Happy New Year! In 2024, the Paddling Mag team covered some unforgettable tales. Our favorite stories included a kayaker who used a camp chair to fend off a polar bear, a canoeist who survived an underwater gunfight, a follow-up with the paddler nearly crushed by a whale in that jaw-dropping viral video (you know the one), and our picks for the greatest kayak expeditions of the century (so far). Below is a selection of 10 top stories that inspired the most discussion, debate and delight amongst the team in 2024. Enjoy! —Editors
1) Kayaker Fends Off Polar Bear With Camp Chair
Four kayakers navigate treacherous waters, towering icebergs and one of the densest polar bear populations on the planet, culminating in one dangerously close encounter:
“Instinct tells me to turn around. Urgently. The worst-case scenario is a polar bear right behind me, I think, not believing it as I write in my diary by the fire. I look over my shoulder, and two piercingly black eyes in a creamy white face meet mine. For a moment, I wonder if I am dreaming. Twenty meters away, dinnerplate-sized paws pad slowly but purposefully toward me.”
When four kayakers embark on a 1,000-kilometer journey along the remote coastline of Labrador, they navigate dangerous waters, towering icebergs, and the constant presence of polar bears. In this gripping first-person account, Justine Curgenven recounts a heart-pounding encounter with one of the planet’s top predators. Read more about the daring expedition and close call…
2) Canoeist Survives Underwater Gunfight On Amazon
John Bathgate was shot twice—here’s why he’s going back to finish the expedition:
John Bathgate was submerged beneath his attacker’s boat when he realized he’d been shot through the shoulder. His expedition partner, Ian Roberts, was still up above somewhere, along with the gun-wielding pirate. He and Roberts knew of the piracy problem along the Amazon River and even discussed what they’d do if attacked. Still—they never thought it’d happen to them.
The Amazon Summit to Sea Expedition began in early May 2023. Unlike other Amazon River paddling expeditions that sought to traverse the river from its farthest source to the Atlantic, Summit to Sea would begin from the highest source: Mount Chimborazo…
3) The Man With The Mushroom Kayak
The harbor of Long Beach, California has seen its share of remarkable vessels, but perhaps none as intriguing as the one Los Angeles artist Sam Shoemaker launched on its waters. Shoemaker recently caught the attention of social media with images of a full-size mushroom kayak grown in his studio and bravely brought to a marina adjacent to the second busiest port in the U.S. for a float test.
4) Orcas Investigate Kayakers
For as many kayakers and whales travel the ocean, it’s incredible just how magical the moment remains for the two groups to share an interaction. Now, imagine how it would feel to have an Orca swim right up to the side of your boat
When a group of kayak guides in New Zealand, who seek to show others whales and wildlife, actually came face to face with a pod of Orcas, even they had trouble finding the words to express the astonishment…
5) Outdoorsy Girls Are Mean Girls But We Don’t Have To Be
Sexism in the outdoors isn’t always from the direction you’d expect:
Last year at a wilderness medicine course, I shared a quick story about an incident with a bee sting to the neck on the water. A woman just a little older than me approached me afterward, wanting to know who I was and where I was from.
“I’m a sea kayaker too,” she said. “I guided for two years in the San Juan Islands.”
There were only three other women in the class of more than 25. We were the only two who had taken the course before, and I could tell she did not like me. She had approached me with the intent of comparing her guiding and outdoor resume to mine—to correct me on something I had shared.
I’m a fifth-year coastal kayaking guide and people often ask if I experience sexism in the outdoors. Yes and no, I respond, and never from the direction I expect it…
6) Meet The Kayaker Almost Crushed By A Whale In This Viral Video
How the near-death experience inspired Tom Mustill to investigate human-animal communication:
In September 2015, Mustill, an accomplished biologist and documentary filmmaker, was kayaking off the coast of Monterey, California, when a 30-ton humpback whale the size of a school bus breached and collided with his kayak, sending him and his paddling partner tumbling into the ocean. The dramatic moment, captured on video by a nearby whale-watching boat, has been viewed more than 6.6 million times…
7) Out In Front With Dan Dixon
The kayak instructor of 40 years has traveled the globe and has wild tales to share:
“I put the student out in front,” explains kayak instructor Dan Dixon. “They lead me down the river, and I let them get into anything I can get them out of.”
Three of us are kayaking down Section 9 of the French Broad, eddy hopping and joking along the way. Going first is Jean-Marc, an adventurer from Mexico City who has worked with Dan for five years. After decades of cenote diving, sailing and car racing, an accident forced Jean-Marc to have several vertebrae fused. So, he sought Dan’s guidance to adapt his paddling…
8) How To Make Portaging Great Again
“When it comes to load carriage, we’re awash in dubious improvements to what was very likely the first and simplest way to move stuff from one place to another: the tumpline. Back straps, external frames, internal frames, Trapper Nelsons, widgets, zippers, waist belts and chest straps—all came along after the tumpline and eclipsed the single head strap,” says James Raffan. But tumplines allow paddlers to carry a heavier load for a longer distance than anyone ever could with just shoulder straps…
9) Greatest Kayaking Expeditions Of The Century (So Far)
Following his successful transatlantic expedition, kayaker Peter Bray said, “If somebody says something can’t be done, I like to know why it can’t be done, and then prove it can be.” This sentiment echoes through the motivations of some of the most extraordinary kayaking expeditions, inspiring journeys that push not just physical and mental boundaries, but also the limits of what we believe is possible.
Drawing on the nominations from more than a dozen of today’s most accomplished expedition paddlers, we’ve curated a list of some of the most remarkable journeys by double blade in the past 25 years. While few of us will ever attempt such daring trips, these stories inspire us to question our own limits and fuel the spirit of adventure…
10) Last Call On The Klamath River
The world’s largest dam removal project has wiped out one of the West’s best summer rafting experiences. Here’s why that is a good thing:
Join writer Mary K. Miller on one of the last guided rafting trips on the Upper Klamath, taken on the cusp of its historic transformation. Construction has begun to demolish four aging dams on the river, in the world’s largest dam removal project. Its aim is to return historic salmon runs to the Klamath—once the second-largest in the lower 48 states—and free 400 river miles on one of the most culturally important rivers in the western United States. The implications for river enthusiasts will ripple for years to come. Find out why…
Sea kayakers at an ice cave on Lake Superior. | Feature Image: Maddy Marquardt.
