NYCkayaker City of Water Day reflections

[rob buchanan]

I hope there will be some kind of followup discussion with MWA about these
things. I thought Roland, Carter and Ray did a great job, and I was willing
to put up with all the paperwork this first time around. But I do think
there is something sacrificed in agreeing to all the safety protocols, event
permitting, and waiver signing--after all, one thing we are all pushing for
(I hope) is the idea that we human-powered boaters are able to take
responsibility for ourselves.

To me the ideal to which we should aspire is something like a maritime
version of critical mass,  a true convergence in which all of the rowers and
paddlers in the harbor who want to participate simply agree to meet on
governors island on a particular day or, if we could get them to allow
camping, a particular weekend. How each boater gets there, and when they do
their channel crossings, is his or her own business. I'm sure to official
ears that might sound potentially chaotic, but I don't think it would be at
all. Larger groups, like the 30 people erik brought, could work out their
own escort vessels if they felt they needed one, and even seek an event
permit from the coast guard. Smaller groups and individuals could do what
they always do--just go, and form their own safety plans amongst themselves.

I don't know if that's an achievable goal for next year or not, but here are
two specific changes we should definitely push for now. First, let's get rid
of the fricking waivers. I spent hours tracking down the 16 people who wound
up rowing in our two gigs, faxing and emailing stuff all over the place and
carrying the dumb things up to the MWA office two days before the event, and
in the end I still had to forge four or five signatures. Why are we even
going through this charade? We're in our boats, not MWA's, and we're
climbing onto land that belongs to the city and state, not MWA. Many of the
organized groups who participated have insurance agreements in place with
GIPEC already, and we already require waivers from our participants. Do we
need to sign another waiver on top of that? It's too much.

A second and related point: we really need to lean on GIPEC to get rid of
their insurance requirement for human-powered boaters. You can take the
ferry over to the island for free, even ride your bike onto it, and you
don't have to produce any kind of paperwork at all. Yet if you show up in a
boat your boathouse/community group needs to have $1 or $2 million (I forget
which) of general liablity insurance. If you're an independent, forget it,
you can't come ashore. That's nuts. Governors Island is public property, and
we should enjoy the same rights of access to it as our walking and biking
compatriots. Indeed, I think that's one big message 'City of Water Day'
could aim to send next year.


Rob Buchanan, Village Community Boathouse, Pier 40







  


On 7/30/08 8:10 AM, "j,duffy1" <j.duffy1 at rcn.com> wrote:

