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Of the many contraptions invented to help us get from point A to point B, the pedal boat ranks somewhere near the bottom of the list, alongside the wonky-wheeled shopping cart. And yet, in a world where everything happens at such a dizzying pace, where we feel the need to squeeze the maximum out of every single minute, the pedal boat has slowly but surely captured my heart. While some look down on it, to me it just might be the most subversive transport mechanism of our time.
First of all, the pedal boat doesn’t go anywhere. Well, not really.
The pedal boat offers an almost indecent degree of luxury: the ability to turn in circles. It lets us paddle to that big rock in the middle of the lake, turn back around, and drift away from the dock without ever losing sight of the shoreline. Whatever. The journey is the reward, not the destination. The destination is an afterthought, if it even exists at all.
And then there’s the cooperation aspect. You’ll almost never see someone pedalling alone.
The pedal boat is an ode to shared effort and pace. Two bodies working as one, not to beat some Olympic record but just to propel themselves forward, a few feet at a time. It’s a lesson in patience and an exercise in non-violent communication (though maybe not always successful).
But one thing is for certain: pedal boating is never about performance.
There’s no app to measure how far you’ve travelled. Nobody posts their pedal boat ride on Strava. You won’t go fast and you won’t build muscle. It’s not sexy, it’s not the latest fad. It hasn’t changed since its invention. It’s just sitting there, with a little puddle of funky smelling rainwater, the colour of its plastic washed out by the noonday sun - it’s actually kind of pathetic looking! And that’s precisely why it’s revolutionary.
In today’s popular culture, the pedal boat is the butt of jokes. It is the vehicle of choice for fools in love and tourists that are too scared to try kayaking. It’s not the stuff of epic tales, but of lame summer comedies playing at the local movie theatre. No one has ever crossed the Atlantic in a pedal boat; at least, no one who has lived to tell the tale.
The pedal boat goes slowly. It lets you observe what’s around you, and listen. It’s not noisy. It doesn’t make waves. It reminds us of what movement was like before the advent of speed: a way of being present.
So, yeah - the pedal boat is laughable. And inefficient. But if we’re looking for a symbol of the longing to slow down that many of us have, I’ve settled on my faithful steed. The only drawback? It’s made of plastic.
Maybe the future won’t be motorized. Maybe pedal power will rule the day, or even better, pedal boat power.
Who’s with me?
