Long Island Paddling Guidebook Author Kevin Stiegelmaier Speaks at REI Soho, 7 PM, Thurs, 5/3/2012

Can't resist one more quick post here on my lunch hour to spread the word about Kevin Stiegelmaier's presentation this coming Thursday, 5/3/2012, at REI SoHo. Kevin contacted me & my friends at Sebago during the mean, mean winter of 2010-2011, looking to add a Jamaica Bay paddle to what was then a work-in-process, a guide to paddling Long Island. With the length of the island being 120 miles or so, and the coast being laced with inlets and marshes and bays (oh my!), this was a massive project, and we were happy to help out! Between the weather & other commitments it took us a couple of tries, but in the end a few of us joined Kevin for a very nice paddle to Broad Channel, which is always one of my favorite destinations in Jamaica Bay. Kevin took the picture above during that paddle, it's actually in the book, and I just love it - the thing I love about paddling to Broad Channel is that if you just dropped a person there out of the blue, they'd never in a million years guess that they were in New York City, they'd guess some rural little fishing town in Massachusetts or something like that (at least until the A train rattled by).

I haven't seen the book yet (although Kevin's sending me one soon, yay!) but with the time and effort Kevin put into producing it, I expect it'll be a prized addition to any local paddler's personal library - and if I hadn't already been signed up for the New York International Children's Film Festival 2nd "Annual" (plus a few months) Adults-Only Claymation Workshop, there's no way I would miss the chance to hear him talk about his now-complete-and-published guidebook, Paddling Long Island and New York City. This Thursday at REI SoHo. Click here for full details!

One More Space Shuttle Post

I'd met up with my sailing friend Chris on Friday morning - his mentioning that he was going to North Cove to watch the flyby was actually what gave me the idea that I might just want to take the morning off. We met on the south side of the entryway to the marina. Turned out another blogging friend had chosen a spot just a few yards south of where we were watching - I'd walked right past him on my way there, but I was looking for Chris, and Ric was looking down the harbor watching for the shuttle, so we didn't spot each other until Chris & I were leaving.

I was very happy to see him - partly because it's always nice to run into Ric, and partly because I knew that that would mean there would be some good video! There was, too - this time he'd shot video of the northbound flight & stills of the southbound. They came out well & they're now up The Old Salt Blog. Enjoy!

Fly-by Friday!

Well, that's not something you see every day!

I took the morning off from work to go down to North Cove and watch the Enterprise fly over NYC. Great views!

Space Shuttle Enterprise Arrives in NYC, a set on Flickr.

Oh, and the Enterprise wasn't the only ultra-cool rocket ship to admire at North Cove this morning...

Maserati, waiting for her weather window to try to bag the transatlantic record.

Note later in the day: My friend John H. waited for the shuttle near JFK and got some spectacular shots, which are now up on his blog, Control Geek.

Where to watch for the Space Shuttle Enterprise

Update, 12:25 pm, Thursday 4/26/2012 - I'd still watch the NYC Aviation site for changes but it's actually looking pretty good. The latest update on the forum thread was an "it's on" announcement from NASA, and I also checked in with my stormchasing friend John Huntington (interesting rant about the Tupac "hologram" over there today, btw - I hadn't ever gotten the full story but was somehow intrigued by the references more pop-savvy friends of mine had made on Facebook, so I enjoyed the explanation), who said " The winds are forecast to be pretty high, but they are forecast out of the NW, right down JFK's runway 31L... So my guess is it's still on". Being a weather geek as well as a control geek, his guess is usually good enough that I guess I'm going to go look at telephoto lenses for my Lumix after work tonight.

Weather permitting, we in the NYC area are in for a treat tomorrow (Friday, 4/27). The Space Shuttle Enterprise is on her way to join the exhibits at the Intrepid Air Sea and Space Museum and she gets flown in piggybacked on a 747 tomorrow. Prior to landing at JFK, they'll do a low-level circuit over NY, flying past the Statue of Liberty, up the Hudson to the Tappan Zee, back down to Manhattan, finishing with a big loop out over New Jersey, back over Long Island and then on down to JFK on the shores of Jamaica Bay. There's a great map of places to watch (kayak not required!) on nycaviation.com; they also give links to a Twitter feed where you can get the latest; for us non-tweety types, there's also a link to the thread on the site's forum where the plane folks are watching the situation closely and I bet any changes in schedule will be up there minutes after they are announced. Do keep an eye on the site if you're making plans to watch this tomorrow, from the talk on the forum it does sound like the winds may be a problem...

Shoot, in fact I just looked at NOAA & the forecast has gone from winds around 20 kts up to "Windy, with a northwest wind around 26 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph"...that doesn't sound good at all.

Well, whenever it happens, I'm planning on watching from my office in SoHo, where I think we'll have a decent view. Not only do I have permission to go up to the roof in the morning, but my bosses are both bummed out that they are out of the office (won't they be happy if it's postponed)!

Might have to go buy a telephoto lens for the Lumix for this one! :D

Thanks to Going Coastal and the Working Harbor Committee for doing a great job with the links & updates on Facebook!

Moving Day for PortSide NewYork (but unfortunately not the Mary A. Whalen herself)

Moving Day for PortSide NewYork, a set on Flickr.

flickr photo album from 4/14/2012 - helping move the PortSide NewYork office and maritime artifacts to the donated temporary office space at 145 Columbia Street.

The New York Times, btw, did run a very nice article just this last Sunday. Fingers still crossed & knocking wood that she finds a new home.