This is mainly for nyckayaker listservers but I have addressed it to Paddlewise, in case anyone over there is interested. The Hudson River paddle trip for a sushi late lunch at the Yaohan Plaza Japanese supermarket is on for this Sunday May 23rd. We plan to depart from the 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan at around 3:00 pm. This will give us plenty of time to roam around the supermarket and shops in the Japanese shopping mall, eat all we can eat from the reasonably priced great food at the numerous food stalls in the supermarket and still not get caught in the mudflats in front of the place when the tide goes out. The distance to the place from the 79th St. put-in to the location over in New Jersey (across approximately from Manhattan's Riverside Church) is about 2.5 to 3 miles. Those seeking a greater distance paddle can start at the Pier 26 Downtown Boathouse (about 7.5 miles from Yaohan Plaza) or the put-in at Pier 63 (24th St) that is about 6 miles from Yaohan Plaza. If you plan to start from further down river such as Pier 26 or 63, allot enough time to get to Yaohan by 3:30-4 pm or so. You should also have lights for getting back to those put-ins and be extra alert as it will be dusk when you get back and ferries and dinner cruise vessels may not see you as you paddle past their pier heads. Let me know if you plan to come although we probably won't wait for you at 79th Street beyond our own departure time. To find Yaohan, here is what to look for. It is almost directly across from Riverside Church. It is a low building with large windows and the words Yaohan Plaza above the windows. Yaohan is just south of the large HESS oil storage tanks that are a dull green. Yaohan has a picturesque teahouse at the end of the pier in front of it; the teahouse may be hard to spot at certain angles as it blends into the oil storage tank behind it; I guess it is the Japanese penchant for blending into surroundings :-). The beach is pretty firm for about 40 feet or so from the sidewalk it abuts. Further into the river, it is quite muddy. A warning to paddlers of delicate fiberglass kayaks: there are some concrete cylindrical posts about 15 feet from the pavement that cover with high water. There is a clear lane about 10 feet wide between them that you can follow by coming in on an approach that lines up with the north wall of the supermarket. If when you are ready to leave the tides are acting wierd, which they can do for all sorts of reasons, you can avoid the mud flats by hugging the pier wall on which the teahouse is located. The ground is absolutely firm there (albeit rocky in spots) all the way out to the end of the pier where you will always find enough water to float your kayak. There are bathrooms. The supermarket is huge and filled with Japanese produce, packaged foods and dry goods. There are some shops there too in the rest of the mall, all with Japanese things. I have not wandered around beyond the food stalls and the supermarket shelves. Your boats are safely left on the beach as it is a strolling spot for lovers (who are otherwise occupied) and families (who will likely be discreetly curious and polite). BTW, I am using the word "beach" loosely in NYC terms meaning it is not seawall but rather a small batch of sand and gravel that lets you pull up safely. I know this is getting long, but there is also a walk planned along the Jersey shore from Hoboken to the George Washington Bridge on the day before, Saturday the 22nd of May. It is being run by the Shorewalkers and covers about 10 miles with a stop for lunch at a dinner. The fellow running it is an architect and will point out sights and sites. The group will meet in Manhattan. The Shorewalkers are a group dedicated to establishing the right of innocent passage along the shorelines of the city and immediate environs. It is a good group to belong to; I'm a member and participant because I like to see where I paddle from the perspective of the shoreline. If interested in the walk let me know. ralph diaz -- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue May 18 1999 - 05:09:36 PDT
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