Board Member Completes NYC Circumnavigation

One of Upstream Alliance’s very own Board Members accomplished a daunting task last week: Circumnavigating New York City. Walter Brown completed the 30 mile paddling expedition in his kayak alongside over 100 paddlers. Here are some notes from his journey:

And, they’re off…

“Could not have had better weather – low 70″s with no sun and no thunderstorms or rain. It would have been brutal if it had been sunny and in the 90’s. They said about 160 signed up for it but only a little over 115 showed up. My group was the largest with about 54 kayakers. We started at 0730 about 1.5 north of the George Washington Bridge and got back about 1800 with two short stops and a 1 hour lunch break.”

A lengthy feat…

“It got a little bumpy here with the various rivers meeting and the tide changing but nothing like our experience coming out of the C&D canal. When coming around the tip of Manhattan, the USCG was there to help and we had to wait for Staten Island ferry. Total trip was little over 30 miles- with the current and at some point we were doing over 8 MPH. But, the trip was well organized with everyone having VHF radios and with such a large group it helped.”

After all that paddling…

“Worst part was at the takeout at the end, as first of all difficult to find parking – I parked at garage for $30. But, was 4 blocks from takeout. We could take kayaks off from the car in the morning at the put in but not at end of the day and had to drag them 4 or so blocks to the garage. This probably was the most tiring part of the day.” 

Incredible journey for an incredible group of paddlers! Seas the day!