First Real Sail of 2011

TQ and I had taken out a Sunfish together for a little while at the end of the Open House, but now he's taken the Sebago Sailing Course & is qualified to sail his own! Two in a Sunfish may sound cute but honestly, we both think that works better if the parties in question are around 10 years old. This was my first real sail of the year (frostbiting pretty much got canned this year because conditions in March, when I started last year, were a little rough this year, and I also had to paddle to get ready for my instructor certification exam), and TQ's debut as a Level 3 sailor (certified to solo in Sunfish), and it was just as much fun as we always thought it would be.

Out from the Paerdegat!

We'd originally planned to do this on Friday (I took a day off and TQ works a day that starts and finishes early), but the weather forecast was looking a little iffy, and since we were taking the special lightning-rod equipped boats, we decided to wait for Saturday. Good call, the lightning never materialized but it was sort of cold & clammy Friday evening - Saturday was spectacular. Added bonus - our friend Chris showed up, he was planning a shakedown cruise in his sweet little Phil Bolger-built Melonseed Skiff - his wife was joining him for the Sunday cruise (which TQ & I were also going to go on until we decided to go help out with a trip leader workshop instead, we need trip leaders SO badly!) and he wanted to get all the first-trip-of-the-season rigging glitches & such worked out beforehand. It's always a pleasure to sail with Chris - but this time it was a particular relief. His Melonseed is designed to be rowed as well as sailed - and he offered, if necessary, to give us a tow out. We'd gotten to the club a bit earlier than he did, so we went ahead and launched ahead of him, figuring we'd take some time to warm up in the basin. It took him some time to rig & launch, though (entire point of a shakedown - you take the time to make everything right), and eventually I asked TQ if he wanted to go ahead & start trying to get out. I'd gone right up to the exit at one point & I wasn't sure how it was going to work; it was flooding so the current was going to push us back in but aside from one dead spot just inside the basin, there looked to be breeze. I figured we could start working on it & if we got out, yay, and if not, Chris would eventually turn up give us a tow. TQ was game so off we went, down the chute!


tacktacktacktacktacktacktack!

The new bridge is going to make the lives of Sebago sailors MUCH simpler (the old one had pretty closely-spaced footings and just being able to get through going upwind was the biggest challenge of a novice's skill - I'm envisioning the old one living on every time those of us who had to deal with that get to talking story with sailors who learn after the old one's gone - "Why, when I learned to sail here...") but in the meantime -- well, I'm hoping you get the idea from this cropped version. At this point, EVERYONE has to go out the main channel - there's a barge parked inside, and then 2 outside, parallel to each other. Fortunately most of the motorboats are very patient, because once you've gone into the tunnel, there's nothing you can do but tacktacktacktacktack. You can see a motorboat waiting patiently for TQ. We both had to evade one that pretty much decided that he wanted to come in and he wasn't waiting for no stupid sailboats - I was between the barges and only had a few more tacks - he forced me to fall off & run down to where I could duck in behind "Alfafa", where there's a space that is big enough to circle in; TQ just got off to the side & went into irons. I love the guys who were working on the bridge - they'd been cheering us on as we were working our way out and I didn't hear the entire discussion but it sounded like they gave the guy what-for! The other boats were FAR more patient (thank goodness) and gave us the time we needed - and yes, we both made it on our own!


It's hard to describe just how lovely it felt to finally make that last tack to clear the barges & go tearing off into the bay! The breeze was absolutely PERFECT for a first sail of the season - the sun was shining, the spray was flying, the boats were flying, but everything was under control. Woohoo! In this picture I'm actually going back to rejoin TQ after taking off on a really fabulous plane - think it was one of the longer ones I've done going upwind.

TQ was doing great too - also well within his comfort level & having a great time. I think he did better with his lesson than I did with mine - Holly the Sailing Chair actually said his class was one of the best she'd ever seen, every single student grasped things quickly enough that they were ALL able to do courses & drills by the end. Me, I could barely tack around a buoy! Now, my class did have rougher conditions - winds gusting to 17 kts, and VERY gusty - but TQ had also done a lot more messing around with small sailing craft than I had. He really didn't think he'd be good at it because he'd never quite sorted things out by himself when he was doing things like playing with a Sunfish as a kid - but maybe that gave him some sense of how they move, and how you move around in them. Whatever the cause, he had a really excellent class and we had a great sail.


"Whoa nelly!"

The best sailing days aren't always the best picture-taking days - I left this in because it sort of cracks me up. We'd decided to make our inaugural sail a pretty short one & just go to Canarsie Pol. I didn't take any pictures from the time when TQ was tacking through the bridge until the time when I turned to go back to TQ after my sweet plane ride because going close-hauled really took two hands! I'd fallen off to go back to TQ, took those 2 prior pictures - didn't put the camera away as I headed back up towards the Pol, thinking maybe I could catch up & get another picture. This picture is a great demonstration of how well that worked!

Chris had caught up with us in the meantime & joined us on Canarsie Pol. He needed to re-rig, something wasn't running right, TQ helped him out with that. Never got any pictures of the Melonseed under sail - hopefully we'll have plenty of other chances!


Study in Red White and Blue (and Green and Tan).

Nice lunch break.


Tadaa!

TQ sailing off after lunch.


Running home.


Another nice thing about a Saturday sail --

Friends are at the club & suggest dinner at Nick's Lobster Dock!


Sometimes you just have to get the lobster.



Sunset on Mill Basin, and the end (almost) of a perfect day.

The coda - the friends who proposed Nick's then took us to visit their sailboat, a C&C 25 I think it is, at a nearby marina. They are waiting for an engine part, so it was just a visit, but I'm really looking forward to doing a trip report entitled "Sailing Mischief" one of these days!

