G'Day, A year ago today I was lucky enough to visit the New York City Downtown Boathouse. The following report has been far too long coming. If it encourages other potential visitors the link is http://www.downtownboathouse.org/equipment.html . My deep appreciation goes to Ralph Diaz, Richard Muller, Tim Gamble, Harry Spitz, David Gordon and all the other good people of the club for their friendship and hospitability to a relative stranger from Oz. FRIDAY 20th JUNE 2003 There^Rs a standing wave in the middle of the Hudson River. I can see it from the Jumbo jet. Its June 2003 and I^Rve spent two days getting from Sydney Harbour Australia to New York. Tomorrow I^Rm going to be paddling in that river! SATURDAY 21st JUNE 2003 Richard Muller and Tim Gamble, longstanding volunteers at the Downtown Boat House, have kindly organised a kayak trip or two for me in the next few days. So I leave an excellent and cheap hotel called the Cosmopolitan and walk a few blocks to the water. On the Lower West Side Manhattan, within a stones throw of the Statue of Liberty, is a grey breeze block cement building. Snaggle toothed posts poke out of the water beneath it and a sign on the front says ^SDowntown Boathouse^T. Its 7am, the air is brisk and I^Rm way early so there^Rs no-one in site but there^Rs no doubting the location, a set of four notice boards describe in detail how the Boat House is run. Then along comes a young man on a bicycle towing a trailer. Well of course this is folding boat territory and that^Rs exactly what he^Rs towing. He stops, says ^SHi^T and starts to unload and assemble a Feathercraft K-Light. I ^Rve not seen a K-Light being put together before and have heard varying reports, but this boat assembles very easily. I^Rm suitably impressed, then astounded as he pulls apart his full sized folding bike and packs it away in the boat. The wheels go in a plastic disk shaped bag on the stern. I fear for its stability but in the water he looks very comfortable paddling what looks for all the world like a miniature kayak version of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. Now Harry Spitz, arrives and immediately makes me feel as though I'm a life time member. He^Rs the trip leader today and opens up the Boat House. Every kind of kayak lines up in row upon row and gear protrudes from nooks and crannies everywhere. It^Rs like Dr Who^Rs Tardis ^V far bigger inside than out; kayaker heaven and I^Rm just waiting for the angels to sing! Harry has organized what looks like the very best boat in the house for me ^V A Kevlar Dagger. A large but surprisingly light boat that just skims through the water. I hardly believe it as we paddle around the Statue of Liberty, can^Rt think of a better way to be seeing it.. We stay a reasonable distance from the security marker buoys but nevertheless a boat that looks like the local coast guard comes over to check what we were doing. There^Rs a 150 yard limit on approaching the island. Then we pass through Port Liberte, New Jersey, a village of very fine houses set up in a system of canals, a miniature Venice but without the smell, and then its time to paddle around the back of the statue and under a bridge and around to a floating boat restaurant where we climb on to a wharf about the same size as at the fish market in Sydney, but unlike Sydney, there's no group of diners curiously looking on to see if any of us fall in! Lunch and coffee, great! And finally we paddle back across the Hudson seeing the Empire State tower and the Woolworth building. The conditions are flat and when asked I suggest the paddle is a grade 1. But appearances are deceptive - the currents can be fierce as I will discover on Sunday. One of our group, Eric invites me to join him and some friends in a circumnavigation of Manhattan Island. I^Rm told with careful timing the currents can just about carry a kayaker all the way around and the conditions are going to be exactly right at 2 am on Monday morning. I have to decline as I^Rve got an early appointment on Tuesday. But I will always regret missing the chance. A wonderful day I^Rll never forget SUNDAY 23rd JUNE 2003 The following day, again I^Rm at the Boat House and this time the trip leader is David Gordon. He is a muscular looking paddler and has found me a red plastic Dagger, somewhat smaller than yesterdays but about the size I^Rm used to. There's a bigger turnout today including some newcomers to the sport. I^R m feeling privileged as new visitors are usually offered sit on tops, which are safe, albeit slow. About 15 minutes into the paddle one of the group, who is recovering from a party the night before, turns back with David^Rs assistance. David must have been getting a huge workout paddling back and forth in the