> I don't see much to celebrate about the City of Water event.  The
> enforced motor boat "safety boat" program that so many of us have been
> opposing for so long has been accepted and ratified by Carter and Ray,
> and more importantly a limitation on the number of boaters in a trip.
> Apparently there was also a list of individual participants delivered to
> Homeland Security.
> 
> Carter Craft and Ray Fusco are both nice guys, but they both make a
> living out of promoting this kind of event, which puts them in a very
> conflicted position when it comes to our rights as boaters and members
> of the public, when they deal with the various authorities.
> 
> There will be more events like this because Carter and Ray have to make
> a living, and if they don't, someone else will, but in future "include
> me out".
> 
> Jim Wetteroth,
> 
> erik Baard wrote:
> 
>> Ahoy'all,
>> 
>> I didn't see any celebration of our community's success on "City of Water
>> Day" here, though it's richly deserved. The joy and effectiveness of the
>> gathering is a testament to the care and enthusiasm given to it by Carter
>> Craft, Ray Fusco, Roland Lewis, Jennifer Stark-Hernandez, the Metropolitan
>> Waterfront Alliance team, safety boat crews, and boating group coordinators.
>> 
>> 
>> All of us who paddled the East River thank LIC Community Boathouse
>> volunteers Ted Gruber, Monica Schroeder, and John McGarvey in particular for
>> their great work, where our boathouse was the kayak source. Staten
>> Island/Yonkers paddler (and list regular!) Steve Blumling attended to the
>> needs of the Urban Divers and other Harlem River people, who encountered
>> logistical problems.
>> 
>> Some terrific photos of the event can be seen here:
>> 
>> 
>> http://paddleandknit.blogspot.com/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> http://picasaweb.google.com/mainyo72/CityOfWaterDay
>> 
>> http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=652r6on3.3c9jhe8j&Uy=h1uuku&Upos
>> t_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=165553855445_547697010211&m
>> ode=fromshare&conn_speed=1
>> 
>> The LIC Community Boathouse sent 30 paddlers in about 20 boats. A special
>> treat was being able to provide one boat to Damian Griffin Sr. and Jr. from
>> the Bronx River Alliance, our role model for the nascent Newtown Creek
>> Alliance. Thanks to the pace set by East River C.R.E.W. we got to leave a
>> bit early in perfect conditions. Our friend, Matthew McGregor-Mento joined
>> us a bit later, launching from the Stuyvesant Cove beach at East 20th
>> Street. The formation was tight (thanks to having ample marine radios --
>> Carter kindly lent us one to boot), and our safety boat performed perfectly
>> under the guidance of Trevor Harris of Rocking the Boat, keeping enough
>> distance to let us enjoy ourselves while darting about to head off
>> threatening traffic.
>> 
>> We were sad to not have the giant Urban Divers canoe with us; it's always a
>> festive addition, and the crew always includes both excited newcomers and
>> vital contributors to our estuary's recovery. Floating the Apple, however,
>> made good use of the day to remind officials of what a great launch Dumbo
>> Cove could be. We hope for equal success in future years at the beach on the
>> Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.
>> 
>> There was plenty of time to chat while paddling, pose for silly photos
>> (without getting pushed into the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall!) and just enjoy
>> the gentle play of the water. We pulled into the the southern Brooklyn
>> waterfall to gather for our crossing, do a final wrist band/boat band
>> inventory, and enjoy ourselves. A NYPD Harbor Unit boat was there, and we
>> chatted with the crew, who had a great sense of humor and
>> were surprisingly supportive regarding the waterfall dunking of a few weeks
>> back.
>> 
>> I didn't realize that our group was leading the landings at Governors Island
>> until Roland called out to me as the first kayaker to reach the dock (Monica
>> and I took point and sped ahead to case the joint, to smooth our group's
>> dock off-loading). We were directed up to our plot of grass, and terrific
>> volunteers helped carry the boats. After our boathouse's paddlers hauled
>> their craft onto the grass we ate watermelon with such a lust that it nearly
>> insulted the Sabbath. I returned to the dock and can proudly say I carried
>> boats for every kayak boathouse that day! The highlight in that was a
>> surprise kiss on the cheek from Pat Slavin of Yonkers. I worked the dock for
>> the public paddling program, which Rob Buchanan and his Floating the Apple
>> colleagues generously and cheerfully took up as a rowing event when kayakers
>> had to start leaving.
>> 
>> The return trip home was a breeze...literally. We had both current and wind
>> pushing us home. Once or twice we had bouncy waters, especially at
>> what might be called the Spider East. That mosh pit of Buttermilk Channel,
>> Upper Bay, East River, and Hudson River currents seemed to be a bit over
>> from its usual position, and cow licked up by the wind. Re-entering the
>> embayment containing the southern Brooklyn waterfall was a challenge, though
>> it was glassy only a couple of hours before. Katie DeRoberts told me that
>> the western approach to Governors Island was choppy, so maybe the
>> not-so-itsy-bitsy spider crawled to Brooklyn?  :)
>> 
>> We spread out a bit more than I would like once we reached Williamsburg, but
>> traffic was nil and we were hugging familiar shores, in good part drifting
>> with the calm flood. Matthew headed back over to Manhattan and Trevor saw us
>> to our pier at Anable Cove.
>> 
>> My suggestions for the future:
>> 
>> 1) Aspire toward an overnight stay. As Jerry Blackstone put it, "I felt like
>> Cinderella at the ball, always watching the clock and worrying that my kayak
>> would turn into a pumpkin!" When Roland suggested Governors Island as an
>> annual confluence point for all the harbor, to succeed the 2007 5-Boro
>> Harbor Ramble, I immediately thought it would be overnight. That's partly
>> because of the Clearwater-like possibilities and partly because the tidal
>> currents wouldn't allow for extended mingling.
>> 
>> 2) Have more exciting shirts. I mean, the bright orange excited my retina,
>> but we have a wealth of artistic water mavens: Christina Sun would be
>> perfect and Harry Spitz's reliefs and sculptures could also be adapted, for
>> example. As much his antics might drive me nuts sometimes, Phil Riley (aka
>> "Duke") could also design an attractive and funky shirt derived
>> from/inspired by traditional nautical motifs.
>> 
>> 3) Have the speeches at the top of the hill, in the shade, rather than
>> fighting to get people to stand in the sun on asphalt.
>> 
>> 4) Worry less about food. We're all adults and can feed ourselves, plus
>> vendors (including more free samples) might come in.
>> 
>> 5) Allow major boathouse on each "thread" to cooperatively choose their own
>> overall paddle leader in the months before the event, instead of appointing
>> people the night before. This is more of a factor on the Hudson River, where
>> there are several large organizations. And this is not an insult to the
>> chosen thread leaders; it's simply true that a leader chosen from within the
>> ranks and elevated by consensus will have easier authority when all are
>> deployed.
>> 
>> 6) Question the CG's demand of individual names of paddlers. Leaders, sure,
>> and total numbers, sure. But each paddler's name? The system as it stood was
>> far more labor intensive than necessary. I do understand, however, the need
>> for waivers in advance. The CG can draw a list from the waivers.
>> 
>> It was a wonderful day!
>> 
>>  
>> 
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