Release Date 10/18/2014

We went from Red Hook to Shooters Island in the double with a lot of other people who came from Manhattan.

It was pretty windy and it made for a long paddle down and back, although we had it much easier since we launched and landed from Brooklyn, while the others came from 42nd St in Manhattan.

A cool and overcast day, and the last one we would be able to paddle in without wearing drysuits for the year. 

Shooters Island was nice, but didn't have time to hang-out there since we had to catch the tide, and didn't want to be out in the dark when it would have gotten quite a bit colder. We will have to go back there since there was a ton of beach glass and other cool stuff on the beach.

Truth: It gets dark every day.

Release Date October 5, 2014

I went to the annual Autumn Gales event run by Kayak Wavelogoy.

We did paddling on our own on Wednesday and Thursday and participated in the sponsored paid, supervised stuff on Friday and Saturday.

 On Wednesday and Thursday it was really windy so we didn't get any actual tidal race surfing in, but we made up for that on the last two days when we surfed the flood on Friday, and both the flood and Ebb on Saturday.

The  one day that really sticks out was the last day on the ebb on Sugar Reef when the conditions were really large. I surfed some of the waves, but since we had also been out playing on the flood a few hours before I really didn't have the energy to do much on the really big stuff on the outer reef. I also got a bit seasick near the end of it when the conditions became really really large.

Release Date 9/5/2014

Was a beautiful day very very hot for September. Just a slight breeze. 

We went out to try surfing, but were a bit late, and there was no swell, so there was no surf to speak of.

We got to sandbar at Breezy at 10:20 for an 11:05 low at Plumb Beach. 

So instead of surfing we turned it into a fishing trip. We trolled around the point, then went to have a swim and lunch on Rockaway Beach.

There were a number of people fishing, but everyone was just catching sea robins and small fluke. One guy did tell us he caught a 50lb shark, which would have been something on our hand lines. In the end all we got was one large sea robin.

We didn't keep it, but maybe we should have:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/914480

Truth:
One day the water will be at its warmest.

Release Date 8/19/2014

I haven't been this lazy, I actually did a bit of paddling in between posts, but didn't get around to releasing a message...

I went out to do a short trip after cutting out of work early. I was delayed a bit so it wasn't much of a trip, just a few hours. The most notable thing was getting to the water in 45 minutes from my house. Apparently everyone is on vacation and the streets were clear at 4:00PM. Its been a little while since I paddled alone and it was nice to set my own pace.

I practiced a few rolls and getting in and out of the boat. My boat is tippy and I'm not so good at the cowboy rescue any more. I have to practice the re-entry and roll since that is the only good rescue mechanism for really bad conditions. I did not attempt that since it was late and getting chilly.

I went over to deadhorse bay to see the trash piles and excavations. There is no good beach glass, but a lot of old bottles and things, many of which are whole. the shoreline is eroding, and its clear the area was a dump at some point. The time to go is probably after the next big storm. I did find a cool old bottle which I kept.

Truth: One generation's trash is another generation's antiques.

Release Date 7/2/2014

We went for what was supposed to be an uneventful paddle from Red Hook up to Pier 66 to have lunch and then home again.

It was fairly windy ~ 10kts and I  had borrowed a very large plastic boat from a friend with no skeg or working rudder. It was a real chore just getting up there in the swell, and the boat was so big and lunky I couldn't surf and really struggled to maintain control.

After a stop to disassemble the broken rudder we arrived at Pier 66 aka the barge for lunch. This place has become super popular so the only time you can go there is the afternoon. 

Funky weather over the barge.

It started to rain so we delayed our return trip, but eventually started out around 3 or 4. Unfortunately we heard and saw lightening by the time we got to pier 25 so we had to get out. We waited for hours but it never cleared-up and just got more and more intense with lightening and eventually we had to phone for a car pickup. 

Truth: The trip home is different than the trip there.

Release Date 6/162014

I went kayak surfing at Breezy Point.

First trip back to Plumb Beach since its renovation after Sandy. Its really about the same. They built some huge rock breakwaters out in the water, especially right in front of the Belt Parkway.

Also they piled-up lots of new sand to increase the dunes.