A Challenge For Bowsprite

Spam Musubi Art (If You Don't Mind Stretching the Definition Of "Art" Quite A Bit).

By me.

Because Bowsprite says SPAM reminds her of me. So if that's how it is, I think that she should have the full Spam Musubi Experience. Pick an evening, Bowsprite, any weekday (not this Friday, 'cause me and TQ have a date with a pair of Sunfish, but pretty much any other day in the next couple of weeks should work). We'll go to L&L & I'll introduce you to this very special fusion cuisine!

:D

New York Harbor Time Lapse

OK - are you tired of politics now? Ready for something fun? Check this out! High-def and full-screen recommended & don't blink around 0:16 or you'll miss the Half Moon!

P.S. - Is it corny that I would really like to slap a high-speed instrumental version of "New York, New York" on that puppy?

Lake George Case Update: A Fast Response from Saratoga County D.A. Jim Murphy

It can't have been 2 hours ago that I sent a comment. Here's a response already - and an encouraging one too!
****************************
Dear Bonnie,

Thanks for your email and for your interest. I too am a kayaker and was stunned to read the judge's decision and the court's incredibly strict and narrow interpretation of the Navigation Law. We have decided to pursue a statutory change to affect all New Yorkers by amending the Navigation Law in next year's legislative session. As you probably are aware this year's session is only days away from recess. We have spent the last few months speaking with the widow of the deceased kayaker and determining whether we would appeal the case to a higher court. Based on those conversations and for her personal reasons we decided not to pursue that avenue. We think that a legislative change is a more appropriate fix and will have a longer lasting and widespread impact should we be successful.

We are in the process of drafting language that would be suggested statutory language to amend the Navigation Law that we hope will be submitted by a group of interested assemblypersons and senators this fall. We'll start with our area representatives who are aware of this case and who we anticipate will be supportive. After that, we would welcome any help blogs or publications like yours could provide.

Thank you again. Regards,

Hon. James A. Murphy, III
Saratoga County District Attorney
Director and Past Chairperson,
NYS District Attorney's Association

Municipal Center
25 West High Street
Ballston Spa, New York 12020

Office: 518-885-2263
Fax: 518-884-8627
Email: jmurphy@saratogacountyny.gov
Web: www.jimmurphyda.com
********
The contact form on the website clearly worked fine, btw! Click here for that. This pretty much answered my question - it'll definitely be something interesting to watch for in the next session!

If I get any more updates, I'll put them up right away.

What's to be done? Revisiting the Lake George case.

Excuse me while I take a moment to get serious here, but I've been having an email discussion with a friend who can be a bit of a gadfly & as gadflies sometimes do, he's gotten me thinking and I would just like to mull over some of those thoughts here.

I think that a lot of people who read this blog remember the case I'm talking about - there were a couple of weeks where it seemed like that was the only thing that was being discussed on Facebook & the boating blogs, but for anyone who missed it, here was the story (and I'm going to try to keep it very simple, I'll add my own opinions after the basic description):

A little over a year ago, there was a collision between a motorboat and a kayaker on Lake George. The kayaker died. The motorboat driver was initially charged with reckless operation, a misdemeanor, but after hearing much testimony, the grand jury chose to indict on a lesser charge of failing to yield the right of way (using the "rules of the road" as defined in NYS Navigation Law).

The case was sent to court on that basis and last April, the local kayak community was set electronically a-roar when the judge ruled that the motorboat driver was innocent of all charges because kayaks are not considered vessels under NYS navigation laws.

Of course the area papers were all over it very quickly - and giving about as much background information as I just did. For a kayaker who first became acquainted with the story at that time (as I did when a friend posted it on my Facebook wall), it was the easiest thing in the world to fill in those blank outlines with our worst fears and prejudices - some knucklehead yay-hoo at the wheel, defended by some shyster lawyer and some half-asleep judge who didn't care enough to see justice done...

Except that it really wasn't like that at all. The first blow to my instant ugly picture came because the first thing I tend to do when I see a story involving a certain interpretation of a set of rules is to go look at the rules. I'm no lawyer but back in the testing days, I did pretty well in tests of reading comprehension and I still trust myself to read things correctly as long as I take the time to sit down and read them carefully. NYS navigation law is a pretty long document but there's a nice clear table of contents & if you follow it it actually ends up being very easy to find the exact bit that -- yes -- completely excludes canoes and rowboats from the Navigation Rules! I couldn't believe what I was seeing because I went looking with the assumption that we are SO covered - but there it was, right on what would've been the first page if I'd been looking at a hard copy!

Article 1, § 2, line 6-(c) "Pleasure vessel" shall mean and include every vessel not within the classification of public vessel or residential vessel. However, the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to rowboats and canoes except as otherwise expressly provided.

With that in mind, I then headed on down to Article 4, § 41, Pilot rules, where sure enough, there was no express provision extending any role whatsoever to paddlers & rowers in the right-of-way hierarchy. There are other provisions which mean that the judge's decision certainly isn't the declaration of open season on us teenyboaters, but...yes, we just don't count in the NYS version of the rules of the road.

Bizarre, but true, and a real eye-opener - but I still didn't have any real picture of what had happened until I took that info into a discussion that was going on on another friend's wall and involved a number of real-world friends. It was in that discussion where I finally got a better picture of what might had happened - someone who actually lived in the Lake George area basically came in & started talking about not the yay-hoo I think we were all picturing, but a responsible boater who was absolutely distraught after hitting a paddler on a windy, choppy day of the exact sort when most of us kayakers know we are very hard to see.

