[Paddlewise] for kayaking dog lovers

The Downtown Boathouse in NYC held its 19th annual Harrison Street
Regatta on Saturday on the Hudson River.  It is a human-powered fun boat
race that this year was "won" by a most interesting kayak setup. 

First a bit of history, the Regatta is a traditional race that started
years ago when intrepid local paddlers started to re-claim the waters of
the Hudson long before there was a Hudson River Park.  They simply went
around fences, over rotting piers, eluding security guards and dropped
their boats in.

The Regatta race is a fun race in that the winner is the second boat
across the finish line.  All kinds of shenanigans are pulled such as
false finish lines and various tactics.  The latter generally have
involved a number of boats pulling up short of the finish line waiting
for someone to give in and cross the line because they have to pee or
can't resist the prospects of a beer at the celebration repast waiting
on the pier.  Then the remaining boaters race to come in right behind
that boat to be second and official winner (the prize is an out-of-this
world creation by Richard Nonas, a local sculptor and paddler of
international reknown...the sculpting not the paddling).

This year was the biggest year ever for the event, 31 boats.  Almost all
were kayaks except for a rowing shell and a two-person outrigger canoe. 

One of the kayakers in a Seda Impulse does what he always does when
leisurely paddling these waters, bring his small dog along (I believe
the guy is Australian which helps explain things).  The dog stands on
the back deck.  Lest one think no big deal since they have seen small
dogs on back and front decks (Jackie Fenton's sweet little ones do,
Mollie, Hallie), the waters can be rough here because of winds and
wakes.  So the dog has gotten quite a good set of sea legs (I guess it
helps to have four of them).

Here is what happened.  The race was approximately 2.5 miles or so in
length.  The 2-person outrigger crew didn't really care to "win" the
race in the traditional way, i.e. go for second place.  They went all
out.  I was finish line judge.  (Not an honor, mind you.  In past years
the race has been hotly contested afterwards and the judges have found
it necessary to do a disappearing act to escape angry contestants.  When
I was assigned the responsibility, I could not help but note the
gleeful, diabolical look on the race organizer's face. :-))  Through my
binoculars  I could see the 2-person outrigger was in the lead but with
a kayak just a short distance behind.  When the outrigger came close I
started shouting for them to hold up at the finish line, but the crew
was having none of that and really wanted to win outright for
outrigger-uber-alles boosting rights.  Knowing what was just behind
them, I could understand why they had an added incentive to go flat out
and come across first.

Hot on their tail was the Seda Impulse kayaking guy and dog!  They (I am
certain the dog was helping in some way, so I say "they") were just 20
seconds behind in crossing the finish line.  Now what self-respecting
outrigger two-person crew would want to be beaten by a man in kayak with
a yapping dog standing on the back deck!  No wonder the outrigger
hustled across the line.

A little later after the celebration was over I noticed that some of the
more contentious paddlers were scurrying the neighborhood for stray dogs
to adopt and train with for next year's race. :-)

ralph diaz

 

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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."
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