{"id":22155,"date":"2016-03-20T07:16:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-20T07:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unsponsored.co.uk\/press\/?p=22155"},"modified":"2026-02-23T20:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:32:14","slug":"can-u-kayak-maya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unsponsored.co.uk\/press\/can-u-kayak-maya\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsponsored Q&A – Can U Kayak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the last few weeks a young paddler has been blogging using Facebook as a platform. Her blog<\/a> has gained a following from elite paddlers like Lowri Davies<\/a> and Emily Jackson. This young female paddler is now inspiring others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unsponsored-Can-U-Kayak-Maya<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Blogging as Can U Kayak on Facebook<\/a> Maya writes: I just wanted to get my story out there, and this is how I can do it. My life it’s much different that other peoples. I have a condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which mean my joints dislocate and many other different things. Originally Can U Kayak<\/a> was anonymous, as the popularity has grown, this has become less so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We started to get people asking questions to Can U Kayak, proving that kayaking is not about famous names. Everyone can inspire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unsponsored-Can-U-Kayak-Maya<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How does it make you feel that such paddlers are following you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly over whelmed it’s amazing to be recognised by some of the most amazing female kayaking role models out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your blog is different to most because it’s not all about running the gnar. It’s about this girl can. What motivates you to write the blog?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love doing what I do and I want to encourage people to get out there and get paddling. I have some amazing friends and I have had some amazing adventures and holidays because of kayaking and awesome friends. But I want to promote female paddlers because it is mainly male paddlers out there. But I’ve been to many great kayaking clubs and met some great female paddlers but there needs to be more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Unsponsored-Can-U-Kayak-Maya<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You are openly a paddler with disabilities, how does this effect how and when you paddle?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My disabilities do make it harder for me to kayak because I can’t always paddle as long as I want to or even as often which is really annoying because I love paddling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I can’t paddle all the at all because of my disabilities. I have to get off the water some of the time because of a dislocated joint. But most of all kayaking is my life and I try and kayak as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 15 with a passion for kayaking where do you see yourself in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day I’d hope to own my own company, one day of outdoor education with the facilities for disabled paddlers. But one of my biggest dreams is to become a world champion freestyler and have my own kayak explorer team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age: 15 years old next month
\nHow long paddling: 8 years this year
\nCanoe or kayak: kayak definitely
\nFav boat and kit: My favourite boat so far has to be my Jackson Rockstar 2016 and my most used kit is Sweet Protection, Palm and Astral it’s all amazing kit
\nFave river: The Tryweryn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last few weeks a young paddler has been blogging using Facebook as a platform. Her blog has gained a following from elite paddlers like Lowri Davies and Emily Jackson. This young female paddler is now inspiring others. Blogging as Can U Kayak on Facebook Maya writes: I just wanted to get my story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[45],"tags":[4743,4744,965,4745],"class_list":["post-22155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qa","tag-can-u-kayak-maya","tag-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-eds","tag-kayaker","tag-maya-ray-cross"],"yoast_head":"\nUnsponsored Q&A - Can U Kayak - Unsponsored<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unsponsored.co.uk\/press\/can-u-kayak-maya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unsponsored Q&A - Can U Kayak - Unsponsored\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the last few weeks a young paddler has been blogging using Facebook as a platform. 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