Hudson River Park User Survey

Today I would just like to share a link to a user survey that the Hudson River Park Trust has put up for the public. I filled this out a while ago after hearing about it from both the NYC Watertrail Association and PortSide NewYork on the very same afternoon; I meant to share it here but it slipped my mind until it appeared again today on the Lilac Preservation Project Facebook page. There's still time to fill it out, last day is March 6th. I of course went for historic ships and water access everywhere I could! Click here to visit the survey. Thanks!  

Hudson River Paddle Part 12: Day 7, Bringing It Home - Yonkers to Red Hook

Dawn at the Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club 

As usual, click on any picture for a better view.

Sunday, August 18th - My friends at Yonkers had offered to find me a place to stay for the night, but I'd said if it was OK, I'd rather stay at the clubhouse. This worked out wonderfully - I slept very well on the bench in the meeting room and I must have been excited all the way down to a subconcious level about the last day because for the first time in the entire trip, I could have skipped the alarm clock - it was set for 5 am as usual, and I woke up feeling completely rested, refreshed and eager to go at 4:50 am!

I dressed, had an energy bar for breakfast, collected the day hatch stuff and the other items I'd spread out to dry, re-packed my boat, re-filled my on-deck water bottles, and as a final step stashed my cell phone in a small drybag in the day hatch, where I could reach it easily, in case I needed to text TQ with any updates about what time he should meet me. I'd told him probably around 2 at Pier 40, assuming I would have the same slow start I'd had every other morning - I didn't send him an update from Yonkers even though I was finally getting on the water at the perfect time because I wanted a good cushion to play with in case of...oh, in case of whatever. 

I was on the water right around 6. The sunrise was lovely and a little bit later, there was a piece of a rainbow over the Palisades. 

Morning rainbow snippet

Looking back at where I'd been

The ebb had just been getting started as I got on the water and as I approached the northern tip of Manhattan, it was increasing. I swept under the George Washington Bridge so fast I barely got a shot of the Little Red Lighthouse (that being the seventh of the lighthouses I passed on my trip - the only one I didn't get a picture of was the Stony Point Lighthouse, which is up in the middle of Stony Point State Park, which I passed on my longest day on the river - even if I'd known exactly where it was I don't think I would've been inclined to make a stop to see it). 

Spuyten Duyvil, at the northern tip of Manhattan

Approaching the George Washington Bridge

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

"If you want the rainbow, you must have the rain" - yes, the rainbow over the Palisades did of course mean rain was headed my way, and that started right around the George Washington Bridge. I thought about pulling out the short-sleeved paddling jacket I'd had in the dayhatch for the entire trip, but decided that if I just kept paddling at a good clip that would keep me warm enough.

When I found myself approaching the water treatment facility at 125th St. before 8:30 am, I decided it was time to send TQ an updated ETA. There is a small dock at the Fairway market at 125th Street, and I pulled over there to get out the cell phone. I texted TQ that I was now expecting to be there closer to noon, then put the phone away and pushed back out into the current.

As I approached the north end of the mooring field at the 79th Street Boat Basin, I saw flashing paddles approaching along the seawall - turned out to be some of the women of New York Outrigger out for a morning training paddle - I shouted hello as they went by and told 'em where I was coming from and their steerswoman, Di, who (along with a lot of other NYO folks) is an old friend from my Pier 63 days, flashed me a thumbs up. 

New York Outrigger - IMUA!

I'd already been in a good mood whirling along this oh-so-familiar stretch of the North River (as the stretch of the Hudson that runs by Manhattan is known) and seeing the NYO gang made it even better. A second outrigger passed heading north a little bit later and then a little bit later still I heard "Hut-HO!" from behind me and glanced back to find the first boat out in the current and bearing down on me fast - of course I immediately went into a sprint and raced them until they swept inexorably by and I capitulated, calling out "You guys are too good, I can't keep up"! I thought to try to draft a little too late, put on a last burst but couldn't catch 'em, gave up watched them charge away, but that had put me in just a fantastic mood and although I went back to cruising speed I kept some of that energy as I passed by all the familiar landmarks from my Pier 63 days. 

