Just Another Ho Hum Day On Jamaica Bay...

Nah, nah, just kidding. Off-season paddling takes a certain amount of preparation & awareness -- but boy, it ROCKS.

Plane Zones

Plane zone, Saturday:


Plane zone, Sunday:

Noon to two,
woo hoo hoo!

Holly the Sailing Co-Chair's post-sail comment - "Anyone who didn't plane today is doing something wrong".

What a splendid Sebago weekend it was!

Return to Orient Point

Eddied out again (except I washed out while I was filming) - this time with a few friends!

Friday afternoon found me & TQ back on the road to Orient Point again, where the Sebago troops were gathering at our favorite "kamp"site out there, the Eastern Long Island Kampground.

There'd been discussion of an afternoon or evening paddle - but after all the packing up and getting ready to go, and the fun of the sheepherding class we took TQ's dog Bella for with the trainer with whom the dogs were staying for the weekend, and a couple of last-minute stopping shops, I found that the only thing I was particularly interested in doing once we'd made camp was testing out the Thermarest for leaks. It was functioning fine - and it was absolutely perfect weather for napping in a tent with the flaps open & the breeze passing through. Aaah. TQ had brought a book along, and then when I woke up, well, there was still time if anyone had really pushed for it, but somehow we were all quite happy with camaraderie and beer.




If we'd known what was coming on Sunday (recordbreaking rain), we might've gotten off our duffs & gotten out there, but I'm not going to lie - I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I spend entirely too much of my life running around doing stuff and I love it when there suddenly aren't any deadlines or places to go or things to do. There was discussion of dinner, but I was already getting peckish, and we'd stopped for corn, potatoes and tomatoes at a farm stand, and I decided to break out my camp stove and cook up an ear of corn for an appetizer, only it was my first fresh corn of the summer and I couldn't stop at one, and John had brought out his usual fantastic cheese, and Jake was suddenly passing around cheeseburgers, and somehow all the sudden I was full. Go figure! We talked about the various plans for the weekend, we sorted out more or less who was going on what, TQ & I brought out the chart and the Eldridge & talked about what we were going to find in Plum Gut on the following day, TQ gave a nice on-shore (more like on picnic table, really) lesson about ferry-gliding using his pocket knife as a model kayak, and there was more beer & more camaraderie and it got dark and the cicadas started to sing and then we all got sleepy and that was pretty much Day 1. Nice, huh?

Day 2 - Woke up psyched for the day after a good night's sleep. TQ knows me entirely too well, he'd brought Spam! Eggs and bread, too, and he cooked those up while I made coffee and packed up lunch. By ten o'clock or so, we were back at Orient Point!


Look familiar?


Now, we had promised our little crew a real rough-water play-session, boils and eddies and waves oh my, and I had pored over my Eldridge carefully, and by gosh, look at the veritable MAELSTROM into which our...

little band...

sallied...

forth...


No, no, no, we totally meant to do that. Ebb was starting at the Race right around noon, and Plum Gut really gets going before anything else does. We very intentionally set our launch time for about an hour and a half before that because that's when we figured things would be quietest - and I hate to brag but look, we nailed it. I'd wanted to start with some rolling and rescue practice, just to get warmed up; we did that, and TQ also came up with the great idea of going out & giving everyone a calm-water preview of the area we were going to be playing in as the current started picking up. We did that, caught a few boat wakes to practice surfing, it was all very nice --

and as we were out there, our bands of standing waves ever so gradually began standing up.


We went in for a lunch break, a little more discussion of using eddies and ferry angles, and another good look at the Gut from the point - things starting to move now, the waves still not very big, but you can see where they are shaping up, and where the eddies are forming, and all that good stuff:


And then after that, time to go give it a try!

Main hazard of the day:


We should have had helmets, but we had a pretty capable group and as long as we stayed downcurrent from the rocks, we thought we would be OK; water temperature was fantastic, air temperature likewise; there were motorboats around but we kept our eyes peeled & didn't have any problems with them - really, these lion's-mane jellyfish were the main issue. Fortunately, as you can see, they are big, easy to see, and while there were plenty of them, it wasn't anything like my first trip to the point a couple of years ago, when there was a bumper crop of smaller ones & you literally could not have capsized without running afoul of at least one. Stevie did get a little bit of a sting at one point, but these are also not the worst of the stinging beasties out there; he was able to keep going fine & by the end of the day the redness was gone.

We'd gotten back on the water at a good time - things were starting to pick up but we had some time for Luis & Derrick, our two takers who were trying this for the first time, to familiarize themselves with the feel of moving water before things got to max ebb.

