Find the Perfect Outfit for Winter Kayaking and Paddle Boarding Manhattan Kayak is home to a dedicated group of fall-winter-spring paddlers who keep paddling in NYC when it’s cold. With solid skills, local navigation understanding, and paddle buddies, it’s certainly possible to enjoy NYC waters in the winter. What gear is most beloved by…
KAYAK AND PADDLE BOARD TO YOUR FLOW I have paddled my whole life in wonderful places throughout the world. This includes halfway around Australia, Alaska, Patagonia, The Galapagos Islands, British Virgin Islands, San Juan Islands, Scotland, Maine, SF Bay, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Kauai, Costa Rica, Brittany, Bavaria. Then, there are the thousands of miles in…
Dear Paddler, Cold season paddling can be a glorious joy! There’s a lack of traffic, unique angle of the light, and a sense you’re a step closer to a primal reality. That’s why MKC offers it. Fresh air and blue water creates a wonderful heart-nurturing exercise. Connecting to nature via water can ease our souls. Read about the Blue Mind. However, paddling in the cold requires awareness, preparation, and respect. AWARENESS: We are very aware of shorter daylight hours, wind, and temperatures because of the high risk of Hypothermia and Cold Shock. As a result, paddlers follow this rule of thumb: add air temp + water temp – wind chill. If the sum is 120 Fahrenheit or less, paddlers must wear special cold water gear. On an average autumn day, it’s 45 + 55 – 5 = 95….
Here’s a wonderful article on Manhattan Kayak and our SUP tours and history in SUP Magazine by Rebecca Parsons. Hope you enjoy it! -The Manhattan Kayak Team
When I founded Manhattan Kayak Company, I was a kayak snob. I believed that the sleek, sit-in-style kayak that hugged the body like a ski boot, making the boat an extension of my nervous system, plus the natural rhythm and efficiency of a two-bladed paddle, were superior to its canoeing cousins. My belief seemed to…
Which One Should You Choose: Kayak or SUP? If you are brand new to paddling and are conflicted about which paddling discipline to learn, I am here to help. As founder of Manhattan Kayak Co, I have a lot to share on this topic. First, for fitness: In both kayaking and SUP, learn to use…
Meeting of the Minds Will Taylor, editor of SUP The Mag, writes in his forward of Urban Reprieve: “Cities make me feel like a child when I do go -whether it is New York, Bangkok or Rome – I wander around in a daze, my senses indulging in the constant stimulation, my neck craned skyward…”. This reminded me of how I felt coming into NYC to work at my dad’s kayak shop on Union Square after I graduated from college at the University of Colorado. I would come home with him to the suburbs of New Jersey feeling dizzy from it all. In those days, the 1980’s, we often sold the famous Klepper Folding Kayaks to people who wanted to escape and find solace in the wilderness far from the city. NYC was not very paddle friendly at that time. However,…