79th St. Boat Basin, "garbage barge pier", the "Uptown Downtown Boathouse" (although I think there's a new occupant there since the Downtown Boathouse was able to move back to the new boathouse on their original downtown pier this year), the Intrepid, Circle Line, the barge at pier 66 where I kept my boats for my first few years of paddling, Chelsea Piers where I actually learned to paddle a kayak and also the home of Classic Harbor Lines, the tour boat company I worked for on a part-time basis for five very enjoyable years, the fireboat station at the Gansevoort Peninsula, and then all of the sudden there I was pulling into the embayment to the south of Pier 40 at...10:30 am??? Hmm.

Intrepid and submarine Growler - navy brat, had to say hi!

The barge at Pier 66, formerly at Pier 63, which is where I kept my boats until 2006. Thanks to John Krevey for giving us such a welcoming home at a time when paddling was still regarded somewhat nervously by the powers that be. We all miss you, John.

Classic Harbor Line fleet - I worked on the Manhattan (motor yacht) and the Adirondack (white-hulled schooner); the America 2.0 joined the fleet after I'd left to go sail Sunfish at Sebago. Lovely boats, and a good outfit to work for.

The Chelsea Piers embayment where I took my first kayak lesson from Manhattan Kayak Company in 1998. I wonder if I would've believed you if you told me how far (literally) I was going to take this kayaking thing!

Fireboat at the Gansevoort Peninsula

I had picked Pier 40 as a takeout for a couple of reasons. New York Kayak is based there and if I'd somehow turned into a total beast (in a good way) on my paddle and gotten back in 6 days, on Saturday, or if there'd been some big problem at TQ's pool on Sunday and he'd needed to go help take care of it, there would have been a safe place to keep my boat overnight, and I could have gone home on the subway. It's eminently achievable from Yonkers, conditions would've had to be really, really bad to keep me from getting there, and another practical consideration was that I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of crossing the area between the Battery and Governor's Island by myself.  That spot is basically a 5-way intersection for some very big, very fast traffic; I don't mind crossing in a group because a group is a little more visible and with more eyes you have a much better chance of spotting anything you'd need to avoid. But it was only 10:30, the ebb was still going strong, the traffic hadn't looked too heavy so far, I was feeling great, and the idea of finishing in my home borough of Brooklyn, at Valentino Park, which has been the launching and landing site for a lot of good adventures, was incredibly appealing.

I only got out of my boat to go tell Randy that I was OK and heading on south - I'd told him I expected to arrive on Sunday and I didn't want him to worry; turned out he wasn't even there but I left word I was fine with Carey, went back to my boat, pulled out the phone again and texted TQ, "I'm going to Red Hook!" - and the way things were going, my ETA was still noon!

World Financial Center with the new WTC 1 towering up behind

Ebb carried me on south beautifully; just as I approached the Battery, the Staten Island Ferry and a Statue of Liberty ferry pulled out, and the SeaStreak cruised by - that was actually perfect, that meant a number of the boats I'd been concerned about were just leaving the area; I did a good look around for tug-and-barge units and other big guys who I would need to avoid, didn't see any of those, so off I went. A couple of tour boats did pass as I scampered across to the red buoy just north of Governor's Island, but not close enough to cause me any worry. 

Looking back at Manhattan from the Buttermilk Channel

I crossed the Buttermilk Channel and stopped at the Mary A. Whalen to see if Carolina was by any chance out; didn't see her but shouted out "Ahoy the tanker!" and that brought her on deck to see who was yelling out there. Great fun sharing what I'd just done with her, she took that lovely picture of me about to finish, of course, and it turned out that with TQ coming to get me in a station wagon, we were going to be able help her move a little of the remaining heavy metal from her Heavy Metal fundraising sale, so that all worked out nicely and I was really glad I'd stopped by.

