ABSTRACT
As Ray Rowe (1989) succinctly argues, paddling is “a primitive battle with a hostile environment” (p. 1) and, despite advances in building materials and a sophisticated understanding of hydrodynamics, this exploratory activity has not, he claims, changed a great deal since ancient times. By paddling a range of canoes and kayaks, humans have been able to navigate “the lakes, rivers, estuaries, coasts and oceans of the world” (Rowe 1989, p. 1). Using this idea as a starting point, this chapter examines how paddling has become a part of tourism, sport, and recreation, and the extent to which this claim can be supported. In particular, it develops a focus on kayaking, which is technically a subsection of the collective term “canoeing.”
