Hi everyone!

I want to share a story about a 3 day kayaking trip I took with a close friend. We went to the Danube branches in the Csallóköz area, right on the border of Slovakia and Hungary. This is a place where there is no phone service at all, so we were totally offline.

Camping and Cooking I have been paddling in this area for 20 years, but it is still beautiful every time. We stayed for 2 nights and slept in a tent. For dinner, we cooked rice on a small gas stove and mixed it with olives and canned meat. It was simple, but we loved it.

The Scary Noise One night, right before we went to sleep, we heard a very loud noise. It sounded exactly like a gunshot. We were a bit scared, but we quickly realized it was just a thick tree branch that finally broke and fell to the ground.

The Storm and the Animals We moved our tent to a clearing in the forest for the second night because the weather forecast said a storm was coming. It turned out to be just a small storm with a little rain. At night, we could hear animals walking around our tent. Luckily, there are no bears or dangerous animals in this region, so we were safe.

The First Morning On the first day, we camped on a small peninsula near a summer house area. In the morning, some people told us that it was private property and camping was not allowed there. We told them we were already leaving. One of the photos I attached shows this beautiful spot.

It was a great trip in a wonderful place near the Gabčíkovo dam. It is the perfect spot if you want to enjoy nature.

When I bought my first kayak, I thought it would be just like motorcycling: a masculine hobby dominated by gear and raw strength. After a few sea kayaking trips, I realized how wrong I was.

Women on the water: surprising ratios

On my first guided tour, 7 out of the 13 people in the group were women. Later, while paddling along the coast of Sardinia and then circumnavigating Elba Island, I experienced the same thing. Women aren't just present; they are often in the majority.

Over time, I noticed something interesting: when I invite friends to go kayaking, women are often much quicker to say yes to such an adventure than men. Perhaps it's because kayaking isn't just about strength. It’s a blend of sport, nature, flow, and adventure—a combination that clearly appeals to many.

Something that never goes unnoticed: wood

There is one more thing that ensures I never stay invisible out there: my kayaks are made of wood. This is a relatively rare sight on the water, so whenever we run into other kayakers, they almost always stop to take a look. The questions start pouring in: What kind of wood is it? Who built it? How much work did it take? I personally love these spontaneous conversations, even if my paddling partners are sometimes itching to keep moving.

I’ve attached a few photos from my trips over the past few years. If you haven't tried kayaking yet, maybe it's time. You might soon realize why women are often the first to sign up.

What have you noticed on your trips? Are the ratios similar where you paddle? Also, I'm curious—have you ever encountered a wooden kayak on the water?

My First Wooden Kayak

Building our first wooden kayak was an exciting challenge. Two of my friends and I embarked on this big project together. We had our own woodworking CNC machine, so cutting the materials wasn’t an issue, but we needed a good design, and we had no prior knowledge of the manufacturing process.

I didn’t want to buy a ready-made plan because none of them really appealed to me, and I was also interested in the design process itself—I didn’t want to skip that part. After a lot of learning and experimenting, our first kayak finally came to life. We launched it with great excitement on Sept 7, 2013.

Surprisingly, it had excellent performance on the water, though looking back now, I can see its imperfections. Still, for a first attempt, it wasn’t bad at all! In fact, the experience inspired me to refine and further develop the design. Since then, this initial model has undergone significant improvements, and I have created other types as well.

Over time, my two friends moved on from the project, and for me, it remained a hobby. However, few things compare to the feeling of being out in nature in a kayak that I designed and built myself.