Carolina Salguero aboard the Mary A. Whalen, home of PortSide NewYork

Carolina's shot, me in the homestretch, very happy!

With a few more minutes to spare, I set out again - by now the flood seemed to be started in the Buttermilk Channel, but I didn't have far to go and by 12:10 I was pulling into the cove at Valentino Pier, where TQ was waiting for me. Hooray! 

Arriving at Valentino Park

We unpacked my boat, loaded up the car, and went and helped Carolina move her metal (which was indeed heavy, but we got the things she wanted shifted shifted in two trips). She gave me a shackle the size of my two fists together as a thank-you present, which I have sitting on the windowsill in the living room now, and offered to take us out for lunch. Now, ordinarily I would jump at lunch in Red Hook, there are some great restaurants there, but the weird thing was I wasn't particularly hungry, and the not-so-weird thing was that I could feel the mother of all nap attacks coming on, so we said thanks but no thanks. Took my boat to the club, offloaded that, then TQ helped me bring all of my gear up to my place. We agreed to meet for a sushi dinner later (we love sushi and I wanted to take him out as a thank-you, he'd taken a day off from work to come meet me) and after he took off, I sort of dealt with the gear, turning every bag upside down, dumping the contents on the floor, hanging a few things (the tent and the soggier paddling clothing) up in the bathroom, spreading the rest out so that at least nothing would fester. Then there was a sandwich, a shower, and a long and wonderful nap in my own bed. Good to be home!

Schooner Pioneer in the Buttermilk Channel

Google map, Day 7 - Yonkers to Red Hook, 20 miles.

Susan G. Komen Kayak For A Cure!

Oh, and now it's time to return to my usual cheery-burble mode, as promised! YAY!

I'd promised Nancy, one of our best local spokesfolks, incredibly active in both the Hudson River Watertrail Association and our local New York City Watertrail Association, that I would post about this - then I got all obsessive about posting every single scrap of news I heard about the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant situation and this got pushed to the back burner until Nancy sent out the following blurb over the local kayak e-grapevine today (and I'm posting it verbatim to encourage anyone who might be interested to sign up - as she says, it's sometimes hard to commit in advance, but this is the first time they're doing this and knowing in advance how many people are going to show will really help them make it the best event they can). Heeeere's Nancy!

*********************
HRWA is doing a fundraiser for the Susan G Komen Foundation to raise money to help fight breast cancer.The event will be Saturday, August 6th.It may sound familiar because I keep posting it everywhere! Seriously, I know that paddlers hate to be pinned down by conventions like "dates" and "times" and such, and that some (many?) of you are planning to come support the cause and enjoy a great day out paddling but prefer to wait until that morning to make the final call.

However, since we have to order race t-shirts and breakfast, snacks, drinks, and bbq with some idea of how many to expect (not to mention how many porta-potties to line up!) we'd really appreciate it if people can pre-register.

It starts in cold spring and finishes at annesville (near peekskill) and participants choose between a 16 mile race (long enough to be respectable but short enough not to hurt) and an 11 mile poker run (with the current so it should be an easy paddle, quite possibly suitable for bringing the family along) and then it all wraps up with a big bbq with live music, a raffle, awards ceremony, etc.

info is here: http://www.hrwa.org/pages/cure.shtml

The entry includes the race or poker run, breakfast, snacks, beverages, race t-shirt AND a donation of at least $20 (probably more) to the komen foundation - hrwa is not going to keep proceeds - everything above what we spend on food, "facilities", etc, will go to komen.this is the first year we're doing this event and we really hope to make it a tradition for hrwa to help raise funds ot fight a disease which has touched so many people we know, so please consider coming out and paddling that gorgeous stretch of the hudson for a great cause.(plus, the water there is less than 50% sewage.)

