New Roof at Canoe Club for Workshop

How the new roof looks so far...after 2 workdays at the Club...

Saturday Work Day - Arrival Of The Roof!

If you're on the Sebago Yahoo group, you probably saw the following announcement from Phil, posted at 8:45 AM:

It looks like the weather will hold BUT EVEN IF IT RAINS, I need 3-4 people
between noon and 2pm to help me UNLOAD roof from truck RAIN OR SHINE

So if you where planning on anly coming for a couple of hours, please do it then
Thanks,
Phil

Well, it's a good thing it didn't rain & there were close to 20 people there, because the truck was WAY too big to come onto the grounds, there were a LOT of pieces & some of the heavier components (the pieces that will anchor the roof to the top of the container) took 4 or 5 people alone. As it was, with all hands on deck, we made pretty quick work of the task. Ever watch ants moving something to the hill? Well, that's exactly what we did, back & forth until we had everything put away.

Chris had his camera & got some great pictures of the whole process & has put up a very entertaining gallery of the whole process (plus a few more of the other jobs we worked on. Check it out!

And don't forget - now we need to put it up! What a great chance to work off your work obligation early in the season! Here's Phil again:

We will begin to erect our new roof starting Saturday. We will start slow but
sure and continue on Sunday. AND EVERY WEEKEND UNTIL MAY 23 unless we get it
done sooner.

We need a minimu of 6 people at EVERY workday to physically put up the roof.

If anyones has acces to old plywood, PLEASE let me know ASAP. We need 8' x50'
put down to roll scaffold on.
Thanks,
Phil

Season Opener Gallery

From Sebago Season Opener 2010

Busy weekend, I'm pooped, but here's some pretty pictures from today's Season Opener at the Sebago Canoe Club! Beautiful day (although b-r-r-r-eeeeezy!), good paddle, good food, and even the 3 1/2 hours of meetings (kayak committee followed by general meeting) wasn't too bad - kept moving, a lot of good information was gone over. And the wine didn't hurt (and the last bit of business was the best, four conditional members to be voted on for senior membership, woohoo & congrats to our four newest senior members)!

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Special occasion today - the inaugural appearance of Steve H's beautiful new cherry-red TaheMarine Greenland-style kayak, just christened today - here's the first roll (and this will also give a hint to the conditions out there):


We had hot tamales, and he said something about that maybe being a good name for the new kayak. Don't know if he was serious or not but it is definitely one sweet-looking boat!

Cross posted at the Frogma.

New Pedestrian Gate, New Kayak, New Rollers

Gary tries out a grass roll, in
Franks new kayak.















Frankie tries out a California roll in his new kayak.

Bees in the City? New York May Let the Hives Come Out of Hiding

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s board will take up the issue of amending the health code to allow residents to keep hives of Apis mellifera, the common, nonaggressive honeybee. Health department officials said the change was being considered after research showed that the reports of bee stings in the city were minimal and that honeybees did not pose a public health threat.

The officials were also prodded by beekeepers who, in a petition and at a public hearing last month, argued that their hives promoted sustainable agriculture in the city. from the NY Times..

for the rest of article click here

LIC Boathouse Fundraiser Tomorrow, 3.11.2010

initially posted on my own blog - thought I'd put it here, too.

D'OH! I had meant to post about this MUCH sooner! The Long Island City Boathouse is having their annual benefit on Thursday, March 11th (tomorrow night, at the time I'm writing this) at the Foundry, half a block south of the Long Island City end of the Queensboro Bridge. Full info is available on licboathouse.org.

This event is personally & enthusiastically endorsed by Sebago clubmate Walter. He's one of the founding members & grand Poo-Bahs of the Sebago Cruising Committee & believe me, the Sebago Cruising Committee knows a thing or twenty-seven about having fun. If Walter says it's a good party, it's a good party!

DEP opens microbiology lab at Newtown Creek plant

City officials today announced the opening of a new $2.3 million microbiology laboratory that will improve operational efficiency and enhance monitoring of local waterways.

The new lab, located at Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn, will consolidate bacteriological analyses for all 14 city wastewater treatment plants, increase DEP’s ability to compare test results across its facilities, and help achieve the highest levels of pollutant removal and disinfection from the 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater that New Yorkers produce every day, according to a press release.

“This new microbiology lab will substantially increase our monitoring and testing capacity, giving us the vital information we need to meet and exceed treatment standards, and continue the resurgence of New York City’s waterways that is central to Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC vision.” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway.

The new 2,000 square-foot lab will also allow for a significant increase in the number of water samples that can be analyzed with existing staff.

Dolphin spotted in Brooklyn's polluted Newtown Creek

A dolphin was spotted Wednesday in Brooklyn's notoriously polluted Newtown Creek.

"We were just amazed," said Roy Arezzo, one of two teachers from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School who saw the 7-foot dolphin swimming deeper into the filthy water.

Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Is Given Superfund Status

From the New York Times: The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it was designating the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn a contaminated Superfund site, paving the way for a cleanup of the decades of pollution there.
The decision comes as a blow to the Bloomberg administration, which had proposed a cleanup that would avoid such a designation. The city argued that the designation could set off legal battles with polluters, defer completion of a cleanup and torpedo construction by developers deterred by the stigma of a Superfund label.

The E.P.A. estimated that the federal cleanup would last 10 to 12 years and cost $300 million to $500 million. Read the rest of this click here

Another Winter Paddle

A couple weeks ago Pete, Phil and I(stevie) paddled out to the Warf for lunch.
We spotted a lone seal near Ruffle Bar, probably the same one we saw a couple weeks ago. It was too far away to get a decent picture.
The wind picked up and we had a real workout returning into a strong headwind.

Here's some videos of Phil and Pete testing out the new dock: