NYCkayaker Swim Support

Tue Jul 1 22:42:52 EDT 2008

At last, a positive note!  Thanks Erik. 
 I'm happy to announce my intention to enjoy a long day on the water  with 
dozens of swimmers and scores of paddlers this Saturday.  I  participated in 
three of MIF's longer swims last year and am back for more of  the camaraderie 
and fun.  
I haven't found the perfect entity or person and don't expect to.   MIF, like 
our boathouses, families, government, whatever, is composed of human  beings, 
by definition, imperfect.  You generally get out what you put  in.  If I did 
not accept this, perhaps I'd spend my summer in Disneyland,  where the 
illusion of perfection is nearly complete.
To those who feel the need to criticize and boycott, thanks for your  concern.
We're going to miss you Saturday.

Ted Gruber

In a message dated 7/1/2008 9:57:56 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
erikbaard at gmail.com writes:

I've  found that my experiences with MIMS have gotten better over the past
decade  (?) since I started. I used to paddle away grumbling that I would
never do  them again, but I must confess that my chief complaints stemmed
from eye  comfort -- hooray for lazik surgery!

I've certainly had my moments of  frustration with MIF, as I have with many
organizations, which are  periodically disorganizations. The LIC Community
Boathouse has a policy of  allowing volunteers, as individuals, to help as
escorts (personally I do  only the longer swims and the Brooklyn Bridge swim
because it's otherwise  too much logistical work for too little payoff). We
don't send an official  group out. MIF has been supportive of our work,
working with NJ Paddler to  provide us with a trailer, for example.

That doesn't suspend my safety  considerations for a moment. I hope kayaker
input and control will grow.  I've been on swims that encountered stormy
weather, and that's a risk. The  pressure to ensure that the show goes on is
enormous because swimmers fly  in from around the world. Is it possible to
have rain dates in quick  succession (Sat/Sun)? But I haven't seen dramatic
dangers. The worst story  I've heard was from years ago, of swimmers being
pulled by currents into a  barge. Was that a MIF swim?

My intuitive calculation is that MIF swims,  and other swims, are still very
positive contributors to our harbor/estuary  revival. They get thousands of
people into waters that are normally  forbidden. They attract huge media
attention to water quality and access  issues. MIF is a vanguard group in
renewing the harbor. Some of the  signature swims, like MIMS, are peerless at
this time.

I would  rather kayakers harassed the hell out of the organizers than  paddled
away.

Erik

Erik Baard

Nature Calendar: Your  Urban Wilderness Community
http://www.naturecalendar.com

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

On Tue,  Jul 1, 2008 at 9:28 PM, <bonnie13 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Hi -  I was going to stay out of this as I think people have been expressing
>  their concerns & frustrations pretty well & it's the same set as we've  
been
> seeing here for years.
>
> But Paul mentioned my  name, I was at that dinner, it did happen the way he
> described it  -
>
> Beyond that, though, I did have a very specific swim where  things got
> weird, so I'll talk about that one.
>
> I'd  volunteered to be the kayak coordinator for I think it was the Park to
>  Park Swim. We were all meeting at the downtown boathouse. It was a very  
ugly
> day weatherwise; I paddled down with huge black clouds over  Jersey. Got
> there to find that no one at the DTBH wanted to get on the  water
> (understandably). Called Morty to let him know no kayaks. He was  fine with
> that. First storm blew through, quite a good one, we waited  it out inside.
> Still big black clouds over Jersey after that one blew  through but I 
decided
> to try to nip back up to Pier 63 before the next  one. Some of the 
motorboats
> had been staged down there, though, and  when I saw one of them heading 
north
> for 79th st. I decided to just  hitch a ride up to see what was going on at
> the starting line -  feeling sure it was going to be a no-go but still
> feeling like as the  kayak coordinator I had a responsibility to at least
> turn up to see  what was going on.
>
> I think John McGarvey was the only other  kayaker there. It was a small
> group of swimmers as these things go,  but there were a couple dozen 
anyways,
> and I really didn't know how  the two of us were going to keep all of them 
on
> course & out from  the pilings & piers. For those who haven't done one of 
the
> races,  the way the kayaks usually work for the shorter races is the 
paddlers
>  split into 2 groups & form a cordon along the outside of the course   &
> another along the pierhead line, just to herd swimmers who are  going off
> course back onto the course - the bulk of the swimmers go  fine but there 
are
> always some who want to go to Jersey & some who  want to go spelunking under
> the docks. 2 kayaks don't constitute a  cordon. The powerboats form a line
> outside the outer line of kayaks,  but they can't turn a wayward swimmer 
back
> on course like a kayak can.  Plus there were more huge black clouds piling 
up
> over Jersey. I didn't  like it at all. Morty didn't ask for opinions, 
though,
> he was  j!
>  ust going to start it, but then the weather alert signal  started on the
> VHF. At that point the powerboat skippers made their  own call & left.
>
> At that point Morty called the race. I  was so relieved.
>
> I complained afterwards but more to the  point, I think it was around that
> time that I cut down my swim support  to the MIMS (that one, you always know
> that the swimmer to kayak to  motorboat ratio is going to be one to one to
> one, no unpleasant  surprises at the starting line).
>
> The swimmers were great, I  swam one or two myself & I miss doing it (I
> really really should  join CIBBOWS), but that one just sort of spooked me.
>
> There was  another race I did that turned awful, one of the swimmers had a
> heart  attack, but that time everything worked exactly the way it way
>  supposed to and although it remains one of my worst boating memories, I  do
> think that there wasn't anything any of us who attended to him  could have
> done to change the outcome.
>
> Just a reminder  though that sometimes in these races, someone's life could
> potentially  end up in your hands, even though you're not really supposed to
> be  there as a lifeguard. I think everybody who does the swims is aware of
>  that, and I think that's part of why feelings about how the kayakers  are
> treated run so high.
>
> That's all I've got to  say.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> >From: TomBrooklyn  <tombrook11232 at yahoo.com>
> >Sent: Jun 30, 2008 11:58  PM
> >To: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net
> >Subject: Re:  NYCkayaker Anyone doing this Sunday's Governors Island Swim
>   Support
> >
> >> > From: Paul  PAZ764 at aol.com
>
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--  
Erik  Baard

www.licboathouse.org
www.naturecalendar.com
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