The official newsletter of the Sebago Canoe Club in Brooklyn, NY kayaking, canoeing, sailing, racing, rowing December 28, 2006

Sebago Board of Hail Sebago, Directors 2006 – 2007 We have enjoyed a long New York autumn with Commodore enough fair weather to extend the paddling season John Wright and wrap up Phase 1 of our Master Plan with the Vice Commodore completion of the pathway and basic landscaping. Pete Peterson Treasurer I get a feeling of running the marathon as we hurry Zachary Abrams forward through cooling waters and shortening days Secretary before the end of the outdoor season. We delighted Beth Bloedow Board Members in wonderful fall color along the Palisades, found Ann Barry light traffic out in the Bay, and worked in short Philip Giller sleeves to compost the garden or paint around the Elizabeth Green Stevie McAllister clubhouse. Soon, we will move inside for archival Dennis Quigley review, program planning, exercise sessions, pot Tony Pignatello luck meals, and boat building projects, all made Susan Piper comfortable by the new stove donated by Tom Mat Waldo Anderson and installed by Vadim Belyakov. Members SEBAGO COMMITTEE completing their work obligations or surpassing CHAIRS them continue to improve our club environment with Fleet Captain restored lawn areas, retaining walls around planting Ahn-Minh Nguyen 718.266.2551 beds, tree pruning near power lines or pathways, removal of asphalt and rubble from Membership excavated soils, and new plantings selected by the gardening committee. The departure of Tony Pignatello 718.353.8018 a 30-yard container filled with rubble and assorted trash completes the cleanup. Now we Kayaking settle in for preparation of our 2007 season. Jerry Dunne 212.656.7753 Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Phil Giller and the Planning Committee, we begin the Canoeing/ process of approval and funding for our next phase of restoration, the rebuilding of the Kayak Fishing dock and a handicapped-friendly ramp. The J.M. Kaplan Fund has provided a matching Andy Novick grant of $40,000 toward this effort, and the first step toward realizing the balance has 347.415.5865 Calendar been requested through the Independence Community Foundation. Phil welcomes Beth Bloedow members with interest in grant writing and research to join him in this effort, as we hope 718.241.9130 Sailing to begin construction late next year following approval of plans by the NYS Department of Jim Luton Environmental Conservation. 718.633.5844 Rowing Sebago does not stop moving just because the weather turns and the nights lengthen. Joe Romano This is the time for planning and preparation for an active season in 2007. Watch for 718.680.4574 announcements of environmental action meetings, attend those you can, and report back Flatwater Paddling Mike Boxer to members through the e-Blade. Join us for Board Meetings, held at member homes 718.241.9130 during the colder months, at the new schedule of the first Tuesday monthly. Participate in a Cabin Stewards committee for program development in your area of interest. Suit up and get out on a cold Mike Boxer & Beth Bloedow weather paddle, and maintain your skills in pool sessions or at a clubhouse exercise session 718.241.9130 with the equipment set up for the season by the Flatwater Paddlers. Be sure to be at the Membership Frostbite Frolic on the first day of the New Year, for good food and fellowship. Photos Ann Barry 2007 will be as great a year as we make it together. See you on, or maybe just looking 917.817.5830 longingly at, the water. Social Committee Linda Peterson John Wright, Commodore 718.377.5510 Membership Committee t looks like another year has gone by. Just because Thanks to all the people who helped out with the temperature drops that doesn’t mean that we membership. I don’t want to list names for fear of Iare going into hibernation. We still have a paddle or leaving someone out. It was truly a group effort to two coming up. Members are always on the lookout for make this one of our most successful years. I’d also a pool session, some of us like to go hiking without the like to thank all the organizations who displayed our bugs and we have the Frostbite Regatta to look forward brochures. to on Jan. 1. 1) Brooklyn Tourism Office 2) Fort Tilden Visitor’s Center Pei and Shari manning the Sebago Table at Alley Pond 3) Floyd Bennett Field Visitors Center. Park on Estuary Day. 4) Neil’s Natural Foods Fresh Meadows 5) Salt Marsh Nature Center on Avenue U in Brooklyn. 6) VA Hospital 23 st. N.Y.C. 7) Kingsbay Library Branch at Nostrand Avenue. 8) Gerritsen branch, Brooklyn Library 9) McGoldrick Branch, Queens Library 10) Tillie’s Coffee House, DeKalb & Vanderbilt 11) Le Gamin Café, 550 Vanderbilt Ave. 12) Bicycle Station, 570 Vanderbilt Ave 13) Multi Sports 203 w 58th NY NY 14) Jaya Yoga 1626 8th Av, Park Slope. 15) Queens Health Emporium, Flushing 16) Paerdegat Branch of the public library 17) Queens College English Language Institute 18) Kings County Dive Shop on Avenue U