It was at that point that I went & found earlier versions of the story that were reported in a much less sensationalist style - like this one in the Albany Times-Union, which described a perfect setup for an accident, a terrible one but an accident - novice kayakers, carrying but not wearing lifejackets, paddling out onto a placid-seeming lake & then being caught out too far as the weather suddenly turned nasty on them. Detail that really got me - as soon as he realized he'd actually hit a paddler, the motorboat driver (who had 55 years of experience & a perfectly clean record) jumped overboard to help look for the victim, and stayed in so long that he himself had to be treated for hypothermia.

That is not the act of a person who doesn't care, and I think it was when I was reading that that I decided that I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon and do a blog post about it. I just didn't see what I could say

So why on earth am I doing one now?

Well - because my friend Chuck was asking what I was doing, and I got to wondering if there was anything that was worth doing, and I started thinking that if there was a silver lining in this tragic case, it was that this bizarre loophole has been brought to wide public attention.

And the last article I saw about the case was perhaps the one that was the most interesting, and that's the one I thought I might bring back to people's attention. The fascinating coda of the case?

"Both the prosecutor and defense lawyer in a case against a man whose motorboat killed a kayaker say the case demonstrates the need for changes in navigation law to protect paddlers."

Full article here.

I don't know if there's anything we paddlers and rowers can do to express support or urge action. I still think the 2 best navigation rules for paddlers are informal ones that will never appear in a law book - the Law of Gross Tonnage (the bigger boat is always gonna win in a contact situation) and the Law of Assumed Invisibility (do everything practical that you can to be seen, and then assume that nobody does anyways)-- but it does seem like with human-powered vessels being SO much more common now than they were when the Navigation Rules were written, this business of the pilot rules excluding them seems like something that should be revisited and (hopefully) revised.

Anyone have any thoughts, or any more recent information? I'd be genuinely interested in reading it - mid-April seems so long ago and once the initial flurry of shock at the ruling was over, it seems like the whole thing faded fast.

It would be a shame if the loss of public interest meant that the opportunity that was opened up by the case ended up closing without anything happening - I'm hoping that things are still moving in the right direction even without the attention of the social network (sometimes they do).

If a weird rule falls in the forest, and nobody blogs about it, does it make a noise?

Lunch hour note, following day: Well, there have been some very good thoughts & suggestions in the comments - totally worth a read. I have already somewhat acted on Buck's suggestion that paddlers who would like to be included in the pilot rules (even if it's at the bottom of the right-of-way hierarchy, as we might well end up being) should contact their assemblymen & senators - I will do that too, but first, I sent a comment to the office of the Saratoga County D.A., who is the one who was saying that he was considering lobbying to have the law changed. That seemed like a good place to start. My comment was pretty short - I just asked if he was still pursuing that & that as a NYS kayaker, I support revising the rules. If I hear anything back about where that is, I'll post it here. If anyone else wants to do the same, click here to go to D.A. Murphy's comment form. It only takes a moment. Thanks!

Palisades Hike

It was a busy weekend. Saturday, we went up to Lake Sebago for the first aid class that TQ & I both needed before the American Canoe Association considers us fully certified Level 4 coaches (now pending only the sending of the instructor's official letter to the ACA, which I will probably do from work) - we also had a very nice paddle, originally that wasn't part of the plan but a friend needed a ride, and she wanted to paddle, and with this being TQ's first time at the lake, and my first visit in a very long time, we decided that was a good idea.

I tried a self-rescue in my new hybrid lifejacket - uninflated, there was clearly less flotation but it did hold my head completely clear of the water. I was still able lift to the bow of my boat high enough to mostly empty it - that was nice to know, that's a manuever that I was afraid the lack of flotation was going to make harder.

No inflation test yet, I'll do that sometime when we don't need to be all dried off & ready to learn at 1 pm. Oh, I do plan to ask someone to videotape that - could be entertaining!

This made for a very long day cooped up inside for the dogs, and they were very very good, and TQ hadn't been able to exercise them as much as he usually does during the week. Today being a glorious day, we decided to treat them to a good hike - and the Palisades were a treat for all of us. Gorgeous day, as you'll see if you watch the (mercifully and unusually) short slidehow!

One Heckuvah Swim, Camping in Brooklyn and -- A Sunfish For My Dad?

Links 1 through 3 - Wet Feat!:

If you are on Facebook, you already may have seen some of my raves about a truly amazing athletic feat that was accomplished on Wednesday. A swimmer by the name of Liz Fry swam from Manhattan to Sandy Hook, NJ and then BACK TO MANHATTAN. Holy cow. There's a short article with details here, you can see her route here, and Vladimir (whose pictures I've posted here before - this can't have been too different from paddling with that dolphin!) got great shots. BTW, the GPS track is actually a little longer than the swim was 'cause it was on Vlad's boat, and he kept going up to New York Kayak, where he stores his boat).

The fact that somebody swam this absolutely blows me away because I paddled the same route once. It wasn't the longest day paddle I've ever done (that was probably a paddle to the Tappan Zee Bridge, somewhere around 50 miles) but it was by far the most challenging. If you're on Facebook and you missed my description & are curious, I shared my recollections here.

Incredible.

Link 4:

The one thing that would have taken the trip to Sandy Hook that I did from one of the hairier trips I've ever done (TQ likes to say that it's not an adventure until something goes wrong; by that rule, this was an adventure times four or so) to one of the most spectacular trips would have been A CAMPSITE AT SANDY HOOK. My gosh. It was Fall, it was a beautiful day, we got to Sandy Hook late in the afternoon and it would have been nothing short of heavenly if we'd been able to pitch some tents, cook dinner, talk story under the stars, fall asleep to the sound of the waves of the beach and then wake up in the morning & paddle back. As it was, we had about a half-hour to stretch legs & then back in the boats to do again (and this time in the dark). Well...I hope I haven't gotten anyone TOO excited, because NO, there is still not a campground at Sandy Hook, and I don't know anything about it if there are any plans that way.

