From The "Mascots That Probably Won't Fly" Files

Introducing Growly the Safe Boating Growler!

Growly Says "Always Wear Your Lifejacket!"
...
Actually Growly was just being insulated while awaiting the return of thirsty boaters from the bay, 'cause Growly's thermal hamper got co-opted for tamales. The Paddling Chef discovered that a baby lifejacket was the perfect size to make a growler coozy. Brilliant!



We had a beautiful morning of paddling. It was warm and sunny, although quite breezy; Steve had proposed a shortish paddle, nothing extravagant, just something like Ruffle Bar and back.

With an overly-frolicsome wind on the beam (annoying for paddling) when we got out to the bay, we changed that a bit & headed for Floyd Bennett Field, staying more in the shelter of the shore.


We took our lunch break here, on a nice little beach that's very sheltered from a west wind. I won't lie and say it felt tropical or anything, but this was the first paddle in some time where it was warm enough that getting out of my boat & sitting down for a relaxed lunch actually felt good. Sweet. And to make an enjoyable lunch break even better, those tamales I mentioned? Well, Steve had spotted our favorite local tamale lady walking with her cart on his way to pick me up and had pulled over and bought a dozen to share. The tamale lady usually sells at a certain spot on Sundays so it's usually only Sunday paddles when we'll have tamales, so this was a nice surprise.


And Steve's plan for a shorter paddle turned out to be the perfect one for the day - the glorious weather window into which we launched slid shut as we closed in on the Paerdegat after maybe 6 miles on the water. With the warm sun suddenly gone & the gusty wind feeling a little more severe, we abandoned plans for a rolling session and hustled on back to Growly, who was patiently (and safely!) awaiting our return.

Ah, spring boating.