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Holiday. Best Wishes! Tony Pignatello

Gardening Committee By Beth Bloedow o you remember what our fence looked like just We look forward to your help next year. Please one year ago? A chainlink mess, overgrown with enjoy the greenery, and keep your eyes open for the Dweeds. And the front section of our club? It was butterflies that have discovered our native wildflowers. a huge pile of rubble that we all thought would be We have carved a garden out of what only last year was impossible to remove. Now, thanks to all the incredibly a vacant lot. Who knows what we may accomplish in hard work of our members, we have a beautiful another year? garden space both inside and out of the club. When neighbors, open paddle participants and potential new members come to visit, they see a lush and green oasis as they drive along Paerdegat Avenue. This is the face we always wanted to show to the city, and perfectly appropriate to our status as a city park. During the fall, members have continued to clear rubble and rocks and prepare soil for plants. The gardening committee plans to plant more areas this coming spring, including the side of the clubhouse, the fence beside the outdoor boat racks and some areas near the pathway. The groundsel bushes we were mandated to plant near the water’s edge are doing very well, and we hope to add more native species to this spot. The club is committed to planting native species, as these restore what has been lost in the Jamaica Bay area, feed wildlife such as birds and butterflies, are suited to the local Monarch butterflies were in abundance ecosystem, and drive out invasive plants. at the Sebago Canoe Club garden!  Sea Kayaking Committee By Jerry Dunne

SEA KAYAK REPORT, WINTER, 2006 participated in on-water demonstrations and escorts on nce again, the sea kayakers have had a very good National Estuary Day on September 30th. Thanks Tony year. The open paddles on Wednesday evenings for organizing these events!! Oand Saturday mornings during the summer For the upcoming months, Jamaica Bay trips will months were a great success. The paddles were well- continue throughout the winter, and Conn Yak and attended, and most Saturday paddles were filled. Matt other local groups will be organizing training sessions Waldo served as a coordinator for the open paddles, in indoor swimming pools for advanced skills such as and as a result the organization and staffing went rolling. Watch your email for announcements. exceptionally well. Importantly, we all need to remember the water As in previous years, BCU Star 1, Star 2 and Star 3 temperature has now dropped to a point where classes were held at Sebago Lake, and a Star 1 class was hypothermia becomes a major concern for us all. held at Jamaica Bay. New Star 1 and Star 2 paddlers Drysuits or equivalent clothing are now necessary to were certified, and a Star 3 paddler was certified. Also, assure safety, and all paddling during the colder months thanks to a grant, we were able to have new paddlers needs to be in groups. Several groups will be paddling certified this year with Canoe Safety, and thus several this winter, so those with the proper equipment please members of the sea kayak committee were certified as watch your emails for announcements of upcoming trip leaders. Congratulations to all!! paddles. Also as a result of a grant, new paddles, PFDs and spray skirts were obtained for the Club, and the new Sebago Board Meetings equipment was of a higher quality than we had. (Thanks Phil!!) The Board of the Sebago Canoe Club meets monthly We had several regional paddles, including the recent on the first Tuesday of the month, with some exceptions Fall Foliage paddle, and many of our sea kayakers due to holiday conflicts. All members are invited to attend. Note: winter meetings, marked with an asterisk Kayaking on Lake Sebago in the Fall are normally held in a member’s home. Watch for the (it’s Mary Eyster) email reminder, or call a Sebago board member.

