Walkill River - New Paltz to Perrine's Bridge - 07/11/10

Skip Doyle led a great leisurely paddle down the Walkill river from New Paltz to Perrine's bridge in Tilson.
Skip had everyone introduce themselves and describe their kayak experience.  Sherry and Marty both had some past leader experience so they also became leaders of the paddle.
We planned to launch at 2:00 after shuttling cars to the take out point at the bridge.  However, some large thunderstorms came up to our south so we decided to wait for a while to see what the storm would do.  We almost canceled but decided to launch and see how things were at the next take out.  At the next take out, about 3/4 mile away things had cleared and we decided to press on.
The river was very calm with a very slow current.  We stopped to regroup several times along the way so that everyone could go at a pace comfortable for them.  We saw many great blue herons and one black capped night heron.
We reached the bridge in about 3 hours with a total distance of about 8.5 miles according to the GPS.  We averaged a little over 3 mph.  The take out was at the bridge so people took their boats out and headed home after a great paddle.
A BIG thanks to Skip for organizing and leading the paddle.

I decided to paddle back up river to get some additional exercise.  It took me 2 hours going back and the GPS said I had covered a total of 17 miles.  I was very glad to see my car when I got back to the launch.


Here is a slide show of some of the great views and people on our paddle.

Kayaking Event at Wappinger Lake - 07/09/10

Russ Faller, of the Mid Hudson Adirondack Mountain Club,  organized this event for the first time at Wappingers lake.  It was fairly well attended given the short notice and not a lot of publicity.

Eastern Mountain Sports was there with several boats for people to try out and Hudson Valley Kayak Tours was there and led a short paddle for beginners across the lake and up the Wappingers creek to Little Falls.
Don Urmston and I tagged along and had a very enjoyable paddle led by Lee and Edie from Hudson Valley Kayak Tours.  Pictures are below.

Evening Lecture - Kayaking: How to get started - Esopus Library 7/07/10

Don Urmston and Andrea gave a talk at the Esopus library.  I went along to help with equipment etc.
The talk was well attended and as usual, Don did a great job.  He hooked me on kayaking last year and I haven't stopped since.  Here are a few pictures of the event.

Thursday Early Morning Paddle - 07/08/10

Launched at about 6:30 in the lower Wappingers creek.  It was about 75 deg and no wind.  On the way down the creek to the Hudson I past a group of 3 adult deer and 2 very young fauns eating water chestnuts from the creek.
I paddled across the Hudson and up the West shore to the Marlboro yacht club.  On the way up I entered a small creek under the railroad tracks and went about 1/2 mi upstream.  I came very close to a black capped night heron but didn't get my camera out in time for a picture.
I crossed back to the East shore at a diagonal to New Hamburg and back to the launch.
Total distance about 8 miles overall moving average 4.1 mph. No pictures this trip.

Rhinecliff to the Kingston Rondout creek and back - July 05, 2010

The highlight of my trip was this bald eagle.

I launched from the Rhinecliff boat launch just south of the train station at about 7:30 am.  The weather was in the 70's and the river was very calm.  I paddled across the river and reached the lighthouse at about 8:00 am.
The total trip lasted about 3 hours with a moving average of about 4.2 mph including a lot of slow paddling to take pictures and look at the scenery.

I met a guy in a racing scull who told me about the Rondout creek and what to look for.  I had no chance to keep up with him so after we talked for a few minutes he took off up the creek.

I paddled up the right fork of the creek by Dock island past the historic Kingston waterfront and all the boat slips.

Since Dock island is not really an island, but a man made peninsula, I had to head back around the way I came and the headed up the Rondout creek for about 3 miles to the Eddyville dam.  I past many marinas and boats along the way including a very interesting house boat.  

When I got to the dam I anchored my boat at the bottom and climbed to the top of the dam.  With two people it might be possible to lift the boats to the top of the dam and continue up the creek but it's not really possible for one person to do it unless you have a small plastic boat that you could drag up with a rope.

After walking around the dam for a while I got back in and paddled back down stream and took the right fork around the island on the south side of the creek. I stopped at a small beach and had lunch.  While eating I saw a bald eagle land in the tree across the narrow branch of the creek in front of me.  After I finished I got back in the boat and glided across to where I saw the eagle land.  To my surprise, I came up right next to the tree he was sitting in and he posed nicely for me to take some pictures.  I know the eagles are getting more common but I'm still excited every time I see one.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Cold Water Survival

If you know anyone that boats, especially in cold water, make sure they see COLD WATER BOOT CAMP.
I see so many people that go out in kayaks with no pfd and probably don't know how to get back in the boat in the event of a capsize.  If the water is cold you will drown no matter how well you can swim.

ADK Paddle - Norrie Point to Vanderburgh Cove and Back

Dave Webber led the ADK Wednesday evening paddle from Norrie Point on 6/30.
Four of us, Russ Faller, Mike Pettigrew, Marshall Seddon and Jean-Claude (last name ?) joined Dave for this paddle.  We launched about 6:00 PM from the launch next to the conservation center.
Paddling up river was very smooth until we rounded Norrie point where we headed into a 5 - 10 knot head wind and waves that were constant 1 - 3 ft.  We went up river to Vanderburgh Cove about 3 miles away and averaged 3.8 miles per hour.  We entered the cove where the water was very calm and had some drinks and snacks.  Then we headed back out into the river and back to Norrie point.  The wind was at our back but the waves were coming from the starboard side which we rolled over and made paddling interesting.
We arrived back at about 8:00 before dark.
All in all it was a great paddle and a good time was had by all.  The only problem was that Marshall had to figure out how to go slow enough so we could keep up with him :-)

Here are a few pictures.  Nothing came out too well but it gives you a little idea of the paddle.