Grand Re-Opening of the Kayak Dock At Governor's Island

There was some very good news for New York City kayakers (and people who aren't kayakers yet but would like to give it a try) announced by Graeme Burchall, current head of the Downtown Boathouse, on the local kayak email lists today - there will be an opening ceremony for the newly-installed kayak dock at Governor's Island on Wednesday. There was a kayak dock in the past -- the photos above and below were from City of Water Day 2011 -- but at some point it got damaged beyond repair and it took a lot of time, grant-writing, and hard work by Graeme and the DTBH crew to get it replaced.

They pulled it off, though, and now the DTBH will resume running their free kayaking in the embayment on weekends for the rest of their season. The dock will also serve as part of the New York City Watertrail, so more advanced kayakers will now be able to paddle to Governor's Island and land there when the island is open (the one request is that paddlers who arrive that way check in, as safety plans for the island do require the operators to know how many people are on the island at any given time; there will be a phone number posted at the dock that paddlers can call to do so).

Congratulations to the DTBH folks for bringing this beautiful location back into play! I can't make the opening shindig on Wednesday but for anyone who's interested, click here for details. Arrival by human-powered vessel encouraged but not required. Should be a fun event!