But there IS going to be a public campsite opening up at Floyd Bennett, which is in the Gateway National Recreation Area. There's been camping there for a long time, but only for organized youth groups; the one exception I know of when adults unencumbered by packs of children for whom they have agreed to be responsible (yikes) are allowed is the annual fishing tournament. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I may have heard a rumor or two about the new development - but this was the first formal announcement I saw.

I don't know if I'd kayak camp there for the sake of kayak camping there - it's almost too close to the club to bother when we've got places like the Norwalk Islands not too far away - but I'm already thinking about how Sebago could offer a Kayak Camping 101 class. Be a great intro for anybody who's thinking about it & wants to have a nice low-pressure, low-risk trip to figure things out.

And if the Floyd Bennett site goes well, maybe someday they might consider other places in Gateway.
***********

I was going to add another link, but it's getting a bit late and I'm actually feeling sleepy instead of insomniacal. Plus I need to buy a prop for the other link (hee hee hee) and I didn't have time to go buy it tonight because I decided to go up to Macy's to sign up to win my dad a Sunfish! Behold, my father's possible future boat:

And being the good and loving daughter that I am, I will even offer to store the boat at Sebago - out of my own pocket & everything - until such time as he can arrange to come and collect it!

Want to lessen my chances of winning? That's OK, it's actually quite a nifty giveaway, at least if you happen to live near one of the 2 stores where this Macy's/Nautica joint promotion is going on. You don't even have to buy anything - just stop by either Macy's in Herald Square or Macy's in Dadeland, Florida before Father's Day and look for the peppermint sail!

(PS - note to my dad - I'm only half kidding about you coming and getting it...)

Purple Kitteh

Because he came out sort of cute, even though he's a lot simpler than most of my clay critters (I'd found a block of clay with googly eyes in the giveaway bin & was trying to decide what to make - made a couple of preliminary pinches & thought "Hey, that looks like a kitty!") and because the top post for the last day has been a pretty grumpy one & I wanted to lighten up. I have something real & very cool to post about later but I thought I'd just let the purple kitty be here for a little while.

BTW, I was so intent on getting out the message about not buying from the illegal vendors around the WTC, I forgot to say that that is going to be one impressive building - according to the pictures I've seen, it's going to continue to grow until the diagonals converge in a point. And it's already pretty tall - I was in fact amazed at how fast it's going up - I'm not down there that often but I feel like it can't have been more than a few months since I was last through the area!

The New 1 World Trade Center ("Freedom Tower") - and a request.

So here was something else I saw for the first time on Saturday evening. Funny that my two firsts were something as old as a classic Movie Palace and something as new as this.

I don't make it down to the World Trade Center site that often, but the PATH train to Jersey City is here, so here I was. I had no idea how much progress they'd made.

As usual, there were a couple of vendors illegally selling stuff right across the street from the site, and I'm going to post a request here that I posted earlier on Facebook - this is not so much for any of the regular visitors here as for anyone who might somehow stumble across this searching for "visit World Trade Center", "visit WTC", or even "visit Ground Zero NYC" (no one I know calls it that, though, we all call it the World Trade Center) -

If you ever visit NY, and you go to see the WTC site, and you are standing across the street from where the towers used to stand, and somebody walks up to you and tries to sell you a souvenir, please don't buy from that person. There is a rule against selling in the immediate area that was put in place after an absolute flock of vultures descended for the selling feast as soon as the area was reopened. after 9/11. Most vendors respect the rules - if you need a trinket or a book, please walk a couple of blocks away and patronize one of their stands or shops.

Don't know if this will do any good, but maybe I'm just venting. Every time I see somebody haggling for a souvenir book right there where it all happened, it just rankles, I always want to say something and I never do.

Farewell, My L'Ocean

You were a great, great lifejacket. I'll miss you, but when a lifejacket's usable life is over, it's over.

I can't just let you go without some sort of tribute here, though - you were one fine piece of gear. Best design, highest quality.

You were my oldest piece of gear, the last survivor from my very first trip to buy stuff from Randy, the owner of New York Kayak. It was my first year of kayaking, I loved the sport, I had found myself a couple of excellent coaches at Manhattan Kayak Company, and I'd come to the conclusion that I was going to be doing this for a while. I wasn't ready for a boat, for a lot of reasons; like most neophyte paddlers - at least in NYC - my first big purchase consisted of a carbon-fiber paddle (MKC had decent paddles for customers, Werners, but eventually somebody would let you try a carbon-fiber paddle & that would get an itch going) and a lifejacket (a better-fitting, more comfortable one than the ones MKC had for customers).

The paddle was an Epic - lasted a few seasons before it broke (OK, before I broke it - it didn't just break, I stepped on it), but the Werner Camano I have now is my second main paddle. I've been through two main boats, three sprayskirts, two wetsuits, four drysuits (including one warranty replacement), and an uncountable number of booties, nose clips, hoods and other sundry accessories.

But the Lotus L'Ocean that I bought from Randy that day in 1998, bright-yellow, shiny and new from the North Carolina factory floor - that's the only lifejacket I've ever owned.

Randy took the time to make sure that he was selling me a lifejacket that fit me well. I suspect that people who complain about their lifejackets being uncomfortable didn't go to a good outfitter to buy, just grabbed the first one that caught their eye. Lifejacket fit is more like shoe fit than t-shirt fit - you could grab a t-shirt off a shelf, look at the tag & more or less know that it's going to fit, but would you be terribly surprised if you bought a pair of shoes that way & found out they were uncomfortable? I wouldn't. I tried on a whole bunch, and the L'Ocean extra-small was IT (that I needed an extra-small was a bit of a surprise to both me and Randy, because I am not a particularly petite person, but he brought it down because the next size up was close-but-not-quite, and sure enough, extra-small was JUST RIGHT).

And it kept me safe (and completely comfy) for many, many, many miles.

