Before you canoe or kayak to the Toronto Islands, read this
The urban paddling route we get asked about the most is from the city to the Toronto Islands, and those requests have only increased recently. Now that the warm weather is upon us, Torontonians are looking for safe activities they can do outdoors while getting some physical distancing space from their fellow city dwellers. While […]
2020 Paddling Film Festival World Premiere Roundup
One of our favourite “hard water season” traditions has become attending the premiere of Rapid Media’s Paddling Film Festival. Hosted by The Complete Paddler at The Royal Cinema in the heart of Little Italy in Toronto, the film festival often feels like the unofficial kick-off to trip planning season. It gives us permission to look […]
Paddling the River Liffey with City Kayak Dublin
On a December day, we lowered ourselves into the River Liffey, right next to the historic Jeannie Johnston tall ship – the only emigration vessel used during the famine said to have never lost the life of a passenger. In a similar vein, our guide Lee assured us that he’d never seen anyone tip in […]
The one thing you need to know to rent a kayak in Vancouver
I recently took a business trip to Vancouver. Upon arriving in my hotel room overlooking the harbour between the city and Stanley Park, I immediately wanted to rent a kayak. Little did I know my aspirations would be foiled because I lakced one crucial piece of knowledge. With a colder-than-usual spring in Toronto pushing back […]
Kayaking the Wisla River in Krakow, Poland
Kayaking down the Wisla River immediately to the south of the old town isn’t the most popular activity in Krakow, Poland in the middle of May – but it is possible. After asking a few locals who spoke English about where I could rent a kayak and eliciting some strange looks, I was eventually helpfully […]
Paddle The Don, 2012
In the five years that I’ve participated in Paddle the Don event, I often get a reaction of mock-horror whenever I explain it to someone. “What if you tip into the water?” they exclaim, as if this would be tantamount to plunging headfirst into a nuclear waste pool without a HazMat suit. Well two years […]
Kayaking to Billy Bishop Airport near the Toronto Islands
Usually paddlers are looking for a little bit of peace and quiet when they set out in a canoe or kayak. But when you live in the heart of a high-density urban area, that’s not always an option. Sometimes, rather than trying to squeeze the best nature experience you can get out of a city, […]
Kayaking the Black Canyon on Nevada’s Colorado River
It was 6 a.m. when the Desert Adventures company came to pick me up from my hotel. “Thank God I’m still on eastern time,” I thought to myself, “otherwise this would seem almost unreasonably early.” I was staying just off the main strip at the Clarion Hotel & Casino (now closed) just off the main […]