Release Date 10/18/2015

A stunningly beautiful day up in Cold Spring




The plan was to paddle south on the ebb to the bridge then return on the flood. As the day wore on we decided instead to do a 1-way trip to peekskill and get a cab to go back and get the cars.

We paddled South in a light wind and bright sunlight. The trees were just starting to turn, the peak was probably a week or two away.



We had a great view of West Point. I once did  a race on this exact same course when I was in fighting shape 8 or so  years ago, and I paddled right by West Point chasing the guy who was right in front of me, who was in his 20's and I never caught. I never even noticed West Point!. At any rate it was cool to see the giant castle that is their main building. It pretty much says "piss off we are the USA we will kill you". A huge imposing stone castle like building hanging over the Hudson with not many windows.

We stopped for lunch at a little beach that had kayak racks and lockers.

We then continued South to the location of the "waterfall" when we got to the head of the inlet the waterfall was just trickle. This is an old part of the country. Some brick ruins had a huge London Plain tree growing right in the middle of what used to be a building.

After some discussion we decided to make it a one-way trip to Annsvile Creek in Cold Spring. This is where I took my first kayak classes with Atlantic Kayak Tours, who are still in business, but don't run the concession on the creek any more. It was probably in the 1990s when I took those classes so that's 20 years!!!

On the way we could see the top of Break Neck Ridge the hiking hill. It is super steep and you can really see how it got its name. The picture doesn't do it justice.

It was a fun trip down memory lane to go under the railroad bridge into the embayment. We got out at the paddlesport center, which was closed.

After some screwing around we arranged a taxi shuttle and I fortunately didn't need to go, so i did some boat maintenance. It got cloudy but was till in the 50s when all of a sudden it started to SNOW. It was very light and melted immediately, but was a hell of a thing so early in the year. I hope its not going to be one of those years....

Snow on the hood of the car with kayaks in the reflection.

truth: sometimes a round trip turns into a one way trip.

Release Date 8/31/2015

Went for a paddle at Breezy on the last day of August.

The surf was pretty good the day before on the beach, according to one friend who was at the same spot, but there was almost nothing to speak of for us when we got to the sandbar. We did try a bit, and got some small broken waves.

Also paddled around and tried a bit of fishing, then had a long slow lunch on the beach. It was really warm day, and felt so good to be by the water.

Did a bit of rolling and rescue practice.

Truth: Its different in October.

Release Date 8/24/2015

Went for a North Shore paddle.

We launched under the Whitestone bridge and paddled East along the shore to Sands Point. There were huge schools of small bluefish but they did not bite my large diamond lure, maybe it was too big for them??? 

We found a deserted part of beach where a few other boaters were hanging out and we had lunch and soaked-up the sun.

It was a beautiful paddle back into the sunset. 

When we arrived at the park it was FULL of people of all shapes and sizes picnicking fishing and hanging out, really popular park. 

Have been practicing rolling and re-entering and rolling on each trip and got the re-enter and roll down to about 75% success rate. The trick is to get ALL the way into the boat and start on the correct side.

Truth: Things can work backwards as well as forwards.

Release Date 7/26/2015

Brought to double to Coney Island to support the Grimaldo's Mile swim race with the CIBBOWS folks. 

It was a nice easy race to supervise. It was a bit of hassle in the double to do all the quick moves and positioning and we didn't get a chance to tow or rescue anyone, which would have been super easy in the giant boat.

After the race we paddled over to breezy point to bask in the sun. 

We practiced swamping and recovering the double. The fastest thing was to have one person re-enter and roll and then help the 2nd person in.

We did have a real problem with the swamped boat on the beach. The only way to get the water out was to drag it back out into the surf and empty it in waist deep water then bring back in. It is so big that it is really really heavy when full of water.

It actually got pretty rough later in the day as the wind picked-up and we had to paddle back over to Coney Island. It was a bit sketchy in the following sea. We took out on the far far east end of the beach. We got lucky with a good landing no surfing or dumping but had to really work to carry the heavy boat all the way back to the parking lot.

Truth: Some lost things get found.

Release Date 7/20/2015

We went out for some surfing at Breezy Point.

There was no real surf so we just paddled around and did a bit of fishing and had a long relaxing lunch on the beach.

Truth: Its cooler by the water

Release Date 7/9/2015

Went paddling under the Atlantic Highlands Bridge.

The plan was to play in the heavy current under the bridge. We arrived much earlier than the predicted peak flood and parked out on Sandy hook near the campground. We then paddled out to the East to the end of the Hook, then back the other way up to the bridge to catch the current.

There was a decent flood current, maybe 3 knots, and bridge made some nice eddy lines to fool around in, but the lack of bottom structures prevented any standing waves or other play features. 

It was a good day for paddling, cloudy early on which kept the heat at bay.

Truth: Storms go Away.

Release Date 6/9/2015

We went diving for fossils in Venice Florida.

this was a really fun dive trip. We found several hundred sharks teeth that were between one and three million years old.

Its amazing that they are so plentiful after people have been diving for them and collecting them for something like 20 years in a really small area just 4 or 5 miles long and 1 mile wide.

We were really close to the shore on all the dives!

We did two days a diving with a lot of goofing off and bbq eating in between.

At the hotel we came across the baby armidillo. It was about the cutest thing you can imagine.

Truth:
The earth is really old.