Stevie already knows his way around moving water fine - that was nice, TQ and I were the "official" trip leaders on this one, we've done plenty of paddling on our own and with others in water this size, but this was our first trip where we were actually in charge & taking care of others (that was neat...there are SO many people out there who've taken me out in conditions that were at my outer limits, finally & officially doing the same for others felt like the start of paying back a longstanding debt -- great stuff) so a one-to-one ratio plus one extra totally competent person out there too was VERY nice.


Derrick working his way up an eddy -


Oops. Shore break while one of the trip leaders makes the aforementioned (aforeblogged?) emergency repair (SO disconcerting to look forward as you're careening about in waves & current & realize that you are looking INTO your hatch - I was just lucky I noticed it BEFORE I took anything over the bow - that was starting to happen, too)


Paddle flourish from Luis - Derrick & Luis both really got the hang of this fast & Luis even got a combat roll (not his first, really, but his first in moving water - that was VERY cool - "Boat over!" - "Boat back up, WOOHOO!")


This is actually right when the video at the start was taken - we'd been playing for a while, and we were about to strike out for the lighthouse, and there's a patch of large rocks right before you get out into the more open section, and that makes a nice spot for a group to take a bit of a breather.

TQ, having fun!


Stevie makes his break for the lighthouse -


And a minute later the rest of us followed & once we left the shelter of those rocks, no more pictures until --


Rest break at the lighthouse



Stevie, Luis, TQ & Derrick at the lighthouse


And the next pictures I took was of the purple potatoes I was cooking for dinner -


and a very shiny car.


Day 2 ended with an absolutely ridiculous amount of food (Sebago's notorious for eating well, but this was over the top - I swear you could've stocked a small butcher shop with the meat that was cooked!) and a thoroughly entertaining debate over whether marshmallows should be Gently Toasted, or set afire (I supplied the marshmallows that fueled the debate and I think that has to be one of the most entertaining contributions I have ever made to a Sebago repast), and some good stories.

Day 3 -

A total...


washout!


Stevie was the only one crazy enough to want to paddle in the deluge (with possible thunderstorms), so that didn't fly - but still -

spirits remained fairly high -


An extra tarp was set up -


Coffee was made -


and then TQ and I got the heck outta Dodge & back to the club, where I took advantage of the good soaking & the rain-every-day-for-the-whole-week forecast by planting some seeds - my beets had gotten strangled by weeds, and I hadn't planted enough basil seedlings, and I had some seeds in my bag and figured a wet week might make it worth trying again. We'll see!


Then home, to where the bathroom is still festooned with stuff hung up to dry.

Could've been more paddling - but on the whole, what a really fun weekend.

A 360-Degree Firework Spectacular

Two dozen paddlers, some in traditional decked sea kayaks and others in single and tandem sit-on-tops, enjoyed a 360-degree firework spectacular last night from the vantage point of Jamaica Bay between the two islands known as Canarsie Pol and Ruffle Bar.

When my wife and I arrived at the Sebago Club House a little before 5:00 PM, some paddlers already had their boats ready for the paddle, even though it was still hours a pot-luck barbecue picnic away. As more and more members and guests arrived, so did more food. There were several choices of chips, salads, grilled vegetables, burgers and beverages to enjoy, and enjoy we did. No one went away hungry and a lot of leftover food went into the clubhouse refrigerator afterward.

Around 7:30 PM, after cleaning up from the social, we put butts in boats, and boats and paddles in the water. The shore to sea breeze blowing through Paerdegat Basin suggested we mind enjoy an easy paddle out into the bay but have to paddle against a head wind on the way back. As soon as we cleared all the docks and were in the wider part of the Basin, however, the breeze calmed, but we still enjoyed an easy paddle out into the open waters of Jamaica Bay.

Once in the Bay, we tightened our formation at buoy 13and then crossed the channel toward the western end of Canarsie Pol. As we crossed the channel, a spectacular sunset illuminated the distant buildings of the Rockaways, painting their drab concrete grays with a luminous reddish orange luminescent glow. The setting sun also showed us that the scattered clouds were clearing, suggesting we might enjoy a fine view of fireworks.

Once clear of the channel, we turned west, and past the Pol. After clearing Canarsie Pol, we headed toward Ruffle Bar. As we paddled toward the Bar, we started seeing fireworks in the darkening sky over the Rockaway’s. Midway between Ruffle Bar and Canarsie Pol, with the highpoints of the Manhattan skyline visible over the tops of the trees on Canarsie Pol, stopped to wait for the NYC Fireworks. As we waited, however, we continued enjoying pyrotechnics over the Rockaways, as well as from many other distant sites, some from perhaps as far away as Long Island. With a clear 360 degree horizon, we could see so many fireworks around us that I lost count of how many sites we could see.