Tuesday, January 9*

Tuesday, February 6*

Tuesday, March 6*

Tuesday, April 10

Tuesday, May 1

Tuesday, June 1

Tuesday, July 3

Tuesday, August 7

Tuesday, September 4

Don’t forget the Frostbite Regatta and Tuesday, October 2 Pot Luck gathering on January 1st. Even if you choose not to paddle January 1st, be Wednesday, November 7 sure to come to the Club and share in the pot luck lunch and enjoy the camaraderie. Tuesday, December 4*  Upcoming News By Phil Giller What’s that on the water at Sebago? SEBAGO CANOE CLUB Sebago is again on the move to create a more modern IS VERY PLEASED TO and better facility for its members and the community. ANNOUNCE THAT THE J.M. KAPLAN FUND HAS Let’s do a quick review of what we have accomplished AWARDED SEBAGO A over the last 2 years: GRANT OF $40,000.00 • We have removed over 25,000 pounds of industrial towards a projected cost debris from the property. of $80,000.00 for the new • We have installed a new fence and a unique dock and ramp. We will entrance way on Paerdegat Avenue North. be extensively researching and writing grants over • We have created a 400-foot recycled walkway from the winter to raise the the street to the water’s edge. remaining funds. • We have begun to landscape the property with HELP WITH GRANT native species. RESEARCH OR WRITING IS • We have upgraded our storage capacity to 16 DESPERATELY NEEDED. containers and removed old, damaged containers. What can you, a Sebago • We have begun an upgrade of the electrical service. member, do to help? Have you seen a dock that you think would work well for Sebago? Send photos to Phil We have to thank the J.M. Kaplan Fund and Giller at [email protected]. Independence Community Foundation for their monetary support of the club, and the Brooklyn We are looking into many different floats for the dock Division of the New York City Parks Department and that will keep the dock as low as possible to the water. Councilman Lew Fidler’s office for their support in This is very difficult, considering the weight of our new managing New York City’s requirements. dock. Have you see some good floats that meet all Coast Guard standards and are environmentally safe? Contact SO WHAT’S NEXT? Phil if you have. With Phase 1 of our multi-year capital improvement Do you know a person or company that can put in the program almost complete, it is time to begin to move new piling required or dismantle and remove the old into Phase 2. This phase is the design and construction dock? Again, contact Phil if you have any leads. of a new ramp and dock. Again, this dock will be ours and used over the next The planning committee, along with our architects, 40 years, so let’s make it a dock we can be proud of. Any 12th Street Design, will be working very hard this winter input on designs, usage, safety, etc. from members will planning this phase. We hope to be able to actually put always be considered, so send any thoughts or pencil the new dock and ramp into the water at the end of sketches to Phil Giller, [email protected]. September, 2007 and have a completed dock and ramp by the beginning of November of 2007. The committee Quite a lot for a small not-for-profit all-volunteer is having pre-application meetings with the New York group. Thank you to everyone, especially those who put State Department of Environmental Conservation, Army in hundreds of hours of work during this period. Corps of Engineers and other agencies that have to sign Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Frostbite off on the dock and ramp. A final design will come out Regatta on January 1, 2007. I look forward to being able of these meetings. Come to the next general meeting to give more details at the general meeting that day. for more information! See you on the dock and on the water, Phil.

