Over the past 5,000 years, kayaks have aided military maneuvers, achieved amazing feats of daring and endurance, and contributed to pop culture. Here are a few things you may not have known about your kayak.
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Kayaks
- During World War II, British Special Forces used kayaks for military raids. When U.S. Marines invaded Somalia in 1992, they paddled to the beach in order to evade detection from the throngs of reporters who had been tipped off about the mission.
- Before Pope John Paul II got the big job, he was a kayaker. In 1955, he entered a race on the Dunajec River in Poland, but it didn’t go well. His boat, a folding Klepper, sank just short of the finish. Perhaps a sign of a higher calling?
- The online travel site KAYAK.com was founded in 2004 with the not-so-catchy name Travel Search Company. “We liked KAYAK because few brands use the letter K,” explains chief marketing officer, Robert Birge, “it’s unique as a palindrome, and it’s easy to remember.” While you can book flights, hotels and cars on the site, you cannot buy or rent a kayak.
- Kayak, a Dutch progressive rock band, released their debut album, See See the Sun, in 1973. In 1978 they made it into the Cashbox Top 50 with a song called “Want You To Be Mine.” Kayak broke up a decade later after releasing nine albums.
- In 2009, Lez Paylor, co-owner of SheepPooPaper.com replaced the canvas skin of his Folbot kayak with paper made from sheep dung and waterproofed it with a soy-based marine resin. The design was not seaworthy, the paper started leaking after only five miles. Now that’s shitty.
Look at those handsome devils in Kayak. WOW.