No other piece of gear that I own gets used on every single paddle. I switch boats between the Romany, the surfski, and whatever boat I rent or borrow when I'm paddling somewhere else. I switch paddles - sometimes it's the Werner, sometimes it's Greenland, and if I'm on the surfski, the wing is the paddle of choice. But wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, the L'Ocean almost always came along.

New York. Connecticut. New Jersey. Massachusetts. Florida. North Carolina. California. Hawaii. Canada (Georgian Bay)...everywhere I've gone, the L'Ocean came along.

I've known the end was coming for a while. Lifejackets - especially a lifejacket that's used as heavily as mine - only have a certain number of years in them. I kept an eye on the seams and the buckles. The bright yellow has faded and gotten splotchy-looking. The embroidered mandala that was the Lotus trademark has worn away to a ghost of the original bright-green design. I stitched up a few minor tears and mouse-chews, I washed it, I swam in it on a regular enough basis that I knew the flotation was still good and floaty, it was always stored inside when not in use, and in March, it actually passed Coast Guard Auxiliary inspection.

But the Memorial Day trip that TQ and I took proved to be the end of the line. It was a long paddle, we were moving fast, and when we got back to the club at the end of the day and I went to wash it, I found myself staring at my poor old lifejacket's innards - not the seams, but 2 matching wear-throughs, one under each arm.



I had one moment of wishful thinking. "Maybe I could get some wide seam tape, and patch it" - but I knew the thought for wishful thinking as I thought it. Further inspection quickly confirmed that this was, indeed the end - there were several other areas where the fabric was clearly wearing too thin to trust, the worst being right along the neckline (where the floatation would just float right out the minute the fabric gave way).

So long, L'Ocean. I wish I could've gotten another L'Ocean as a replacement, but Lotus is long gone - purchased and then run into the ground and shut down by Patagonia. BOO.

Went to Randy on Friday & we had another good thorough fitting session. I think he got down five different vests. By the 3rd one or so, we had something that would work. 5th was the charm, though. Not quite as perfect as the old one, but pretty darned good, pretty darned good indeed.

End result:

Hello, Sea-02.

Loew's Journal Square

Loew's Journal Square, a set on Flickr.

OK, I have a real post lined up, one about the end of a much-loved piece of gear (sniff!)...but there's stuff I need to do, so in the meantime - check out the Movie PALACE! Unbelievable. A friend at work told me about the showing of The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad that they were having. Journal Square is a long way to go to see a movie (especially when my own voyage started at Sebago - I traded in Cold Spring for helping out with the Open Paddle, which ended up being lovely), but seeing a stop-motion classic in a Grand Movie Palace with a Pipe Organ That Rises From the Stage And Rotates Magestically sounded like it would be worth the trek.

I was on the fence for a day about Cold Spring, but poor Beth, our trip-leader coordinator for the Open Paddles, was having a terrible time lining up leaders. That made for a nice tiebreaker, and I was SO glad I went to see Sinbad - I knew that moviegoing used to be a much grander experience in the earlier days of the industry but oh my gosh, I never imagined anything quite like this!

Here Comes The Rain!

Posted yesterday morning on Facebook:

"Dear Rain: Please come down! The garden misses you."

Looks like the rain was listening. And how. Well, I shouldn't be surprised - Dan Kim has an in with the Weather Goddess & said he'd pass along my plea.

Looks like the result is indeed going to be a gullywasher. In fact, Dan had mentioned that exact term.

Pat Byrnes had made me chuckle by asking where the gullies of Manhattan were.

I said Manhattan was more canyon than gully, so maybe the appropriate term for a Manhattan deluge was "canyonwasher".

As far as I know, we don't really have a good local colloquialism for a fast, heavy rainstorm, which is weird, since lord knows we have some good ones here. Toad-strangler & gullywasher both have something of a rural flavor to them. Raining cats & dogs is kind of generic.

I have a couple of ideas that might be good.

We could call a serious NYC downpour a "subwaystopper" - because when too much water gets into the subway system too fast, everything grinds to a halt.

Or maybe we could call it an "outfaller".

Area kayakers, dinghy sailors and open-water swimmers will know exactly what I mean.

Spineless...

but soooo much more interesting than the politician I bet you thought this post was going to be about.

Ha ha ha!

I picked up a copy of the Times for the morning subway ride, and they had the best article about jellyfish. Absolutely fascinating. Did you know that they eddy out to stay where they want to stay? That some of them have crystal-weighted eyes? That if you run into a man wearing pantyhose in Australia, he might not be a cross-dresser, he might just be going to the beach? Fascinating stuff.

I'll definitely have to remember the pantyhose thing for the next time I'm giving a talk about hazardous marine life. Faaaabulous trivia!

ACA Quick Start in the Brooklyn Bridge Park, 6/4/2011

The Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse ran an ACA Quick Start class for boathouse volunteers on Saturday. They were looking for help & I'm glad I volunteered - what a spectacular spot, and what a nice bunch of people to spend the day with.

More later, I hope. I feel like I've had a bit of blogger's block of late -- almost have had too much going on, should've had a dozen good posts out of the ICE/IDW, season opener, NYS Safe Boating certification class, and preparations for the Sebago season - but noooo, I get home from all of those, sit down in front of the computer, try to thing of something to write & end up going "humannahummanahummana". When do I finally find myself feeling like I might be able to write something that is at least coherent? Oh, usually an hour or so into a work day the following week, when I can't. Anybody else get that? :D

Anyways, for now, I just couldn't resist tossing up this slideshow of one of the more spectacular venues in which I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.

Public kayaking at the Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse begins next weekend (June 11). For more information, visit their website, bbpboathouse.org

Perfect weather, Memorial Day 2011

Used Romany kayak: $1,600.