Thanks!nb

*************
I don't know if I can make it (I always seem to be overscheduled & overextended in the summertime, so many more things that I want to do than I can do) but I absolutely wanted to get it up here, because it sounds like a fantastic event. HRWA's been around for ages and has done SO much to advance the cause of (and amenities for) Hudson River paddlers; the Susan G. Komen foundation is also a well-respected group; the race is in the Hudson Highlands (my absolute favorite part of the Hudson River, spectacularly beautiful, inspiring artists and boaters since, oh, probably about the time that the glaciers finished with their carving-out of the Hudson's bed and retreated...I told you I was going to burble) and a big party at Annsville Creek afterwards -- what's not to love???

Hudson River Greenway also losing funding...

Oof. 4 posts in one day. 3 sort of serious. I will have to write some really atrocious poetry to get things back to normal...

But since I posted that notice about the press conference tomorrow, I wanted to post about another organization that stands to be lost to this year's budget cuts - the Hudson River Greenway.

I know these are hard times & it's hard to find places to cut budgets. I work in finance, my company's been doing it just like every other company, every city, every state, the whole country.

Things have to go. The trimming apparently has to go beyond the fat & into the meat.

But it's really hard for me, as a paddler, to see the Greenway falling under the axe. The idea is apparently that their work will be parcelled out among other agencies. But the Hudson is such a NY state treasure, I hate to see it turned into just extra duties for other agencies, where the best use & preservation has been under the eye of one deeply invested group.

As a paddler, I know that I am indebted to this group for the increasing ease of access for kayakers & rowers. They worked closely with the Hudson River Watertrail Association on creating the Watertrail. The Watertrail increased ease of access & encouraged the resurgence of human-powered boating all the way down to NY Harbor. It set an official precedent, saying "These recovering waters are valuable not just for commercial shipping, but for small recreational craft, just as the river used to be before we filled it so full of pollution that you couldn't go near it".

I don't think I was even living in NYC when work started on the Watertrail. I certainly hadn't discovered kayaking yet - if I was here, I still standing on top of seawalls, watching the water swirl by & assuming (like a proper child of Hawaii) that the only reason it would be so hard to get to the water would be because there was something terribly wrong with it.

Meanwhile, the people from whom I first learned to kayak were chipping out their tenuous toeholds on the river. I came into an NYC paddling scene that was gathering momentum, but still struggling - there were (and still are) those who didn't like the increasing recreational use of NY Harbor & the North River; there was (and still is) deep concern among public officials about the safety of kayaking & the insurance risk posed by public access - but the Watertrail Association and the early paddling & rowing groups & people were making a lot of progress & I joined a growing wave of people who were tasting the fruit of that early groundwork. 10 years later, we've got a real, full-grown paddling & rowing community with skilled paddlers who are eager to pass on what they've learned to newer paddlers, an actual New York City Watertrail & although there's always room for more learning & growth, human-powered boating seems to have gained a real acceptance as a legitimate use for NYC waters.

That's what's made NYC work for me. Without the boating, I don't know if I would've ever stayed in this city that long.

I owe a lot of people a debt for that, and people at the Greenway are among that group.

I'm not aware of any formal campaign to save the Greenway, but I did use the "Contact the Governor" website to voice my support. I'm never sure if that sort of thing makes a difference or not - but failure to speak up tends to be mistaken for acceptance.

For more about a wider range of work done by the Greenway, check out their website:

http://www.hudsongreenway.state.ny.us/

There's also a posting on the Hudson River Watertrail Association's site:

here it is...

And if you want to send an email to the governor about it, here's that Contact the Governor page I used.

Thus endeth the rant. I promise I shall strive to make my next few posts foolish & frivolous!

Another Hudson River loss.

I don't think I knew him, but I'd feel like I was somehow being disrespectful if I didn't at least mention the passing of Rob Taylor.

