CCNY Concrete Canoe Team at Sebago

4/28/14 Update - YOWZA! This just in from the head of the Canoe Committee:

"Sebago Canoe Committee

Please pass the word .........

The CCNY engineering students won overall FIRST PLACE at the American
Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe Competition at Cook's Pond !!!

They have much thanks and appreciation for their training at Sebago.

They set course record for Coed !

They immediately asked if they can return to train at Sebago for the
nationals in Pittsburg in 2 months !

Bravo Sebago !"

AWESOME! 

Oy. Here we are, two weeks after the Season Opener, and I still haven't finished talking about what we found going on back in the basin, after our paddle around Canarsie Pol and prior to retiring to the clubhouse for the traditional consumption of mass quantities.

We found a crew of energetic young folks charging around the basin in a most unusual craft - a canoe made out of concrete. 

This group was the City College of New York's 2014 Concrete Canoe team, who'd been working with members of Sebago's Canoe Committee for a few weeks.

The American Society of Civil Engineers hosts this annual competition (which began in 1988, not surprisingly in Michigan, a canoe-crazy state if ever there was one). Teams are challenged to design, build, and finally race their own concrete canoes.

From the ASCE's Concrete Canoe site: "The ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC) provides students with a practical application of the engineering principles they learn in the classroom, along with important team and project management skills they will need in their careers. The event challenges the students' knowledge, creativity and stamina, while showcasing the versatility and durability of concrete as a building material."

It was really neat finally seeing one of the boats! Like most people, when I think of something made out of concrete, I think of something that's solid and immobile - fascinating seeing it made into something floaty and fleet. I should've take a close-up or two - the boat had nice racing lines to it but when you looked at it closely, it absolutely wasn't pretending to be made out of anything but concrete (and I think they said it took about 7 people to move it around).

The team had been coming out for a few weeks in all kinds of weather and were being coached primarily by a member of the Canoe Committee who's done a lot of dragon boat racing. I'm not a great judge of canoe technique but I thought they were really looking like racers, and they had the boat well under control on what had turned into a very breezy afternoon. 

For a few more pix, click here.  

Spring Safety Spiel (cross-posted from Frogma)

Well, goodness, have we got a nice-looking weekend coming up here in the Northeast. Temps in the 60's in NYC, light winds and sunshine - perfect weekend to break out the ol' canoe, right?

And of course the answer to that question is, as always for this time of year,

"Yes, of course, but please learn the risks and have the right gear."

I suspect I'm preaching to a combination of choir and fellow preachers here but I always feel like I have to do this this time of year - the air's warming up but that water is still cold to the point that a mishap that would be humorous in August could actually be the last mistake that person makes.

There've already been a couple of the usual late winter/early spring news stories about kayak accidents doing the paddler social-media circuits - a couple of fatalities, plus one really lucky saved-life story. Naturally the story with the happy ending involved a paddler who was wearing their life jacket - I haven't got time to hunt down the link right now but if I'm recalling correctly, the story was that someone spotted the overturned kayak from shore and called for help. The paddler was past the point of being able to move by the time rescuers arrived but the lifejacket kept them afloat.

In NY State, we're still in the time of year when anyone out in a recreational craft of 20' or less is required by law to wear a properly-fitted lifejacket; that's not the rule everywhere, but a boater who doesn't is taking a big and completely unnecessary risk.

Beyond that, dressing properly is also important - remember that we had a very, very cold winter; I was talking to some of my polar bear swimmer friends last weekend and they were remarking on how cold the water remains right now at Coney Island.

Thinking of doing some spring boating, but not sure how you should prepare, or just feel like you could use a refresher? Visit the links in my Cold Water Safety section on Frogma, top of the sidebar - always good to know before you go!