It's powered by me and a paddle. Kayaks are a lot like canoes. They have come a long way in the past few years. This is a sit on top version as opposed to a sit in style. It's more like one of those stand up paddle boards you might see people using now, except I can sit and enjoy the scenery. From what I hear it is very stable. I'll figure that part out over the next couple months. Haha.