current. There is a spread of ability and boat performance in the group and I paddle with a pleasant woman who is very keen to take up kayaking and who wants to get some experience before making her first boat purchase. She is capable and determined and maintains a respectable pace despite the fact she is in a broad beamed sit on top. The water is covered with a soft mist and has the same deceptively flat quality as yesterday. We cross the Hudson and potter between the wharves then turn for home. We stop from time to time to avoid ferry^Rs and boats and are carried somewhat down stream, so make an effort to ferry glide back. However, by the time the last three of us return we are sufficiently far down stream that its necessary for David, me and the young woman to take the SOT in a tandem tow against a three knot current. Haven^Rt worked so hard in all my life! It took about 15 minutes to paddle past a tourist boat and into the wharf adjacent to the Boat House, then through the snaggle toothed posts to Pier 26. I didn^Rt presume to grade that paddle!! Two lessons here were: the value of the tandem tow David set up, I much preferred it to the parallel tow I^Rm accustomed to; and the value on this occasion of shorter tow ropes. The 15 metre towline, which is mandatory for our sea kayak club, would have been inappropriate on the Hudson because of the risk of taking it through the path of an oncoming boat or entanglement in posts. Later that day I have a chance to meet Ralph Diaz who describes the history of the area and shows me where JFK junior used to live. He was a keen visitor to the Boat House, though I^Rm told that he did not always wear a PFD. Ralph also talked a little about the Twin Towers. The site was a couple of streets away from my hotel but I could not bring myself to go there through fear of the disrespect implied in visiting as a tourist. I had read Ralph^Rs descriptions of the twin towers viewed from the Hudson as he kayaked and am grateful that he encouraged me to eventually visit. It is a reconstruction site but there were both subtle and obvious signs of the restrained dignity with which New York is treating this area. Enough said. Lunch with Ralph, Nancy and Nina is filled with talk of kayak assisted swimming races around Manhattan and battles with fierce currents and issues of helping swimmers to land when landing facilities are unavailable. I am hugely impressed but strive to hold my own with a tale of the Navy divers in Sydney who tour the swimmers racing ^Qroute^R to scare away sharks prior to a race. There are no sharks in the Hudson but there is some hope that one day they may return. In the afternoon Ralph shows me a Chinese folding boat he is trying out called Atlatl with a most ingenious pulley system for inserting the frame into the skin. And of course I get my first edition of the Complete Folding Kayaker autographed. Thanks Ralph. MONDAY 23rd JUNE 2003 Can^Rt keep away from the place so turn up again on Monday evening and what a maelstrom of activity: There^Rs water polo, paddlers learning to roll and people paddling for the first time ever, at least some of them are, one of them isn^Rt paddling at all. He is reclining in the back seat of a double and smoking a cigarette while encouraging his partner ^V who is paddling furiously ^V ^Syou^Rre doing just fine honey^T. I join in one of the Rolling classes with some trepidation but can^Rt come all this way and not roll. So I do so with determination and finesse. Then on to take photo^Rs of the water polo teams. I^Rm waiting for them to get the ball in the air but they all stop to smile at the camera!!! Eventually the game resumes and I get my chance. The organization is both unobtrusive and enormously impressive. Visitors seem to go on the water with just a little introduction, but a clear set of safety guidelines. Those that come back have the opportunity to learn a variety of skills including rolling and rescues during the summer evenings. I was told that 7000 people came through the Boat House in 2002 (today the web site tells me that in 2003 this increased to over 13,400 different people, for approximately 27,000 trips on the Hudson). An extraordinary achievement by any standards. I asked if this was regarded as compromising the market for the local commercial operators but the club opinion was that it actually increased the customer base and certainly the commercial operator down the road had no qualms in introducing me to the club. So finally and sadly its over and I finish the evening with a few beers and a chat with Harry. I very much want to go back. Vive New York City Downtown Boathouse!!! All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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