• Age: 14
• Grade: 9

Written for paddlers of all skill levels, Sea Kayak Strokes is a concise and fully illustrated instructional manual detailing tips and suggestions for improving and maintaining overall paddling technique. This highly effective guide will help you paddle your kayak farther, more safely and with less effort. When you do 1,500 strokes per hour, small improvements in your technique make a big difference in your comfort, success and overall progress.

Author Doug Alderson, a regular contributor to Sea Kayaker magazine, author of two other books on sea kayaking is a nationally certified kayak instructor-trainer and year-round kayaker. Doug is the former associate editor of Florida Wildlife magazine, and he edited A Florida Wildlife Anthology: 1947-2003. His chapter on the St. Marks River is part of the Between Two Rivers anthology, published by the Red Hills Writers Project in 2004. Doug has also worked as a lobbyist for several environmental groups and as a naturalist for the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science. In between jobs, he has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, coordinated a walk across the United States from coast to coast, and he has backpacked across Europe. Doug is currently the Florida Paddling Trails Coordinator for Florida's Office of Greenways and Trails. He recently finished a three-year project scouting the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail, a 1,500-plus mile sea kayaking trail around the entire state. He is a member of the Heart of the Earth environmental council and he serves as a ceremonial leader at the White Earth Muskogee Creek Ceremonial Grounds. He lives south of Tallahassee with his wife, Cyndi, and daughter, Cheyenne.

Doug Alderson's profile page

Sea Kayak Strokes: A Guide to Efficient Paddling Skills

This is a clearly written and well-illustrated instructional manual, which would ideally be used to accompany a course led by a qualified coach, about paddling skills. The intent is to help kayakers of all skill levels by providing tips and suggestions for improving and maintaining paddling techniques. The focus is on the following strokes: forward, sweep, rudder, draw and blended. Also presented are instructions on edge control, bracing, brace turns and rolling. Each chapter follows a consistent format that introduces the topic focus and then presents aspects related to safety, application of and key points about the technique(s). Several exercises to improve efficiency are included in each chapter.

Alderson is a senior instructor/trainer in kayaking. He has also written Sea Kayak Around Vancouver Island and Sea Kayaker’s Savvy Paddler.