Rowing Committee By Joe Romano

his mild fall weather almost two hours I was out. I was sharing the is making for some great day with the birds and a few fish breaking T wonderful days to row. water. The temperature was perfect also. Cool I was out yesterday and I’ve and comfortable so you could exercise without rarely seen the bay so calm. drowning in your own sweat. It certainly beat being It was so peaceful as the scull in a gym, and when you get back you feel like glided over the water leaving you’ve exercised your whole body. Come on down an undisturbed wake. to one of our Rowing Assistance Days during the I only saw two small boats season and you may be out rowing next fall also. in the distance during the  1"=20' 7.28.06 rev 1 12.5.06rev E Sebago Canoe Club existing docks existing Hester Street Collaborative Ramp and Dock plan diagram extended dock for allows safer craftsailing approach floating larger new dock allows for increasedvolume of boat launch and teachingspace for large public programs ramp new lower new upper ramp catwalk piers maintainedexisting cantilevered new with deck increased to walkway 8' to forallow watercraft wide existing piers existing dashedshown 22'-2"

46'-0" 12'-0"

existing dock existing and ramp shown dashed 33'-0" top of embankment peak kayak launch: 6 peak kayak launch: 11 existing dockexisting area: 800 sq.ft. proposed dock area: 1300 sq.ft. longer, safer ramp can be seen below. longer, existing existing stormwater bulkhead A design of the new, larger proposed dock, larger proposed A design of the and new, existing docks existing spring low tide low spring tidehigh spring

 BOATS MISSING OWNERS The club needs an accurate inventory of club owned and privately owned boats. Please help us by Permanently marking your boat ( inside the cockpit with marker) with your name. You should also mark any equipment stored with your boat. NO BOAT MAY BE BROUGHT ONTO THE PROPERTY MOVED OR REMOVED WITHOUT FIRST CONTACTING PETE PETERSON OR AHN-MINH NGUYEN. Pete Peterson email: [email protected] Phone: 718-377-5510 Ahn-Minh Nguyen email: [email protected] Phone: 718-266-2551 The following boats have no owners listed. If any of these boats are yours or you know who owns them, please contact Pete or Minh.

Container #8 Outside Rack Rear left Red Feather craft Double Sailboard and equipment Turquoise Feathercraft White surfboard Teal + White Wilderness Systems glass kayak Yellow Sit on Top “drifter” Rotomolded Perception Yellow sit on top Outside Rack Rear right Perception Yellow + white Sealion glass kayak Green Fiberglass Old Town Canoe Blue Flobot Old Grey Klepper kayak Container #11 Orange Rotomolded Tarpon 140 Wilderness system Blue + White open wood canoe Green Old Town Polyethylene Kayak Container #13 Outside Pipe Rack Impex Montauk Yellow + White Glass kayak Romany white hull glass kayak Container #14 Mad River, rotomolded Green kayak Red composite Squall kayak Emotion Grey Sit on Top fisherman OUTSIDE RACK #7 Yellow Rotomolded Kayak Yellow Ocean Malibu 2 sit on top Ocean Kayak Green Sit on top Prowler Yellow Cobra Explorer sit on top Green Old Town plastic Canoe Green Skupper Classic sit on top