Having a hundred yards of white-sand beach all to yourself on a day like today, without leaving NYC: Priceless.

Happy Don't Fry Day!

The Scallops of Success!, a photo by bkfrogma on Flickr.

Fry the scallops.


Fry the clams!

But please don't fry the human beings!

Mashpee River Rapture

Posted on Bill McKay's Facebook page, captioned: "RAPTURE!!! It has come but four days late. The SUN rose in New England !!!!! Bye, Gone sailing !!!!"

Ahhh. Rapturous, indeed.

More about Calico here.

NYC WaterTrail Web: Fleet Week Security Zones 2011

It's almost Memorial Day Weekend, which means it's Fleet Week here in NYC. If you're a local boater, or thinking of visiting the area, you might find today's NYCWatertrailWeb posting to be very helpful!

NYC WaterTrail Web: Fleet Week Security Zones 2011: "Below is an excerpt from the CG notice about Fleet Week which describes security zones which will be in effect for several days..."

Go Navy!

NewYorkology has a full schedule of events, and photos and videos from today's Parade of Ships.

25 Ways To Get On The Water In NYC (And Environs) Without Owning Your Own Boat - 2011 Edition

Well, for all the drizzle and gray we've been having, Memorial Day (aka The Start Of Boating Season For Some People Although Mine Never Ends Unless There's Too Much Ice) is actually coming up. What with that, and with a very nice request from Amy at NewYorkOlogy for a list like this giving me a little extra impetus, I've decided that it's high time to update what was probably one of the more useful posts I've ever done here - 24 Ways To Get On The Water In NYC (And Environs) Without Owning Your Own Boat. This was originally done back in 2009, in response to a Proper Course Group Writing Project, "Lists". Most of that was still valid, but links had changed, new programs had started, a couple of old favorites are gone or in trouble, so here you are -

The kayaking that is my favorite sport is a wonderful way to get on the water in NYC, but it's just one of a whole lot of options out there - there's really something to suit just about any taste and budget. The ones I'm listing here are all things that I have done or given serious consideration to doing at one time or another; me being a very squarely middle-class, middle-aged person, none of these require either a huge amount of money (some are free, some easily affordable, some I'd consider a bit of a splurge but worth the money) or any particular physical prowess (although a basic level of fitness & coordination will make some of the more active options more enjoyable).

Own a boat already? Please see "A Note To Boaters" at the end of the post!

OK, enough (ka)yaketty-yak. On with Twenty-Five Ways to Get Out On The Water in New York City Without Owning Your Own Boat. Since it came out kinda long, I've divided by type (Kayaking, Rowing, Canoeing, Passenger Schooners, Speedboats, and a few other miscellaneous craft) to make it easier to follow.

I'll start with my favorite, of course -
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KAYAKING!

I'll be the first to admit that kayaking the way I kayak does eat up a good bit of money over the years. For me, though, it works out - I do it for fitness & for my own sanity, among other things, and it's a heckuvalot cheaper than a gym membership & therapy! :D

But the way I do kayaking is the way people who've long since fallen in love with a sport or activity do it. For people who just want to try it out, the city is now positively rife with opportunities to do so for free (or very low cost), no experience necessary, just basic comfort with being in the water. Here are some of my favorites, starting with my own club of course!

I'll give a very brief description of the programs but for full info, check the websites I'm linking to.

1. Sebago Canoe Club, Canarsie, Brooklyn. $10.00 insurance fee. Our Open Paddle program (2 to 3 hour paddles in Jamaica Bay) kicked off tonight, Wednesday May 27th, and continues on Wednesday nights & Saturday mornings throughout the summer. We're a little harder to get to than some places, but many of the paddles feature guest speakers & our club may be the only one around where a complete novice is going to be given a true sea kayak & be taken out on a guided tour for a couple of hours. If you've made the trip, you deserve the time!

OH - PS, Sebago is having our annual open house this coming Saturday, the 21st! Full details at the link above, and it looks like we may have a break from the rain by then. This is always a fun day, it's free, all are welcome, you can try all sorts of boats (canoes, kayaks & sailboats) & the grillmasters will be working all day.

Much more common in NYC are free walk-up programs where people can try out a stable sit-on-top for 20 minutes or so in a sheltered area between piers or in a cove. It makes for a fun part of a nice day in one of the city's waterfront parks, but keep in mind that on not-so-nice days, the lines will be shorter and the volunteers will have more time to talk story and give pointers & might be less concerned about holding you to the official tryout time. Some of these places have boats big enough for parents to take out small children & a lot of city kids get their first taste of boating this way. Many of them also offer longer trips for people who've developed some basic skills.

The grandaddy of all of these programs is

2: Manhattan's Downtown Boathouse - not sure exactly when that group was founded but they'd been around for a while when I started kayaking in 1999 - they've got pictures on their website dating back to 1995. The original Downtown Boathouse was actually downtown, not far north from Battery Park City; that building, an old piershed, is long gone now but the DTBH carries on just fine at 4 locations - 2 in the Hudson River Park, 1 in Riverbank State Park, and 1 out at Governor's Island.