Finally, with the darkening sky in the west, we started seeing the fireworks set off from barges in the Hudson. Thanks, Macy’s! I have watched the New York City Fireworks from the banks of the Hudson. While being closer to fireworks and enjoying the display as part of a large crown has its advantages, one cannot see the fireworks from all the barges when that close. Our vantage point from the waters of Jamaica Bay not only allowed us to view the display from all the barges, but afterwards, rather than moving with the throngs toward an overcrowded subway, we paddled past a variety of birds in the city’s largest Wildlife Refuge while enjoying the wide-open expanse of the glassy smooth Bay.

Once the New York City show was over, occasional displays of random fireworks continued to entertain us as we paddled back to Paerdegat Basin. The eerie reflections of terrestrial lights off the glass-like Bay almost lulled us into a hypnotic dream-like paddling cadence as we crossed the main channel, but as we approached the construction area near the Belt Parkway bridge over the basin, realty once again claimed us as we carefully negotiated the narrow channel under the bridge and into the basin.

Once back at the club, we carried boats and gear up to the wash racks where we rinsed it free of saltwater. After we put it all safely away back into lockers and on top of cars, we settled around tables in the clubhouse were we enjoyed a post paddle desert of Italian pastries, beer, wine, conversation and fellowship. About fifteen minutes before midnight, we said good-bye to friends old and new and headed home. It was a spectacular Sebago Canoe Club Fourth of July to remember.

Last Paddle of Winter + Paerdegat Proxigean Promenade

If everybody didn't know I was probably at the beach, I would call this picture "Tea in the Sahara".

It's one of a very few I took on my last winter paddle (to Breezy Point, that's Minh & TQ in the picture above) - first off, the weather was extremely breezy & I had to concentrate on paddling, and secondly, I was out of reach of my charger for the weekend & wanted to save the batteries for the very unusual and fun event that some very smart folks at Sebago had put together in honor of the midafternoon arrival of the Supermoon Proxigean Low Water - a shorewalk right in our own Paerdegat Basin!

It was GREAT - thanks to all who helped organize, I really enjoyed seeing our familiar basin from a different point of view.

More pictures from both days (but mostly the shorewalk) can be found here.

Seals, Snow, and Bigelow's - 1/15/2011 Jones Beach

They made us sweat this time, they did.


Once or twice every year for the last couple of years, Tony and Walter (aka "Pinky and the Brain", aaka "Co-Chairs of the Sebago Cruising Committee") have organized midwinter sealwatching paddles at Jones Beach.

It's one of my favorite winter trips. In the summertime, Jones Beach may be a pure people's playground, but in the wintertime, the maze of marshy islands inside the inlet becomes almost as popular a playground for our phocine friends.

The first time I joined the Cruising Committee on this trip in 2009, I actually didn't believe it. Tony and Walter were billing the trip as a sealwatching paddle - but in the NY Harbor and Jamaica Bay area, a seal sighting was a special treat. I took the name as a bit of optimism on our trip leaders' part and made elaborate mental preparations to not be too dissappointed if we didn't see any. Wildlife can't be expected to appear on cue, it shaped up to be a great group of people (of course Sebago trips all tend to have that happen), it looked like a lovely area to paddle, there'd surely be some lovely ducks and geese to see and hey, it was supposed to snow, I love paddling in the snow, so even if the seals didn't appear on cue, hey, it would be a fantastic day.

The first seal appeared off the fishing docks before we'd even launched, and once we were on the water, they were everywhere.



They were following us.


They were watching us.


At one point we stopped paddling and just gawked because we were completely surrounded by a circle of seals. At another point, a seal popped up right in our midst - missed the shot by that much, the biggest ripple marks where the seal had been a split-second earlier.


Second year, it wasn't quite as easy to see them. There was a brisk breeze blowing, and it's a lot harder to spot those little round heads when it's choppy. We didn't see them quite as quickly, and a couple of guys who were landing just as we were launching said that they hadn't seen any, so once again, I began to tell myself the whole beautiful spot/lovely ducks/nice people/seals would be the sprinkles on the sundae story...

Of course, they were out there again, and then for the sundae-sprinkles on top of the sundae-sprinkles on the sundae, I jokingly asked ace birder Mary to find us a snowy owl, and guess what - she did! Incredible.

There was a 3rd trip that I missed. I think that was the one where the term "hundreds" came into use. The crew that did that one came back with a story of not seeing many seals and thinking it was going to be a so-so sealwatching day - until they rounded a bend back in the marshes and found themselves smack dab in front of a beach where a huge herd of seals was hauled out.

Unfortunately this resulted in an instant departure of every seal there - seals can get hypothermia too, and their sunbathing time is key to their health; they are very skittish while hauled out so the idea is NOT to suddenly appear right on top of them - in this case the humans and seals were equally surprised, there was nothing to be done but apparently the exodus was quite spectacular.

By my records, then, last Saturday was the 4th Annual-Plus Sebago Jones Beach Seal Paddle.

