Guide books are not always easy to write if they cover a large area, so one written covering the world could be considered to be the most difficult, especially if you haven't been to the places you write about, which is the impression one gets with the book below. With those comments in mind, has anyone read "Sea Kayaking" by Jonathon Hanson? Written for "Outside - Adventure Travel". The question is, how much can be relied on to be correct? When picking up a book, technical or travel, the first thing I do is go to the bits I know something about (if there is something I might know) and if those bits appear correct, there's a possiblilty that most of the rest of it will be correct. In the case of the book mentioned, large parts of the section on New Zealand are incorrect or misleading - "...by ferry from Auckland on the North Island [to Picton].." (there never has been one from Auckland) "... the isthmus town of Portage .....start in Portage..." (firstly it isn't a town, there's a pub there, that's all, it is about 2 km from the other Sound and if you are to do the tour suggested, you would start in a totally different town and maybe get there if you wanted to divert there but sensibly you'd finish the suggested trip somewhere else and not go near Portage!!!) "...Milford Sound, heart of Fiordland National Park..." (it's on the norther boundary, not in the middle) "...and the frequency of sand beaches..." (of the hundreds of beaches, I can think of 4 or 5 with sand, all the rest are gravel at best or stones)... and so on.... The suggested rental outfitter for Scotland is one in Maine!! is this correct? With a website that doesn't exist yet (under construction - no data). Aren't there any locals? So that's New Zealand (and Scotland), how accurate are the rest of the descriptions for the other destinations? Alex . . Alex (Sandy) Ferguson Chemistry Department University of Canterbury New Zealand *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 6/24/2002 4:26:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, a.ferguson_at_chem.canterbury.ac.nz writes: > So that's New Zealand (and Scotland), how accurate are the rest of the > descriptions for the other destinations? I've been to both the Everglades and Baja, that are included in Hansen's book. However, I bought his book for an overview of many places and not for a desired accuracy of places contained therein. For example: The Everglades is not a 1 (of a possible 5) as far as a physical challenge. The navigation issues alone in the Everglades are worth more than that. When I visited there it was a 1 as far as the seas were concerned, maybe even a .25, but lots of folks say the seas on the outside crank up pretty fast when the wind blows. I think a 1 rating is deceptive to those who do not have the necessary trip planning experience to prepare for when it does. In my opinion, he should have stated the inside waterway was a 1 and the outside was whatever else he wished to give it. Secondly, Everglades City shares a boundary with the park and has at least two lodgings available. Hansen has Flamingo with the only digs. Last, power boaters should have been listed in the "Heads Up" primer as they whip through the channels quite fast and often the waterways are very narrow. Nigel Foster or Johnny Malloy have great Florida guide books and their info is superb. A private group hosts www.wildernesswaterway.com and it is really a great source of info that costs nothing but a thankyou. Hansen is a former Baja guide and he presents a good overview there. He recommends Andromeda Romao-Lax's book on Baja which is a must. Just looking over the book again makes me long for winter so I can go back down there. Still, I would have listed at least one Mexican kayaking company in the contacts section. He lists two American companies for guides. For a man who made a living as a guide in a foreign country and a large part of his reputation as well, I wonder why he wouldn't list commendable Mexican companies. I think the book is intended to be an aperitif, not a How To, on places to go. Any competent touring kayaker should spend a lot of time researching places they wish to go and rely on more than one source. Factual issues can be rectified that way. Thanks for the Heads Up on New Zealand. I'll call you instead! Rob G *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:29 PDT