Over the last decade, a number of similar programs - most founded by DTBH "alums" - have sprung up in other boroughs (and I'm including Hoboken too 'cause it's just not right to leave them out). In no particular order, here are the most established ones (notice to local paddlers - if I'm leaving anybody out it's an oversight, I'm not shooting for comprehensive here but feel free to add links in the comments):

3. Kayak Staten Island
4. Hoboken Cove Boathouse
5. Long Island City Boathouse
6. The Red Hook Boaters

New for 2011:
7. The Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club is a more traditional club in the Sebago vein, and an old favorite of mine although a new addition for 2011 - I'd left them out of the 2009 version because I couldn't find their public program at the time, but one of my friends up there pointed me to the link, so I'm very happy to add them in properly now!
8. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Kayaking and Community Rowing program was a fledgling effort in 2009, handled by a number of the other groups listed here, but is now a fully established regular summer activity. The kayaking is run by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, while the rowing continues to be handled by the Village Community Boathouse (1st link in the next section).
9. Absolute newest on the list - a warm (if soggy) welcome to the Greenpoint-based North Brooklyn Boat Club!
10. Paddling is good exercise, but most of the programs listed so far are fairly sedate. If you are athletic & enjoy team sports, you might get a much bigger kick out of Kayak Polo! Pier 66-based New York Kayak Polo offers introductory sessions about once a month, no experience necessary

Those are all great places to go get your feet wet (and your okole too). Want to get a little more serious? With the exception of New York Kayak Polo (where you'd just join up and start playing if you enjoyed your intro), all of those places welcome & train volunteers, so that's one way to do it (and I will mention that some of the more stalwart volunteers at these groups are very, very good paddlers); if, like a lot of people in the city, you're busy enough that your leisure time is a scarce & precious resource, you might well find it worth the money it takes to patronize the local outfitters,

11. Manhattan Kayak (where I used to be a partner) or
12. New York Kayak.

Of course there are other places slightly further afield that I love & would recommend in a heartbeat but I am trying to keep this in the actual NYC area - so instead I will move on to
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ROWING:

Most of the local community rowing groups row the Whitehall gigs which are traditional to our harbor - no-one knows whether the gigs were named after the street, or vice-versa, but the fact that there is a Whitehall Street in Manhattan is not believed to be a coincidence! Fun for all ages, and with all boats captained by experienced local coxswains, these sturdy 6-oared craft strike me as possibly the best way for kids who are old enough to start getting serious about boating to start learning the skills a person needs to enjoy NYC's waterways safely - they can even help build boats if they're so inclined! Pretty cool. I'll start with the one I know the best:

13. The Village Community Boathouse, located at Pier 40, where Houston Street hits the Hudson. As mentioned before, this group also offers rowing in the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Others:
As was the case with a lot of the free kayaking programs in NYC, a lot of the groups that build & row the Whitehalls were inspired by and/or spun off from one original, which was:

14. Floating the Apple, which was founded by Mike Davis, who passed away in 2008 but left quite a legacy. One of the earliest thoughts I had of ways to get on the water around here was seeing one of their boats being built as I walked past the old green McGraw Hill Building in midtown. That particular spark of an idea failed to take hold, but it was definitely something that got me thinking about getting out on the river in some sort of small craft.

Hopping back over to Jersey again, there's

15. Weehawken based WeeRow, and up in the Bronx we've got

16. Rocking the Boat.

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CANOEING

Canoes don't quite seem to be the craft of choice around here but there are a couple of places where canoeing is offered regularly, both pretty unique -

17. the Gowanus Dredgers will take you on a canoe trip on the Gowanus Canal.

18. The Bronx River Alliance will show you the wonders of the Bronx River (and I'm not joking, folks, the Alliance has been working their Bronx buns off cleaning up that river and I tell you with a straight face, it is beautiful).

And a 2011 addition:

19. New York Outrigger: The traditional Hawaiian 6-person outrigger canoes that NYO paddles out of the Pier 66 Boathouse in Chelsea are an eye-catching sight on the Hudson River. Outrigger racing is a highly competitive sport, and the club is not as geared towards getting large segments of the paddle-curious public on the water as some of the other programs I've listed, but they do have regular sessions for novices who are interested in giving the sport a try.

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PASSENGER SCHOONERS (plus a nice motor yacht)

Afraid this is where things stop being free - but this is where you stop having to do the work to move the boat - the wind & a well-trained captain & crew see to that - and start getting to stay dry. It's a much more leisurely experience!

I'm going to start with a plug for my old employer,

20. Classic Harbor Lines, now operating the schooners Adirondack & Imagine out of Chelsea Piers. The schooners are designed as sightseeing boats, but in the spirit of the old pilot schooners who would race to meet vessels approaching the harbor (whoever got there first got the job). They're very fast & a lot of fun to sail, and the captains and crews love to show what the boats can do. I LOVED working on the Adirondack. Sails start at $45 for a 2-hour afternoon sail to the Statue of Liberty & go up from there. The least expensive sails include complimentary beer & soda, evening sails add better beers, wine, and champagne. Going up from there...whoa, sake and sushi? That's new since I left! Classic Harbor also offers Manhattan circumnavigations & other more far-flung trips aboard the 1920's-inspired motor yacht Manhattan.

21. Manhattan By Sail is now offering sails on 2 schooners. Shearwater's been operating out of North Cove for years; not as fast as the Adirondack (there was one mischievous Adirondack skipper who used to like to sail a circle around the Shearwater, because he could) but this is a lovely boat, a genuine classic luxury yacht, circa 1929. I've always wanted to go out just to see what she looked like up close. The more recent addition to the fleet, Clipper City, operated in Baltimore for 20 years before the company who was running her there went bankrupt (or at least I think that was the story). MBS bought her, did a full refit to bring her back up to Coast Guard standards for commercial vessels & she's now sailing out of the South Street Seaport (although not a member of the South Street Seaport Museum fleet, next on the list).

For a grittier but still grand experience, how about a genuine antique freight schooner? Unfortunately, there is one 2011 revision that makes me very sad to have to make. The futures of the schooner Pioneer and the other boats in the South Street Seaport Museum fleet are currently unknown as the museum is in severe economic distress at the time of this revision. A grassroots effort to save the boats is underway and the organizers have started up the Save Our Seaport blog where developments are being posted.

Want to see a fantastic post on the various schooners that you might see out in NY Harbor? Click here!

