Tsukada's routine involves squeezing into a dry suit before heading out on his 12-foot Hobie Outback — a pedal-powered, sit-on-top kayak that provides more stability than a typical sea kayak.

Hobie has been in the watercraft game for more than 60 years and has never been shy of experimentation, from new kinds of surfboard materials in the 1950s and 60s to rethinking kayaks for touring ...