NYCkayaker LIC Community Boathouse Activities -- come on down!

[Erik Baard]

Ahoy!

Though the summer might have come to a close, warm water and moderate 
air temperatures allow us to stretch the paddling season a few more 
days. And boy do we have some fun stuff ahead!

1) Dumbo Arts Event

A kayaker is needed late Sunday morning to test currents for an art 
project by Smudge Studio ( http://www.smudgestudio.org ) called East 
'River' Reverses. The actual event will be Sunday, Oct 15 in 
partnership with our New York Kayak Company ( http://www.nykayak.com ) 
friends, but you'll be needed Oct 8 for the test run. In short, it's a 
celebration of our estuary and the tidal currents of the strait into 
which we launch. This on-site art installation, supported by the Lower 
Manhattan Cultural Council, consists of a kayak anchored off shore 
during a DUMBO arts festival drifting in both directions of the ebb and 
flood currents. The artists will hand out information during the 
performance to those watching on the shore.

A boathouse kayak and transportation by Smudge Studio will be provided. 
Please email a note to the following addresses if you can help!

erik at licboathouse.org
ellswore at newschool.edu

2) Hallets Cove: Sunday paddle and Wednesday meeting


Paddle Sunday! Please remember to come down to Hallets Cove tomorrow, 
Sunday, Oct. 8. We have a free paddling walk-up day and great weather 
forecast. We'd be especially grateful for volunteers who show up at 
noon at the boathouse, to prepare and load up boats and transport 
(cartop) them.

Also, we encourage those who are especially interested in the growth of 
our activities in Astoria/Ravenswood to come to come to the first 
Hallets Cove Committee meeting on Wednesday, Oct 11, 630PM at the cove 
for a 10-minute orientation. Afterwards we'll walk over to:

Belaire Diner
3191 21st St, Long Island City, NY
(718) 721-3160
(21st Street and Broadway)


4) Jamaica Bay Planting, Paddling, BBQ/Solar Oven, and Star Party

We are gathering 15-20 people for a wonderful day in Jamaica Bay, 
perhaps New York City's most vibrant ecosystem. First we'll enjoy 
snacks and an orientation at 11:30 AM. Then at noon we'll plant trees 
with Friends of Gateway (our largest local national park -- 
http://treebranch.com ) for about 2.5 hours. A potluck BBQ and an SOS 
Sport Solar Oven-cooked meal ( http://www.solarovens.org ) will follow. 
Those who want to paddle can then hit the water for a couple of hours 
(launching sometime between 3PM and 4PM, at high water slack and 
heading into the bay -- ebb current will carry paddlers back), while 
others might opt to hike and bird watch. We'll all reconvene for snacks 
at sunset and a star party, viewing the heavens through volunteers' 
telescopes!

Volunteers with cars and telescopes are urgently needed. All others 
please bring something to BBQ or cook in a solar oven, generously 
provided by the Solar Oven Society through ECOFEST's ( 
http://www.ecofest.com ) Nancy Callahan and the West Side Cultural 
Center. Please also bring a dry change of clothing and the usual common 
sense items -- hat, sunglasses,aspirin, etc.

Email erik at licboathouse.org with your interest and resources.

More about the core mission of the day provided by FoG's Dave Lutz, an 
urban outdoors pioneer:


Plant a Trail of Trees at Gateway National Recreation Area

Get your hands dirty on the Second Saturday of each month at Floyd 
Bennett
Field in Brooklyn. Friends of Gateway (FoG) seeks a score of volunteers 
to
help plant over fifty trees in a single day on October 14th. "Floyd 
Bennett
Field is Brooklyn's National Park and the largest single park in 
Brooklyn.
Changing it from its former military and aviation uses and making it
hospitable for park uses will require special attention to its need for
shade, especially in an era of global warming" noted Dave Lutz, 
executive
director of Friends of Gateway. "The fall planting season is critical 
to the
success of FoG's effort to grow plants for the park. Meeting this 
one-day
goal will make a big difference in years to come."

The event will take place on Saturday, October 14th and be part of FoG's
Second Saturday series of conservation efforts at the Gateway 
Greenhouse.
Participants will meet at the greenhouse at 11:30 for snacks. The event
begins at 12 noon. Participants will plant a trail of trees from the
greenhouse to the Park entrance.

The day is designed to be family friendly. There will be enough to do so
that adults with or without children can contribute and have fun at the 
same
time. FoG also has a long list of projects that need to be done which
require special skills, so people with horticultural background, art 
skills,
carpentry, plumbing, or electrical backgrounds are especially welcome 
at the
Gateway Greenhouse. People with special skills should call 212-228-3126 
so
that arrangements can be made.

Gateway National Recreation Area was created 30 years ago with the 
transfer
of mostly military infrastructure to the National Park Service. Friends 
of
Gateway is now encouraging New Yorkers to help improve their own park. 
"We
hope to develop a community of volunteer stewards to work with us to 
make
Gateway as much a stellar example of urban land restoration as Yosemite 
and
Yellowstone are of rural land preservation", said Dave Lutz.

5) Oct 21 is It's My Park Day! Make sure you get out and show local 
leaders in business and politics that parks matter, and bring along 
some friends who might not have appreciated (or even experienced) our 
greening waterfront! This year we'll give love to Rainey Park 
especially!

For more, and to get involved in your neighborhood parks, please visit:

http://www.astoriawaterfront.org

So bring your waterfront love into autumn!

Salty regards,

Erik
LIC Community Boathouse
http://www.licboathouse.org


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