Scott Keller of the Hudson River Greenway Association posted the following to the NYCKayaker mailing list today:

Those of us in the north have lost a dear friend, as have paddlers in general. Rob Taylor managed five state parks on the Hudson River including, Peebles Island, Schodack Island, Hudson River Islands, Athens Boat Launch and Coxsackie Boat Launch since Schodack Island State Park opened. Rob was a big proponent of paddling in general and the Hudson River Water Trail in particular. All five of his parks were designatedas part of the Water Trail.

Rob was known for his creativity and for how hard he worked. He built Schodack Islands from a patch of dirt to a site with two boat launches(one on the HR and one on Schodack Creek), a pavilion, restrooms and miles of trails. Under his watch the launches at Coxsackie and Athens were completely rebuilt, and HR Islands Park was refurbished to a standard never before seen.

Part of the reason Rob was so committed to his work was he was a paddler and outdoorsman like the rest of us. He was a long-time volunteer in the NYS Parks Search and Rescue Team. For the past five years we organized a 3-day paddle and campout featuring Rob's parks as part of the Hudson River Valley Ramble.

Rob passed away unexpectedly at home last Thursday. His loss is for me, and for those who knew him, very difficult to handle. He will be sorely missed.

Don Yackel has a quick post about Rob as well, and is seeking others' recollections.

The Hudson is a long river. We at the southern end may never meet paddlers from Albany, Troy or beyond - but we're tied together by that river. There are a lot of great people who do a lot of great work to promote & preserve boating on the Hudson - most of them just do it because it's what they love; not seeking any particular fame from their actions, it's easy for people who aren't in their area to know about them - but what they do spills over. Rob worked for the good of NYS Parks on the Hudson River. The Hudson River Watertrail Association benefitted from his commitment. The Hudson River Watertrail Association has been a force in the growth of paddling & rowing on the Hudson; their work has led directly to better and better conditions & acceptance for human-powered boating in the New York City area, as evidenced by the creation of the New York City Watertrail. Clearly, even those of us down here in NYC who never had the good fortune to meet him, have gained something from his efforts.

I'm so sorry that I'm learning about him this way.

Good reminder of how we just never really know how things we do are going to touch other people's lives.

Good reason to keep trying to do good things, even if it sometimes seems like one person just can't make a dent. A lot of us don't ever get to the point of people like Rob, or Mike Davis, where we can know for sure we're making a difference - but we should trust that we do, and keep trying.

Public Hearing - Yonkers - Alexander Street Plan

Inside the Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club Boathouse

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

And what could be more romantic than a nice, cozy Public Hearing?

Terribly short notice of course but if you happen to live in the Yonkers vicinity, well, they're talkin' 'bout YOUR waterfront. The thing of particular interest to area kayakers is that the plan has been revised - at one point the Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club was in the plan at it's current location - this one talks about maybe moving them.

There also seems to be a wall of very big apartment buildings involved. ScenicHudson.org has a nice writeup on what they see as the good & bad points of the plan.

I'm not going to take a stance on this, I put out some feelers to friends in Yonkers and the range of responses I got ran the gamut from "the city likes us, this is just an oversight & it will all get worked out" to versions where the city has been jollying the club along until it was time to sell out to the developers. I expect the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes & I'm not in a position to find out, so I can't take sides.

But I may go try to hear for myself what's said (TQ & I were postponing Valentine's Day until the weekend anyways, Thursdays never work for us).

Full information about the meeting can be found here, on yonkersny.gov.

They're also taking comments, so even if you can't make the meeting, you can still say something. I'd sent a short note just saying I'm a fan of the YPRC to Daisy Colon, and she sent the following response -

Thank you for your comments. The public comments have been extended to Monday February 25th. The Yonkers Community Development Agency will also have another public hearing on Thursday February 14th at 6:30pm in the Ceremonial Courtroom.
Ps. I do believe that consideration to the Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club situation will be addressed.

Daisy Colon
Special Project Coordinator
Department of Planning & Development
87 Nepperhan Avenue, Room 312
Yonkers, NY 10701
(914) 377-6650 fax (914) 377-6672
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS
email: daisy.colon@yonkersny.gov


I think she meant the situation would be addressed at the meeting, not addressed as in "we're going to take care of it". I actually mistook it for the 2nd meaning & emailed some little burble of joy back & she immediately got back to me with "No guarantees!" & I realized I was possibly misreading it for the response I wanted to hear.

BTW to continue with our Dutch heritage discussion - which I'm thoroughly enjoying - Yonkers is another one, Jack G up at the YPRC told me it was originally the estate of the "Jonk heer", "the young heir" or "the young sir".

Very Interesting Press Release.

WOOHOO! Know how I'd mentioned there was some cool stuff going on on NYCKayaker?

Well, this just in today from the Hudson River Watertrail Association's Metropolitan Coordinator. Sounds like a good project. Glad I'm not coordinating, but I hope I'll be able to help 'em out some!

Later today I will also be posting the documents from my other favorite project, the Tribeca boathouse project spearheaded by Julie Nadel of CB1 with major input from the Downtown Boathouse later today - no time now BUT the Monday 3/12 meeting WILL be at 6, in the CB-1 office at 49-59 Chambers Street.

But this is just a fast cut & paste so I'm gonna go ahead & throw it out there.

The following is a press release from the NYC Parks Department.With this initiative, the Parks Department is expressing a commitment to maintain, enhance, and expand human-powered boating in NYC.The guide will be posted online to facilitate updates, and will be a free service. If you are interested in helping to collect information, survey conditions at sites, photograph area launches, submit day-trip ideas, and/or write narratives on the history, geology and points of interest along the trail, please see the contact information at the end.We will be getting started in the next few weeks and this project cannot happen without the input from our vibrant local paddling community. Please spread the word!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.nyc.gov/parks
PADDLING FROM PARK TO PARK Parks & Recreation Plans to Create a NYC Water Trail—Volunteers Wanted!

Before planes, trains and automobiles…it was boats that carried people from one place to another by way of rivers, lakes and oceans. New York City is surrounded by such bodies of water, yet its shorelines have been largely dominated by commerce and industry for centuries. One of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's highest priorities is to restore access to the City's waterfronts and interpret the rich history of its shoreline. "Throughout the city, parks along the shoreline are being built and renovated to reconnect the public with the water—Baretto Point Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Hudson River Park, Fort Totten Park and Fresh Kills Park to name just a few," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Among the amenities available at these parks, many have or plan to have canoe and kayak launches. To connect these sites and enhance the users' experience and safety, I have asked our Queens Borough Commissioner, Dorothy Lewandowski—a water sports enthusiast and an accomplished kayaker—to spearhead the initiative to create a NYC Water Trail." "As an avid kayaker, I am delighted that the opportunities for kayaking right in my own backyard are expanding," said Queens Borough Park Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. "And am thrilled to be working to create a comprehensive guide that will enable people to safely travel throughout the City via its waterways and to thoroughly enjoy their day at sea."

The NYC Water Trail will provide information on safe and legal access to the waters surrounding all five boroughs of New York City. The project will identify park launch sites, as well as connect those to non-park launch sites. The guide will also provide recreational, educational and scenic opportunities on each leg of the trail.

This spring and summer, Parks will be collecting information, surveying conditions, photographing, and writing narratives. There are currently 18 existing public canoe and kayak launch sites on parkland with an additional 11 sites in planning and nearly 20 identified as potential sites. Borough Commissioner Lewandowski plans to travel each leg, along with project volunteers, to document the trail. Once all of the information is gathered, work on the website development of the guide will begin—with hopes to launch in the spring of 2008. Parks will be working with the Hudson River Watertrail Association, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and American Canoe Association.

This project will rely on volunteers who understand and use the waters of New York City, as well as those who can provide information on the history, geology and points of interest along the trail. If you are interested in becoming involved in this project please contact Borough Commissioner Lewandowski's office at 718-520-5905.

