NYCkayaker NYC Harbor mapping

[Erik Baard]

Thank you. This was a great project and we need this revival of it.  This is
also exactly why groups like MWA and NYCWTA are so vital.

I recall one fear expressed by paddlers a decade ago was that by identifying
recommended routes, kayakers would accidentally restrict themselves to those
routes. Given our community's vigilance and new sense of organization, I
don't see that happening.

I would add the Brooklyn Navy Yard entrance/Walabout Bay mouth to the list.
The bend shadowing Manhattan's Corlears Hook is disorienting for many
following the Long Island shoreline. Boats tracing the shore relatively
closely can find themselves suddenly in mid-channel at that turn. The
security zone protecting the power planet south of the yard makes setting a
proper course even tougher. The disorientation is especially troublesome at
night, just when dinner and party cruises are most frequent. Navy Yard
traffic is consistently high, with vessels from the Circle Line and other
cruise companies calling it home.

Again, thanks Ray and others on the Education Committee!

Best regards,

Erik Baard, Founder
LIC Community Boathouse



On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 12:45 PM, Ray Fusco <drkayak at optonline.net> wrote:

> Dear fellow paddlers, rowers and water enthusiasts,
>
> We need your input and ideas for a "mapping" project for the NY/NJ Harbor.
>  There have been recent conversations, in the Harbor Operations Committee
> and various subcommittees (including the Harbor Ed Subcommittee, of which I
> am an active participant) about potential ways to reduce risk of collisions
> and incidents between human-powered craft and commercial vessels such as
> tugs and barges.  An initiative was started about 10 years ago to enhance
> local navigation charts with information about location of boathouses and
> other in-water program areas, and then to show frequent routes and paths for
> trips, tours, and other outings so that a wider group of harbor users could
> understand the patterns of human-powered activity out there. Much of this
> data was lost 9/11 but has been created and re-created by groups like MWA,
> Going Coastal, Water Trail and others.
>
> Part of the body of work which the Harbor Ops folks are interested in are
> potential guidelines or recommendations particularly for transits and
> especially crossings.
>
> At a couple of recent Harbor Ops and Harbor Ed mtgs the topic has come up
> WHO is interested to assist with this effort and WHERE are the areas people
> feel we should focus on first?
> Some of the Suggestions were:
> All Ferry Terminals
> Chelsea Piers
> The Battery
> W 30th St Heliport to Williamsburg bridge
> Hell Gate
> Newark Bay
> Raritan Bay
> Erie Basin
>
> As a first step, the commercial port users are looking for possible
> recommended crossing areas, i.e,  where you feel safest, have the best
> visibility, people are able to see you etc.  For the Hudson, East and other
> areas of the Harbor.   Specific info on your recommended routes to and from
> your most popular paddling destinations, and your favorite day trips would
> be useful.
>
> We would like feedback and ideas on ways to make this "mapping" and
> certainly educational project work for everyone involved and welcome
> creative ideas for safer transits.
>
> Email suggestions from these list serves can be very helpful to this
> effort, but before people start thinking the commercial users want to "ZONE"
> the Harbor or restrict Crossing Areas I shoudl point out the USCG said
> specifically this was NOT the point or goal of this effort.   As for
> upcoming meetings or forum there are a couple opportunities that will come
> up in the next couple months including the January 2010 "Passenger Vessel
> Subcommittee"  (January 27, 1000-1200, at the CG Battery Building, 1 South
> Street, New York, NY 10004.  The Mapping Initiative will be added to the
> agenda).  Our hope is to work on this all winter and into spring, and then
> have some potential recommendations to discuss at the next Captain and
> Paddlers meeting in late Spring 2010.
>
> Yours truly,
> Ray Fusco
> Member of the HOPS Education Sub committee
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-- 
Erik Baard
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