It’s April on the coast of Maine, and I’m upside-down underwater again. The ocean’s surface is a green gauze curtain swaying in the wind, and I can’t tell sideways from up. Think. I force my numb ...

Roll, roll, roll your boat, gently up the . . . Oh, hi! Excuse me for a moment while I blow this river water out of my nose. The world sure looks funny right-side-up. Have you seen my boat around here ...

The kayak’s precise origin story is murky, but sources credit various Indigenous groups of the far north — modern-day Alaska, Greenland and Siberia — with inventing the boat for hunting and fishing.

Sea kayaking may seem like a daunting adventure for a lot of people, but it can be absolutely beautiful and fun, especially if you are on the water in a gorgeous place with a good guide. I took my ...