kayakers (MASK) New York  
North Carolina Cape Fear Paddlers Wilmington  
North Carolina Crystal Coast Canoe & Kayak Club    
North & South Carolinas Central Carolina Sea Kayakers    
South Carolina Long Bay Paddlers    
South Carolina Low Country Paddlers Charleston  
South Carolina Palmetto Paddlers    
Ohio Bradstreet Sea Kayakers Cleveland  
Oregon Oregon Ocean Paddlers Society (OOPS) Portland  
Oregon Out Kayaking Portland  
Rhode Island Rhode Island Canoe/Kayak Association (RICKA)    
Texas Houston Association of Sea Kayakers Houston  
Texas Gulf Area Sea Paddlers (GASP)    
Vermont Champlain Kayak Club    
Virginia Chesapeake Association of Sea Kayakers (CASK)    
Washington Hole in the Wall Paddling Club (HITW) Skagit County  
Washington The Mountaineers Seattle, Olympia , Everett  
Washington North Sound Sea Kayaking Association Everett  
Washington Olympic Peninsula Paddlers Port Angeles  
Washington Seattle Sea Kayak Club Seattle  
Washington Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts (WAKE), www.wakekayak.org Bellingham  
Washington Washington Kayak Club    
Washington South Sound Area Kayak Club    
Wisconsin North East Wisconsin Paddlers (NEWP) Green Bay  

 

Elsewhere

Country Organisation Mainly based in: Website language(s)
Australia (NSW) New South Wales Sea Kayak Club   English
Australia (Queensland) Queensland Sea Kayak Club   English
Australia (WA) Sea Kayak Club of Western Australia   English
Australia (Tasmania) Tasmanian Sea Canoeing Club   English
Australia (Tasmania) Maatsuyker Canoe Club. Try Facebook or www.vision.net.au/~jennings   English
Australia (Victoria) Victorian Sea Kayak Club   English
Belgium www.zeekayak.be   Flemish/Dutch
Catalonia / Catalunya Pagaia Llanca (Costa Brava) Catalan, Spanish
Chile Kayak de Mar Club Sur Extremo Santiago Spanish
Czech Republic www.seakayaker.cz   Czech
England - see UK      
Finland Sipoon Kanoottiklubi Sibbo (Helsinki) Finnish, some Swedish and English
Finland Melaveikot Helsinki Finnish
France CKMer logoConnaissance du Kayak de Mer (CK/Mer) Brittany, national French
France www.kayakdemer.eu Brittany French
France Nérée Mediterranean French
Germany / Deutschland Salzwasserunion logoSalzwasserunion   German, some English
Germany / Deutschland www.seekajakforum.de   German
Greenland Qaannat Kattuffiat   English
Greenland Nuuk Kayak Club Nuuk Danish
Holland - see Nederland
Iceland Kajakklubbúrinn Kaj   Icelandic
Ireland / Eire / Republic of Ireland Irish Sea Kayaking Association   English
Ireland / Eire / Republic of Ireland WISKA (West of Ireland Sea Kayaking Association)   English
Ireland / Eire / Republic of Ireland East Coast Sea Kayaking Club Dublin English
Italy / Italia Canoaverde   Italian, some English & French
Italy / Italia Associazione Italiana per la Cultura e la Diffusione del Kayak da Mare (SOTTOCOSTA)   Italian
Nederland Nederlandse Kano Bond (Dutch Canoe Association)   Dutch, some English
Nederland www.zeekayakforum.nl   Dutch
New Zealand Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers (KASK)*
*Today, Canterbury Sea Kayak Network may be a better starting point
  English
Norway / Norge Norges Padleforbund www.padling.no   Norwegian, some English
Norway / Norge Grenland Havpadleklubb   Norwegian
Portugal Amigos de Pagaia Lisbon Portuguese
Scotland - see UK      
South Africa Forum at Soaked   English
Spain / Espana Forum at Kayak de Mar. See also Catalonia   Spanish
Sweden Svenska Kanotförbundet   Swedish
Sweden Utsidan   Swedish
Sweden Oskarshamns Kayak Club Karlskrona-ish Swedish and English
Tasmania - see Australia  
UK (national) British Canoe Union. The BCU has a separate website for Sea Touring   English
UK (national) UK Sea Kayak Guidebook   English
UK (north west) North West Sea Kayakers   English
UK (south east) South East Sea Kayakers   English
UK (Channel Islands) Sea Paddler   English
UK (Scotland) Scottish Canoe Association. They have touring pages for sea kayakers, which were here last time we looked.   English
Wales - see UK      

 

Traditional kayaking

Websites on the construction and use of traditional skin-on-frame kayaks, usually inspired by Greenlandic designs.

English language:  
Qajaq USA Probably the best general resource
Traditional Kayaks Harvey Golden's site is full of technical detail about design and building
Arctic Kayaks David Zimmerley's site with technical detail and many archival photos
 
Other languages (often some pages in English):
Norsaq French
Qajaq JPN Japanese
Qajaq København Danish
Qajaq NL Dutch
Qajaq Sverige Swedish


Making kayaks & equipment

For most of these links you'll have to navigate your way around Kayarchy, particularly the sections on Kayak Design, Kayak Construction and Greenland Paddles. However, special mentions here for our particular favourite sites:

Strip-plank and other wooden kayaks:
Björn Thomasson - www.thomassondesign.com
Clear Stream Fine Woodworking - http://clearstreamwood.com/WordPress/
The Kayak Forum - www.kayakforum.com

Skin-on-frame construction:
Brian Schulz - www.capefalconkayak.com
Harvey Golden - www.traditionalkayaks.com
Corey Freedman - www.skinboats.org
and click here for courses on which you can build a traditional kayak in North America.
For Europe, see also:
Kerlo Kayaks - www.kerlo.fr
PN Kayak (Italy). www.pnkayak.com
El Narcís - www.belone.net
and click here for courses on which you can build a traditional kayak in Europe.