We were there right at low-water by the time we paddled out to the sandbar and there wasn't really any surf. Tried a bit of fishing but didn't catch anything, then hung out on the beach. The weather was perfect warm, but not too hot. There was also a great sunset.

Release Date 6/7 and 6/8

Not strictly a message in a bottle, but we did release a lot of driftwood into the harbor.

Check out Figment Festival 2014:
www.windnwavesonwood.org

Release Date 5/27/2014

We went up to Maine for Kayak camping over Memorial day.  It was very beautiful, just stunning coastline and rocks along the water.

We were staying at a friend of fiend's property on a place called Loud's Island. Contrary to the name it is not loud at all, and very peaceful. It was a bit early in the season. I didn't wear a drysuit, but probably should have since it rained a lot and we were often uncomfortable.

One crucial error was a low booze supply, but fortunately I was able to supplement with my new stove fuel, Everclear.

We were able to get fresh lobster right from the fishermen in the harbor, so we are definitely going to remember that trick.

We found a place for rent, a small cabin, so we may go back there another time for a bit more comfort a bit later in the season.

This was the first sea trials, or trial of any sort, for the Triton and it performed really well. We did have trouble turning it, and subsequent investigations revealed they shipped it with the wrong, smaller, rudder, so we remain hopeful it will be behave better when we get that fixed.

Lobster fishing dock, can't get it any fresher.

Our friend sent us this. We are taking a post lunch nap. He titled it "Bellies full of lobstah".

Release Date 5/17/2014

I went for a paddle on the Hudson River up to the park on the Palisades just North of the GW Bridge.

It was another beautiful spring day, and i was finally able to put away the drysuit. Too cold for any rolling or other wet adventures, but I stayed dry.

All of the vending machines and other facilities at the park were offline because of a big storm that knocked out the power. They were preping the park for a big bicycle race.

We just enjoyed the sun and lazed about for a bit, then headed back to Pier 66.

Truth: Baby Ducks are cute.

 

Release Date 5/3/2014

I did a circumnavigation with some of the good folks from the Brooklyn Bridge Boathouse. 

It was a warm spring day, that eventually turned fairly cold by the end of the trip. 

I paddled a plastic NDK Romany which turned out to be a decent boat, a bit wide in the beam that made it difficult to go really fast with some of the younger more energentic paddlers from the BBBH.

Truth: Some Rooms are empty.

Release Date 4/27/2014

I went for a paddle in the Hudson up to the little park where the parrots used to live in Edgewater.

It was a windy day. We left about 1.5 hours after high water from Pier 66 and even though we had good current the wind made us work pretty hard.

By the time we got near Mitsuwa the current was ebbing. 

We took a little break at the park in Edgewater where the parrots were, but the whole place was under construction and there were no parrots, maybe they all froze or had their nests chopped down. Also see on the web that the power company took their nests down a year ago. I guess I'm out of it...

It was a nice day to be out, and we had a quick ride home, even though the wind had changed a bit.

Truth: To make something nice you often have to make a mess.

Release Date 3/22/2014

I released this msg off of Governor's Island on a windy early spring day.

I borrowed a friend's boat and it was a bit too big for me. There were decent surfable waves off the North West of the Island, but I couldn't get the boat going fast enough to catch many and it was a bit squirrelly.

Truth: New Things are Nice 

Release date 12/28/2013

Twas to be the last paddle of the year.

Went from Red Hook in a friends borrowed plastic boat. The boat was quite klunky, but it was a whole lot easier not dragging my boat out of the yard and down there.

We paddled up to Pier 40 against a weakening current to meet some friends, then back against the now flooding current to Red Hook. On the way North we hugged Governor's Island to stay out of the current. On the way back we went around the West side of Governor's Island to see the really amazing amount of bulkhead reconstruction that they have completed. In some places they fixed the traditional wall, in others its rip-rap, and sometimes a combination. If there was a big West wind it might be suitable for rock garden play at the appropriate time of day.






I had my new camera with me, and it worked pretty well. Its quite a bit larger than the old one, but has lots of cool features that I don't know how to use.

The day was surprisingly litter free and I wasn't able to find a bottle to toss into the ocean until I got back to Red Hook and scoured the rocks on the South side of the pier.

Truth: Many jobs are boring. 

This picture from the Polar Bear Plunge, where I was just too damn cold to release a bottle.