Rather learn to sail the boat yourself? I'm not quite counting these as part of the list because that will take a bigger commitment of time & money than the other options I've listed here, but check out Hudson River Community Sailing at Pier 66 in Chelsea, or the Offshore Sailing School locations at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City.

3 More Categories
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GREAT BIG SPEEDY SPEEDY SPEEDBOATS!

Right, you wouldn't think a kayaker would approve but these guys can actually be a really fun way to see the harbor. Great for people with kids who might like a little more excitement than the normal sedate Circle Line cruise. You might even get wet.!

22. The Shark and the Beast. These are actually identical speedboats with different paint jobs - back when I was working on the Adirondack, we always found their antics at the Statue very entertaining and although I've never gone, I suspect they are a lot of fun! They'd usually be driven by tough-looking skippers (frequently with mullets), and the two speedboats would always meet at the Statue, strong words (although rated PG)would be hurled across the water & then they'd drag-race up the Hudson. We on the Adirondack liked to pretend we thought we were gonna race too, we'd be adding our own challenges, and they'd yell at us to give them our beer, and it was all just good silly salty fun.

23. BTW, both of those speedboats are operated by Circle Line. You could call it the ultimate tourist cliche, maybe, but I think you could also call it a classic.

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ALMOST DONE, JUST 2 MORE!

Each in a class by themselves!

24. Having just put the ultimate tourist cliche on the list, perhaps I can redeem myself with this one - the Working Harbor Committee's Hidden Harbor Tours. I simply cannot explain how frustrated I am with myself that I have never gone on one of these, they just sound great. Maybe this year.

And for the grand finale - It's Free. It's Big. It's Orange. It's #25, the Staten Island Ferry! How could I leave that out?




:D

You might not think of it but it's got some points - aside from being free & sailing A LOT, seriously, you can jump on board on a whim, you can go out on it to see what the harbor looks like when the weather's too bad for anything smaller, and it's got the best views of downtown NYC that money can't buy!
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A Note To Boaters: if you DO own your own boat, you might still find this useful in looking for ways to get less-boaty friends & relatives on the water, but for yourself, may I recommend a visit to nycwatertrail.web? There's a link to the Parks Department's interactive map of kayak launches, a downloadable tide wheel that, if used correctly, can help you sort out the area's tricky tides, and more. NYC's "6th Borough" is home to a busy commercial port, so if you're considering paying a visit to our area for the first time, please consider contacting one of the local boating groups to gather the information you'll need to have a safe and fun experience, or at the very least (and possibly in conjunction with looking for local knowledge) pay a visit to iboatnyharbor.com (it's aimed more at larger recreational vessels than paddlecraft, in fact we are mostly portrayed as the obstacles that we can be should we happen to fall asleep at the wheel out there, but Capt. Bacon has put together an excellent collection of traffic patterns & discussions of how to deal with extremely large traffic in the "Boat Handling" sections & that's relevant to everyone). NYC is a wonderful place to paddle, but there's a lot to be aware of!

Seal of Approval

Democrat Point, Fire Island.

We all know about and respect the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but when the beastie crawls up on the beach 10 yards from where somebody is teaching a surf launching and landing class and lays claim to one of the boats, what can you do?














Walter actually skipped the session because we didn't want to either scare the seal off or provoke it (it made a noise that sounded decidedly like seal for "Back off!" when somebody got a little too close), but eventually we did need to get the boat back to go home. 2 people walked quietly to the ends of the boat, picked it up and walked away - the seal didn't budge & was still there as we all paddled off towards Oak Beach.

The Scallops of Success!

The Scallops of Success!, a photo by bkfrogma on Flickr.

We stopped at Bigelow's for a celebratory meal after the ICE. TQ & I both got level 4* & everyone did quite well, so it was a happy dinner!

I tried the deep sea scallops this time. They were also fantastic.

*pending renewal of CPR & first aid for both of us and payment of dues for me.

Perspective Exercise

102, a photo by bkfrogma on Flickr.

No, no, I'm not gonna get all heavydeep'n'real here. I just like the picture. Another "What Happened At The Regatta (In Case You Missed It)" moment.

I figured I'd post something restful to look at, 'cause I won't have any time to blog in the next few days. TQ and I are off to take the American Canoe Association's Instructor Certification Exam.

Wish us luck!

Blue Drinks, Tonight at Pier 66:

From the NYC Watertrail Association:

Blue Drinks at Pier 66 Maritime
Tuesday May 10, 6:30-9:30pm
$5 drink specials and light refreshments served

Tuesday May 10 from 6:30 - 9:30pm will be the first in what we hope becomes a series of harbor-related networking events. Modeled on the Green Drinks series and sponsored by the NYC Water Trail Association, "Blue Drinks" is for the human-powered boating and water access advocacy community- the boaters, the swimmers, the organizers, the teachers, and of course, the volunteers.

The event will be a great chance to catch up with friends and colleagues as the boating season gets underway, meet new paddling partners, learn about new boating groups, launch sites, and volunteer opportunities, and hear what the NYCWTA has been up to and what we hope to accomplish this season and in the future. Bring your group's flyers, cards, and announcements to share and pick up the newest NYC Water Trail Map and a free laminated NYCWTA Tide Wheel which is very useful for planning harbor outings and Manhattan circumnavigations.

The venue is Pier 66 Maritime, aka the Barge, on West 26th Street and the Hudson River--the fabulous multi-use public access space created by the late, great John Krevey (special thanks to Angela Krevey for helping to arrange this). We hope this gathering of people committed to free public water access in some small way honors his memory and celebrates his contributions to the waterfront. The Barge will be offering $5 drink specials to NYCWTA folks all night.

Please consider making a $10 donation to support our work!

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Blue Hawaiian picture lifted from the Cabana Bob's recipe page.
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Friends don't let friends paddle drunk!