Making folding kayaks:
Tom Yost - www.yostwerks.com or www.yostwerks.org

Making and sailing Pacific outrigger canoes:
Gary Dierking. He has an excellent website here

Other favourite websites

http://bertan.gipuzkoakultura.net. This site about Basque culture has some superb pages about the ships and boats of this maritime people. The English language pages are at http://bertan.gipuzkoakultura.net/23/ing/1.php

www.boat-links.com, John Kohnen's portal subtitled The Mother of All Maritime Links. It will take an enquiring mind practically everywhere in the maritime world.

Le Carré des Canotiers. In French, a lot of pictures, diary dates and news about boats for paddle, oar and sail from the distant past to the near future. Full of Gallic charm!

Kayakalo: Also in French. Lots of good things, including a list of 3500+ kayak launch sites in western Europe and Scandinavia.

Kayak.IM. A beautiful site put up by sea kayakers from the Isle of Man.

www.kayakfishingnz.com/forum. Pete McGhee was telling us about NZ paddlers' problems with sunstrike. Sunshine, eh... chance'd be a fine thing!

www.kayakpaddling.net. A helpful and fun animated kayaking course.

Letters from the Black Sea. Quirky, intelligent and tech-savvy. If you want to make a semi-pro Vimeo video of your kayaking trip, check out this couple's report of their sea kayak trip to the Danube delta in Romania.

Paddlers' Report. We don't generally carry links for purely commercial websites, other than manufacturers, shops and outdoor centers, but we rather like this one. And they asked us so nicely! www.paddlersreport.com

Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery. Just what it says.

Vikamus Virtual Museum of Kayaking (mainly in German)

Scicamps (portal to youth science camps in the USA)

Good sea kayak blogs

Listed by country.

Thank you to everybody who has written in so far to mention a good blog about sea kayaking or the marine environment. That's 31 so far. Our particular favourites are in bold.

Site name Mainly about Region Language
 
Vesla Outside Antarctic kayaking The Antarctic English
 
Alison Dyer Local paddling & local issues Canada (Newfoundland) English
Adventures on the Blue Local paddling Canada (Victoria, BC) English
Bojanic (or The Dao of Kayaking) Local paddling, gear, thoughts Canada (Nova Scotia) English
Canadian CKayaker Local paddling, hiking Canada (Quebec) English
Kayaking Dreaming Local paddling Canada (Newfoundland) English
OceanPAX Thoughts Canada (Vancouver Island) English
 
Havkajak Equipment, local paddling Denmark Danish
 
Le Kayak et La Mer Sea kayak magazine France French
Merci Pour le Kayak Armelle's blog. Lively, informative and with lots of cool photos. France French
Un Monde de Kayak Lots of information about equipment, raids, books, etc France French
pinkandy's weblog Equipment, kayak sailing France French
 
Qajaq Underground (Freya Hoffmeister) Ultra-long distance kayaking, rolling, equipment Germany English
 

Eko
(Marco Ferrario)

16 Mediterranean / Adriatic / Aegean sea kayak routes Italy Italian
 
Kajakroute (Peter) Kayaking news from round the world Netherlands English and Dutch versions
Kajakwoerden (Hans Heupink) Thoughts, equipment, events, local paddling Netherlands English
 
Paddle Pursuits (Jamie Stewart) Tips, equipment, entertainment New Zealand English
SeaLandAir (Sandy Ferguson) Making stuff (rudders, paddles, trolleys) and more New Zealand English
 
Havstril Paddelklub Club blog Norway (Austevoll) Norwegian
 
Manolo Pastoriza Local paddling, raids Spain (Galicia) Spanish
On Kayaks
(Ignacio Wenley Palacios)
Traditional kayaking, learning, thoughts Spain (Valencia) English
 
Björn Thomasson Design Equipment, local paddling Sweden English, Swedish
Kayakr Sea kayaking in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland Sweden English
Richard at Point 65 Equipment Sweden English, Swedish
 
Taiwan Kayaker No idea, but Leo seems like a nice guy! Taiwan Chinese
 
Volkan Kaya Equipment and local paddling Turkey Turkish
 
South West Sea Kayaking Local paddling UK (England) English
Paddling Orkney Local paddling UK (Scotland) English
Sea Kayak Photo Local paddling UK (Scotland) English
Simon Willis Scottish kayak trail UK (Scotland) English
Jimski's Blog Local paddling UK (Wales/England) English
Nigel Foster Worldwide paddling UK (Wales) English
 
Chicago Area Sea Kayaking Assn Club blog USA English
Dash Point Pirate Sea kayaking magazine USA (Washington State) English
Frogma Local paddling & local issues USA (New York) English
Go Kayak Now Surf kayaking USA (Michigan) English
Greenland Or Bust Traditional kayaking, symposia USA (California) English
Kayak Grrl Local & Greenland paddling USA? English
Sea Kayaking Dot Net Sea kayaking magazine USA? English
Silbs Says Thoughts, kayaking community USA English
Skinboat Journal Traditional kayaking USA? English

 

 

 

 

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