Saturday 6/4/05 Hudson Paddle, Pier 63-DTBh « Read Less
A relaxed Saturday Paddle from Pier 63 Maritime to the Downtown Boathouse for the Blessing of the Fleet - and some picturetaking, too.
12 of 20 (see all)
Downtown Boathouse
bkfrogma
Jun 09, 2005
Here we are at the southernmost stop on our trip today is the Downtown Boathouse. This is where the gang on the sitatops who were hanging out with me at Pier 45 launched from. This is an interesting group - their mission in life is to provide a free kayak experience to anyone who walks up and asks for one. The place is run entirely by volunteer efforts. Like any club, the politics can get pretty fierce, and there are a couple oddballs there with whom I seriously don't see eye to eye - but there are also some really good people too (the guy who was rolling at Pier 45, f'rinstance, he's great).
Anytime somebody asks me about kayaking, I always tell them that taking lessons is the best way to go if they really want to get into it and can afford it (kayak lessons & tours from the local outfitters don't run cheap as they have to cover a lot of overhead in a limited season), but that if they want to just try it out first & see if they like it (not a bad thing to do before blowing a lot of money on a lesson, especially if they really have no experience in small boats, which is common around here), this is the perfect way to do that. The DTBH is especially welcoming of parents with children - you see a lot of quality time going on with mothers & fathers paddling their kids around in big sitatop doubles. Makes for a nice balance with the for-profit places and the competition-oriented clubs - between the Downtown Boathouse, Manhattan Kayak Company, New York Kayak Company, New York Kayak Polo, and New York Outrigger, an incredible range of paddlers are getting out on the river in the Hudson River Park.
Oh...one sad side note because I can't forget. The building with the flattened pyramidal top - that's in the World Financial Center. The World Trade Center was just behind that. If you're a New Yorker - your eyes probably still try to find those buildings to this day.
Time to head for home again, now - oh, but with one more stop just up at the north end of this embayment - must cheer up a bit, so let's go check out the to flying people!
Anytime somebody asks me about kayaking, I always tell them that taking lessons is the best way to go if they really want to get into it and can afford it (kayak lessons & tours from the local outfitters don't run cheap as they have to cover a lot of overhead in a limited season), but that if they want to just try it out first & see if they like it (not a bad thing to do before blowing a lot of money on a lesson, especially if they really have no experience in small boats, which is common around here), this is the perfect way to do that. The DTBH is especially welcoming of parents with children - you see a lot of quality time going on with mothers & fathers paddling their kids around in big sitatop doubles. Makes for a nice balance with the for-profit places and the competition-oriented clubs - between the Downtown Boathouse, Manhattan Kayak Company, New York Kayak Company, New York Kayak Polo, and New York Outrigger, an incredible range of paddlers are getting out on the river in the Hudson River Park.
Oh...one sad side note because I can't forget. The building with the flattened pyramidal top - that's in the World Financial Center. The World Trade Center was just behind that. If you're a New Yorker - your eyes probably still try to find those buildings to this day.
Time to head for home again, now - oh, but with one more stop just up at the north end of this embayment - must cheer up a bit, so let's go check out the to flying people!
