NYCkayaker East River Paddling

[rob buchanan]

Richard:

I just want to second what eric said in response to your notion that the
east river is not a place for small boats. Yes, the water moves fast at the
peak of the ebb and flood, and yes, it can behave in complicated ways. But
for many of the city¹s human-powered boaters, that¹s whole joy and beauty of
the place. I mean, how lucky are we to one of the planet¹s greatest tidal
straits right down there at the end of our streets? It¹s  a living geography
lesson presented twice daily, a constant reminder that this city is and will
always be a part of the natural world. And, on the practical side, a
veritable conveyor belt, sometimes smooth and sometimes churning, that can
rocket us up to the bronx or down to the narrows in the space of an
afternoon. Is it navigationally challenging? Yes. Too challenging? Well, you
could ask George Washington, who got 10,000 members of the Continental Army
across it in small boats on a foggy August night in 1776, thereby saving the
fledgling republic¹s skin. Or you could go paddling with long island city
boathouse, or rowing with east river crew, and see for yourself how
dangerous and terrifying it isn¹t.

Rob



> In a nod to my Jewish friends at the new year, Oy vey iz mir!
>  
> As the founder and operator of a successful kayaking boathouse on the East
> River, I must dispute nearly the entirety of this reply. Or as Wolfgang Pauli
> might have put it, the summation of assertions is "not even wrong."
>  
> There are several very viable launches on the Manhattan shoreline. The most
> obvious are at the beach below the Brooklyn Bridge and the beach at the center
> of Stuyvesant Cove (end of East 20th Street). The Brooklyn and Queens
> shorelines are amazingly well-suited to paddle and rowing, though not all
> viable spots are designated. Off the top of my head, I can name soft
> shorelines at Dumbo, the new state park at Williamsburg (hoping the state will
> catch up to the city in allowing launches), sandy coves in undeveloped Hunters
> Point, several coves and a dock at Gantry Plaza State Park, below the
> Williamsburg Bridge, below the Wellfare Island Bridge, Hallets Cove (the site
> of weekly walk-up paddle programming for people of all ages and abilities),
> and Pot Cove. Plus numerous in the N/E stretch of the waterway, of course.
> Also there's an easily adapted riprap rock spots include the end of Grand
> Avenue in Williamsburg and the end of Second Street on the Newtown Creek in
> Hunt! ers Point.
>  
> On the Newtown Creek there are several other step-down locations, and a ladder
> launch at the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint worked quite well for the
> East River Kayak Club for years. A new launch is being constructed there at
> this very moment. Ladder launching, and sometimes a floating dock, works
> beautifully for us LIC Community Boathouse people at Anable Cove and Anable
> Basin.
>  
> The solution to the Manhattan/FDR bulkhead problem is the construction of
> emergency exit points (ladders, small docks, etc.), not the banishment of
> small craft. 
>  
> Traffick on the East River is surprisingly light, and that's not just the
> perspective of a guy whose family worked aboard barges and tugs on that
> waterway throughout most of the 20th century. Even newbie public paddlers
> often ask, "Wow, is the river always this empty?" That said, rather than
> discouraging access, let's encourage people to learn ferry routes and barging
> patterns, consult tide and current tables, join this list serv, become aware
> of security zones, knowledgably use marine radios, exceed legal requirements
> for night lighting, and make crossings cautiously.
>  
> There are plenty of places in the metro area which are suitable for small
> boats. The East River is CHIEF among them!
> 
> :)
> 
> Erik Baard
> 
> http://www.licboathouse.org <http://www.licboathouse.org/>
> http://www.naturecalendar.com
> 
>  
> 
> 
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: NYCkayaker East River Paddling
>> From: "Richard Smith" <sailnut at att.net>
>> Date: Mon, September 24, 2007 9:49 am
>> To: <NYCkayaker at rockandwater.net>,  "Chris" <cgk8 at cornell.edu>
>> 
>> Although I have never paddled in the East River I have navigated it many
>> times in sailboats of varying sizes.
>> 
>> That said I would strongly discourage any thoughts of a public launch site
>> or recreational boating from the South Street Seaport north to Gracie
>> Mansion.
>> 
>> Currents in this area can approach 6 kts. In the west passage at Roosevelt
>> Island whirlpools develop which make navigation in a powered boat difficult.
>> The Manhattan Shore is bulkheaded and it would be extremely difficult if not
>> impossible to land on in an emergency. Roosevelt island and the Queens
>> shore are bulkheaded and/or fil! led with rip/rap again non-hospital to
>> landing.
>> 
>> Heavy commercial marine traffic can be expected and there is little a tug
>> with tow or a commercial vessel can do to avoid a small man powered craft.
>> 
>> There are plenty of places in the metro area which are suitable for small
>> boats. The East River is not among them!
>> 
>> Richard Smith
>> 
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> 
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