For more information on existing canoe and kayak launch sites in New York City parks, visit www.nyc.gov/parks or call 311.Contact: Warner Johnston / Abigail Lootens (212) 360-1311

A Plug for NYCKayaker

I'd posted this to my old listserve after exchanging some emails with the folks from the Hudson River Paddler's Guild (no real website at that link as I post, been that way for a couple of months now, but now that they're done with the proposal, maybe it actually will be "coming soon") about the boathouse design group meeting and the importance of participating in the local paddler's grapevine this week - the trunk, if you will, of that grapevine being the long-established NYCKayaker list (yes, the very list that I used to regularly clog with my ramblings until I created this blog as a diversion - I still participate, and I do still ramble sometimes, but on the whole Frogma lets me keep my list posting to things with an actual point, or things that are too cool not to share).

I'm so happy to be out of the stupid musical-kayak-storage game, but I just can't seem to leave well enough alone. Guess I'm feeling a little antsy about hoping to get the people who aren't really in that grapevine INTO that grapevine now, because with 3 major storage facilities in play, this is really a time when I think that if all of the Hudson River Park paddlers could just pull together, it would be incredibly useful. Unfortunately I've managed to make enough of a pain of myself that I'm not in a great position to rally people to do that, but I couldn't not at least try. Posted it to the Rustbucket group yesterday, and figured I'd post it here too since the week's turned busy I don't see having much time to post anything here until Friday or so (work's busy, and there other non-work things that are mostly but not quite finished - no major blog writing until those are all the way finished). Anyways, here was yesterday's Rustbucket rally:

For anyone who's interested in what's going on in the New York City kayak & waterfront communities beyond the barge, the Hudson River Watertrail Association's NYCKayaker list has been pretty interesting this winter. There've been meeting announcements posted (most recently, Jim W. of the Downtown Boathouse organization had posted about the Tribeca boathouse design committee meeting that happened last Wednesday), there have been some extremely interesting discussions about the types of access people want (more than I realized); activist Harry J. Bubbins has been looking for emails to help stop the Randall's Island water park, Dragonsandy very happily announced this morning that the Jersey City Resevoir is being saved & turned into a park; Rob B. occasionally weighs in with beach & natural access news. On a purely fun note, the beaver story had some excellent stories being swapped -- beavers love to flood access roads by blocking culverts - they look at the road & say "What a lovely dam, but look, some silly person has left a big hole in it - let us finish this sloppy job!", and Ralph Diaz, Mr. Complete Folding Kayaker himself, shared a very funny tale of crafting & maintaining a "beaver deceiver" which allowed him and the beavers to co-exist for a long time (the sad ending, though, is that he had less patient & creative neighbors who called in the trapper - not a catch & release operation either, sad to say).

That's just a recent sampling of the topics. Lots going on out there beyond the barge. The NYCKayaker list is a great way to keep up with that, and a great place to bounce ideas around. In the end, it's still important to communicate the ideas that you think bounce in a promising way on out to the outside world (the Trust, government people, newspaper, community boards, wherever), but NYCKayaker has, in the past, been the incubator of some of the more effective actions of the paddling community as a whole.

That doesn't happen all the time of course, mostly just in response to major events or changes (like the Hudson River Park Trusts announcing Kayak Rules that basically said "No winter paddling, and no getting wet" - those got turned into "guidelines" PDQ when the NYCKayaker gang got hold of them & went to town). NYC paddlers are an awfully disparate crew, but every now & the differences just drops & everybody starts working together. When that happens, the outcome can be pretty neat

Some of the stuff that's been posted there has been making it over here, but not all. It can get a little nutso sometimes when somebody strikes a nerve & a debate breaks out & people start taking sides - but joining it is a good way to get a sense of the larger community of which all the groups at the barge are a part.

If you're interested, you can find a full description of the purpose of the list (and the guidelines which keep it all civil - well, usually ;D) here on the HRWA's website.