Re: [Paddlewise] NYC harbor July 4th Kayak accident

From: ralph diaz <rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 09:57:18 -0700
Richard,

How about sharing a bit more detail from the local paper, The Staten
Island Advance I presume.

I know nothing about this.  The general advice this week on nyckayaker
listserve by me and others was not to be kayaking that day as conditions
were decidedly unsafe for a kayaker with all those large ships and
motorboats in the harbor.  The Downtown Boathouse closed down tight with
the fence locked and a sturdy barrier put across the ramp leading down
from the pier to the floating kayak dock.

A few of us were watching the Tall Ship parade.  Early on we saw an
inflatable Stern kayak going down river prior to the parade.  During the
parade itself three kayakers came down from northern Manhattan (the
Dyckman official kayak put-in).  They came to the kayak dock, were told
the place was closed, they jumped the barrier to use the portasan, then
proceeded to eat lunch on the smaller of the two docks.

I mentioned to them that they would be bucking a strong ebb current when
they paddled back north to Dyckman St.  They said they had no intention
of paddling back right then but rather were going to hang around for the
fireworks later and had sufficient lights for night paddling.  I don't
know who they were although I believe I may have seen them once before.

Some abandoned kayaks are serious business.  I am sending this all to
nyckayaker listserve in case someone over there may shed some light on
this.  Sounds like shades of what Jack Martin was talking about on the
Potomac this week with an abandoned kayak floating around.

Could be that some kayaks were stolen.  Or mischievist people floated
away some kayaks they found.  Or some kayakers did not secure their
kayaks well enough at a landing site and these got washed away by some
big boat wakes, a distinct possibility anywhere in the harbor and on the
Hudson.

ralph diaz



Christine Allison wrote:
> 
> A fellow worker and my local Staten Island news paper made mention of
> several abandoned kayaks which were observed in the harbor near the
> Verazzano bridge around 6:00PM on July 4th.  There were no other details.
> 
> Does anyone know anything about this?
> 
> Richard Smith
> 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
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"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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Received on Thu Jul 06 2000 - 07:00:49 PDT

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