Books: Paddling 

Guests Never Leave Hungry: by James Sewid. Kwakiutl Indian history for Mamalillaculla area. Mainly done by University of Washington to study a man's success within the value systems of two cultures. Highly recommended if you have an interest in this history.

Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast: by Peter McGee. This book has more uptodate info than others as it is just published and it covers many valuable sites around the Pacific Northwest Coast, but the detail is lacking with on average only one paragraph about each site. Very slick and pertinent.

The Curve Of Time: by M. Wylie Blanchet. This is non-fiction that you can learn a lot from. The story is incredible, and some of the stops that this family makes are inspirational places to visit. Especially the stop at Mamalilaculla. Ghosts, bears, fog, tides, waves. Ms. Blanchet captures the mystery as well as the beauty of this place that is my personal favorite adventure spot in the world. I don't need to travel around the world with places like this next door.

Inside Passage: by Michael Modzelewski. This is another book about the Telegraph Cove area that I love so much. It mainly focuses on some of the wilder inhabitants of the area. It is incredible and you can visit all the places today if you get the sea kayaking skills together. The book is magic.

Day of Two Sunsets: by Michael Blades. True sea kayak adventures on Canada's West Coast. If you need to build your courage and confidence to test your skills in the wild pacific this book could help. I had to practice in the San Juans and read things like this before I could visit the Bunsby Islands, and Telegraph Cove. I made about twenty trips with my family before I took them to these advanced skill places with the wild weather and tides. They still talk about how wild it was, but it was worth it.

Paddle Routes: by Rich Landers and Dan Hansen. This book has much experience and editorial capability put in to our precious area which has lacked attention in the past. From Palouse Falls to Little Pend Oreille Lakes to Priest River there are lots of place to visit, carefully delineated for your pleasure.

Island Paddling: by Mary Ann Snowden. This book was my main guide to learning sea kayaking because the safest place to learn ocean skills is in the North Gulf Islands due to island protection afforded from the Strait of Georgia. Also its Sunshine Coast weather that allows nice temparatures in the dead of winter. This book guides you almost step by step from launching to getting permission from the natives, to being very careful with the strong tides. More than any book, you can trust its guidance.

Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation: by David Burch. This is the classic book on navigation. If anyone knows of a better treatise let me know. Navigation is crucial even with GPS units readily available for $150. You can't go to anywhere too interesting by yourself without understanding and practicing the basics of this book. A great investment.

The Coastal Kayaker's Manual: by Randall Washburne. If you could only buy one book to prepare you for sea experience in a kayak, this would be my suggestion. Its chapters are slim but cover the needed areas for survival and enjoyment of this sport. Safety, kayak types, design, performance, gear, accessories, clothing, transporting, storing, maintaining, launching, landing, paddling, bracing, wind, waves, capsize recovery skill, emergency signaling, hypothermia, nautical charts and navigation, tides, weather, list for trips.

Sea Kayaking Canada's West Coast: by Ince & Kottner. These authors left their jobs and spent two years paddling the west coast learning sea kayaking. They led me to want to try to paddle Bunsby and Telegraph Cove as not much information is available elsewhere on these two popular sites. I highly recommend this book for its day to day experience that seems to just soak into the reader.