Me: wool cap and hood, three layers under my jacket, silk longjohns, and gloves on except when I took a foto. Then surprise: a half dozen kayakers paddling south toward the Narrows: I hope they have drysuits, winter paddling gloves, wool toques, advanced paddling skills, and local knowledge. Like me the hiker, the paddlers were out for exercise. Here the lead kayak passes dredger Padre Island and Torm Emilie.
Kayaking was once my obsession; scroll through this post to see me in my kayak 15 years ago. Below more of the group paddles past Tavrichesky Bridge and Kimberly Turecamo.
When I paddled, I was conservative and cautious, yet I did have a capsize that scared me. Obviously, I survived, but it made me even my conservative in the challenges I undertook. I still kayak when I can, but not here. I dismissed the sixth boro as a paddling area.
I’ll bet you’re looking for a kayak in this foto.
There’s no kayak there, but expecting the unexpected–in no matter what activity–is essential.
From today’s NY Times magazine “Lives” section, here’s a cautionary tale of kayakers who under-estimate the challenge and who get rescued by “good samaritans” with something themselves to hide. Makes a good five-minute read.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Related: For fotos taken from one of those kayaks by Vlad, click here.
Unrelated: Check out Fremont Tugboat Company blog to see how things look in the Pacific Northwest; I especially like the log barges.
tugster: a waterblog 
10 comments
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January 25, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Mage B
Yes, that was a frightening tale of caution. I used to canoe…with a lea board. Now I just wallow in the pool every morning. Much safer. Loved those big ones from yesterday too. Thank you.
January 27, 2010 at 12:10 am
bonnie
I have not given up on getting you out in a kayak. But if you’re still game, we’ll wait ’til the water warms up, we will go to the Graveyard of Ships, we will not cross traffic lanes & I will do my best to restrict the excitement to that caused by the myriad photographic opportunities the place offers.
January 27, 2010 at 9:21 am
Vladimir Brezina
Will,
if you want to see how that trip on Saturday looked from the perspective of the red kayak in your first photo (that was me), you can find photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/vladimir.brezina/SeaKayakTripNewYorkHarbor04#
(BTW, the two paddlers in your second photo were not part of our group; we didn’t see them and I don’t know who they are.)
It is interesting how your foreshortened shots make the harbor seem crowded. I, on the other hand, have more of a wide-angle lens on my camera, and the harbor appears empty.
I really enjoyed looking through your blog; it is great to see technically precise shots of all the ships, tugs, dredges, etc., that I see over and over in the harbor. When paddling in NY Harbor, it almost seems that the ships take the place of the animals and birds that one watches when paddling elsewhere — endlessly variable.
But there are plenty of animals and birds as well. On Saturday, we were paddling down to Swinburne Island to see seals, which are fairly reliable there in winter, and we saw some.
Vlad Brezina
January 27, 2010 at 10:08 am
bonnie
Oh, and speaking of expecting the unexpected, the Padre Island gave me a few weird moments back in December. I’d gone out for a good longish paddle. In the wintertime, I usually like to be back at the dock by sunset, but it had been a particularly glorious day, I had my lights, & ended up staying out a little longer than usual. I hadn’t seen a boat all day, but was crossing the channel to the Paerdegat when I spotted some bright lights in the Floyd Bennett Field direction.
What made it freaky was that I don’t think they had their running lights on – just big white ones on the superstructure & then a set of mast lights reminiscent of a tugboat. If they had the standard red/green, they were pretty dim & I never got close enough to see them. I hit the gas & was well out of the channel by the time they got there, but without bowlights I really couldn’t tell where they were going. That was sort of spooky. I’m glad I saw them when I did, they probably weren’t expecting kayakers to be out & about at that hour on a weeknight!
January 27, 2010 at 10:20 am
tugster
bonnie–you are always the unexpected. 🙂 back to padre island, i’ve seen them on j-bay a fair amount recently.
January 27, 2010 at 10:27 am
tugster
vlad- thanks so much for writing. i linked your picasa album to the end of the post; i hope that was ok. i’d love to use some of your fotos at some point.
January 27, 2010 at 10:59 am
Vladimir Brezina
Will — feel free to use any of my photos. (If you let me know which ones, I do have (somewhat) higher resolution versions than the ones you can download from the picasa site.) Vlad
January 27, 2010 at 11:09 am
tugster
vlad– how about 11, 12, and 17? click on the link under my pic and you’ll get my email. by the way, have you ever paddled out of the mystic (ct) area?
January 27, 2010 at 11:32 am
Vladimir Brezina
Will,
I sent the photos.
I have paddled in Mystic a few times. In fact, since Mystic is the last Amtrak train station in CT, one time when I paddled from NYC eastward down LI Sound, I took the boat apart (it is a folding boat) in Mystic and took the train back to NYC. I’ve also done some trips in Block Island Sound and to Cape Cod starting from Stonington, CT.
Vlad
January 27, 2010 at 1:47 pm
bonnie
The other pair turned out to be friends from my Pier 63 days. 2 more very experienced paddlers – probably better than me at this point – would’ve had all the right gear, the training to use it, and a thorough understanding of the hazards of cold-water paddling.