It was a cold and snowy, slightly blowy day,


but we had a very nice turnout, including a few paddlers with a little less winter experience who were nevertheless drawn by the prospect of seals, and even a very nice prospective member who'd found out about the club, came to the Frostbite potluck to meet people and decided she was interested in joining us for this trip.

L to R - Almost a group shot by Mary Ann (thanks Mary Ann!): Commodore Tony, Susan, Dotty, Walter, Mary Ann, TQ and me - missing: Martha, hiding behind Susan (bummer!): Danica (I hope I spelled that right!)

Jones Beach is actually a great introductory winter trip. It's very protected and quiet inside the inlet, you're never really too far from land, and it's all about watching the seals, there's no particular distance that has to be done for the trip to be a raging success.

They'd all heard so much about this trip, and we launched with confident promises of wonders to come...


But as I said at the beginning of this post -- the seals let us sweat this time.

I don't know if they heard that we were taking them for granted and wanted to teach us a lesson, or maybe they were down at the inlet having lunch, but we paddled for a VERY long time without seeing any.

And once again I found myself working through the litany of ways in which a seal-free seal paddle would be OK - this time, with others joining in.

Mary Ann, God bless her, started to point out the birds. A loon, a longtailed duck, how lovely!

Someone else commented on how beautiful the marsh islands were and what a nice place this was to paddle as we paddled on past the second seal-free inlet.

And once again it was a really great group. Sebago paddles are like that. Oh, did I say that already? Well, it bears repeating. They just are.

And then, finally, just at the other end of the inlet, the first one was spotted. We stopped, we drifted, we gawked, we paddled backwards, and those little round heads kept popping up here and there. It was still nothing like the density we sometimes see there (I actually didn't end up taking any pictures on the water because I didn't see any opportunities for shots that were going to be any better than pictures I'd taken on other paddles with seals, plus I was a little more in trip-leader mode than I had been in the past, which makes me lay off the camera a bit) but all in all, it was another good Jones Beach seal paddle. I don't think the first-timers were quite as blown away as I was on my first trip, but I think everybody was happy.

And then -- how do you make happy paddlers even happier?

Oh. My. Gosh. BIGELOW'S!


Doing wonderfully, deliciously unhealthy things to seafood in Rockville Center since 1939. Faaaaaabulous!Walter introduced this to the Seal Paddle last year. I begged to go back this year.


Guess what, I didn't have to beg too hard!


I once again chose the Ipswich belly clams with a cold Harpoon IPA for there...

and a quart of the best New England clam chowder I've ever had anywhere (except maybe TQ's homemade) to go. And Danica got a slice of key lime pie and a bunch of forks, and I was SO happy - I LOVE key lime pie, I was way too full of clams to have a whole dessert to myself but a couple of bites of creamy key lime yumminess to top of the meal? Wonderful.

Oh, gosh, and that reminds me, there's a sailing committee scheduling meeting on Saturday. I wonder if I could hunt down a Steve's Key Lime Pie somewhere in Manhattan tomorrow?

BTW - interested in going to see the seals at Jones Beach for yourself? You don't need a kayak or a drysuit, just warm clothing, some good walking shoes, and maybe a thermos of something hot (ok, and a car would probably help). The Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center offers guided seal walks all winter. Click here for schedule and details.

Columbus Plus Nine

Group photo while beached on Ruffle Bar. Photo by Gary.

Nine paddlers observed the legal Columbus Day Holiday by paddling from the club house, across Jamaica Bay to the Warf Restaurant on Far Rockaway, and back.  The wind was minimal, the sky blue, and the air temperature in the low to mid 70's.  Lunch was enjoyed at the Warf.

For a fuller and only slightly biased and embellished trip report, read the post at Summit to Shore.

Sunday SailCom Cruise

It felt a bit Septemberish, gray skies & cool weather, but the wind was great (more in the low teens than the 5-10 kts the forecast had called for) and Holly & Jim set a good course with the windward leg being the sail to our favorite lunch beach on Ruffle bar, where all the work getting there made my empanada lunch taste extra extra good, and then the trip home again being a big looping S around Ruffle Bar & Canarsie Pol. The trip home was awesome, all reaching & running, and with the wind & the waves, we flew! I felt like I was getting more speed out of Swampfox & maintaining it for longer periods of time than I've managed before in a Sunfish - usually I have a few fantastic moments then do something to foul up whatever I was doing right, but today there were long stretches where things were going great.

I did learn one really good lesson today - I have a light wetsuit top that just needs to always be part of my sailing kit. The weather wasn't quite as warm or sunny as the last forecast I'd seen had been talking about & I was lucky Holly had a spare top because the day (and especially the windward leg) would've been a chilly one if she hadn't had that for me.

I didn't take a lot of pictures because conditions were just enough that the sailing really required two hands & full attention, but here were the few I did.





I can't show you pictures of one of the "end" results but I can tell you that I will be needing a cushion for the next few days! :D