Re: [Paddlewise] This weekend's get together

Hi Guys,

I'm back from 2 weeks in Spain.  Great time.  I did not paddle but just
missed out on doing so.  Seems Nautiraid's importer in Spain is located
in Barcelona where we spent most of our time and he is partners in a
touring outfit on the Costa Brava just 2 or 3 hours north of Barcelona. 
I got email from him during the 24 hours I was in New York between my
San Francisco trip and going off to Spain; he was asking me something
but did not say where in Spain he was located.  I sent him email saying
that I would be in Barcelona but did not hear back before leaving home. 
Within a few hours of arrival there, he called me at my hotel (waking me
from a jet lag sleep).  But my mindset and gear was not set for going
paddling for a whole day out of our itinerary.

The location sounds great...lots of caves to explore, etc. and a nice
rugged coast line.  He gave me a copy of a book written by an Austrian,
Paul Fidrmuc (who was a paddling champion in Austria and Germany in the
1930s), called A Kayak On the Costa Brava, written in 1948 about his
adventures in a Klepper along that coastline.  My copy is in Spanish,
Una Piragua en la Costa Brava.  The book translation is quite poetic...I
don't know if it is because of the original book or the translator.  It
catches all the trials and tribulations of a folding kayak owner but
with the affection we all have for this very special breed of vessel. 
He named his Klepper Don Tonto (means Mr. Stupid; as an aside when I was
growing up as a boy in a Spanish speaking household I could never figure
out why the Lone Ranger was calling his partner Stupid but I justified
it to myself because what Tonto called the Lone Ranger, quemo sabe,
sounded an awful lot like the Spanish "quien no sabe" or he who doesn't
know anything :-)).  Fidrmuc called his boat Don Tonto based on what a
friend remarked when seeing him about to launch in it into enormous
waves breaking on a beach.  "Vas a salir con esto? Que tonteria!" 
You're going out in that? What stupidity!

OK, enough digression...back to basics on this PaddleWise Mingle in NYC
this coming Memorial Day Weekend.

We are planning 3 days of paddling and get-together on a very informal
basis and show off our PaddleWise T-shirts (I assume mine is waiting at
the post office for me).  The venues for the 3 days are diverse and
offer an interesting array of paddling opporunities.  Please let us know
if you are coming for any of those days. (me at rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com or
Joan Volin at volinjo_at_juno.com)

Day 1 (Saturday)is a paddle to the Statue of Liberty from the Downtown
Boathouse that starts with us _on the water_ by around 11 am (plan your
arrival accordingly), with other shorter trips possible later in the day
before a get-together for dinner in the early evening at the Boathouse
or vicinity.  I will post driving instructions again in later email or
you can ask me directly by phone or private email (phone:
212-724-5069).  Out of towners can stay at my place in Manhattan's Upper
Westside, Saturday nite.  You can also create a good map through
mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com) and aim at Laight St and West St. 
The location is just across the Hudson from NJ via the Holland Tunnel. 
Parking is free across West St. from the Boathouse (which is Pier 26,
the northmost of the two docks that show on the mapquest map).


Day 2 (Sunday) is a paddle out of West Point, 40 miles or so north of
Manhattan, and a beautiful fiord looking part of the river (the river
actually is technically a fiord all along its way even if it doesn't
look it).  We meet in late morning and either paddle right away at noon
and picnic downriver at a waterfall (5 miles south of the put-in) or eat
up at West Point.  Based on Joan's suggestion I am now inclined to go
earlier down river than I originally planned.  That night we will have a
barbeque at the Volins not too far from West Point.  Out-of-towners will
be able to camp out there.  To get to the launch site, use a map to get
to West Point.  The Main Gate is just past a MacDonalds (on your
right).  Drive in (the sentry will salute you assuming you are an
officer...how nice!!) and go past the Thayer Hotel and take the right
that goes sharply down hill to the South Dock area.  You cross RR tracks
at the bottom of the sharp hill, go left (you can only go left) and
drive a few hundred feet until you see a boat ramp on your right or
kayaks.

Day 3 (Memorial Day Monday) will be a paddle out around City Island and
several lighthouses in Long Island Sound, followed by dinner at a fish
place on City Island for those who can hang around.  We will start
paddling out of the launch site at around 11 am (so plan your arrival
accordingly for getting gear set up or a folding kayak assembled). 
Currents are quite confusing around City Island but this gets us out of
the Orchard Beach Lagoon on the ebb and back on the flood.  Use a map to
get yourself to Orchard Beach (in the Northeastern part of the Bronx
just shy of City Island).  Drive into the parking lot (you may have to
pay...I don't know when they start charging) and go sharply left within
the parking lot.  There is an official City Parks Kayak Launch site near
the Northwestern corner of the parking lot.  You will likely see some
kayaks there.  I will make certain that one stays on a car roof as a
marker until the last minute before we launch.

These plans could be altered by consensus as we go through each day.

Again, this is NOT an official PaddleWise event but rather a group of
like-minded people who have enjoyed each other's company mainly on the
PaddleWise listserver and who wish to meet and mingle and show-n-tell on
gear, boats etc.  Whether you are a noisy participant on PaddleWise or a
wise lurker, you are most welcome to join in.

Bill Leonardt who did a great job of pulling together the order for
T-shirts will be with us.  The weather at this reading is not the best,
but we have seen this before, i.e. bad weather forecasts, that managed
to not prove true and given us some wonderful paddling trips.  The
Leonardts and the Volins no doubt remember such a dire forecast a year
ago for our Shackleton paddle and museum visit.

Again, please let us know if you are coming or need further details.

best,

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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