ANY UNCLAIMED BOATS WILL BECOME CLUB PROPERTY AND SOLD Sebago Yahoo Group Membership to the Sebago Yahoo Group has many You can then login at: benefits. It’s easy to join with lots of helpful links to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SebagoCanoeClub/ help guide you. If you are already a member of Yahoo Remember to bookmark this link! groups, you can add the SebagoCanoeClub to your existing account. Click on the button “Join This Group” and follow the instructions. If not, you can sign up by going to:http://groups. yahoo.com/ When done, an email will be sent to the moderator and will be approved usually within a day. You will At the top of the page you will see “New User? receive an email notifying you of the approval and can Sign Up”. Click on “Sign Up”. now sign in. Fill out the information on this page. You can use Spend a few minutes browsing around to familiarize your existing email address or have a yahoo email yourself with the features. address created for receiving the Sebago mailing list emails.You will then receive an email allowing you to Questions? Email Stevie McAllister at: confirm the information. [email protected]  End of Season Sail Report November 4, 2006 Bryn Will tied for first in the series, but unfortunately We closed our sailing season today with a very well- Bryn could not make the Sebago Cup race, so she had to attended work day, vacuum-testing all of the club settle for second. Jim Luton was third in the series. The dinghies for leaks and writing up a detailed report on Sebago Cup top finishers were: Chris Sears in first, Jim their condition. This is work that Jim and Holly have Luton second, and Tracy Kornrich third. Other racing largely done by themselves in the past, so we were participants included Bob O’Neill, John Phillips, Eddie very happy to have Chris Sears step in and organize Ryklin, Elizabeth Green, Matt Peverly, and Holly Sears. the repair project. Chris had a lot of help from the sailing crew moving boats and testing for leaks. We Our dinghy sailing program is still pretty young and will tackle the actual repairs in warmer weather come every year we try new things, but we had particular fun next spring. Our program is continuing to grow, and we this year with the racing and also with Bryn’s sailing already need to build more storage racks in the two sail drills and games. (Did you happen to see us out there containers. John Phillips and brand new members, Matt sailing standing up?!) Our races and drills are perfect Frey and Bill Hogeland, also began work reorganizing for honing your sailing skills, and everyone at any skill our spar and sail storage inside. This is work that we level can benefit from the activities. We have found usually put off until the following season, so we’re that even reluctant competitors quickly develop a keen happy to have made an earlier start this time. eye for boat speed and boat handling skills, always important for safe sailing. 2006 was a great year for us, probably our best yet. One of the highlights from this year was our We welcomed several new sailors from our sailing very successful Thursday night race series that we ran class this year: Elizabeth Green, David Boyle, Michael throughout the summer. We held 14 races, with as Chandler and Eddie Ryklin. Matthew Peverly launched many as 8 sailors in a race. Rather than treat the series his new boat, “Glory Hole”. You’ve seen his distinctive as a hardcore points regatta, we allowed our sailors to black-hulled skiff on the water, no doubt. He’s been drop 7 of the 14 races and average their top 7 scores, busy sailing and fine-tuning it all summer. Jim Luton is but they must have started at least 7 races to qualify. determined to get the new Chesapeake skiff he’s been The final race of the season, the Sebago Cup, would building launched before the year is out. Maybe we’ll provide the tie breaker for all places. Chris Sears and see it at the Frostbite regatta this year.

We look forward to the new season and the new year. If any members are interested in learning dinghy sailing, please consider our annual sailing class, to be held mid-June, ‘07. We’re also looking for members who can run the safety boat to help run races. We keep a separate email list for sailing events, so anyone interested in being included in this please contact: sailing@ sebagocanoeclub.org

See you on the water! Jim and Holly

Left: Chris Sears, under boat with Bob O’Neill and John Phillips looking for bubbles.  Spring Break in the British Virgin Islands:

Bryn Will and Tracy Kornrich, two Sebago dingy sailors, go keel boat and love every minute of it. Day 1: When the clock radio starts blaring at 5am, so hard against the glass of my window. I couldn’t help I understand why they call it an “alarm”. As I try to keep but watch the mountains of Tortola rise out of the my heart from racing, I adjust my eyes to the darkness sea, at once seeming inhospitable, yet so wonderfully and remember why I decided to force myself awake at tantalizing and inviting. On approach, it feels like the this ridiculous hour of night. Oh yeah. SPRING BREAK! plane is descending right into the water, but when we Woo hoo! I jump out of bed (well, jump is a relative finally touch down, I find we have landed on the one term at 5am) and go through my packing check list strip of flat land on the entire island. We made it! to make sure I’m ready to get out the door—flippers, When I exit the plane, I take a deep breath and I check, snorkel, check, bikini, check…you get the picture. begin to feel it—the absence of stress. I look at my I drag my waterproof dry-bag backpack down the stairs watch with a chuckle, realizing that I really don’t care just in time to see the airport taxi pull up with a bleary what time it is, so I take it off and stuff it in random eyed Tracy in the back. Our greetings are monosyllabic pocket of my backpack. Customs and passport control as is fitting for the time of day, yet both of us are cheery are painless and when I get to the other side of the with anticipation for the adventure to come. bureaucratic line, there is a Sunsail taxi driver waiting Check in at JFK goes remarkably smoothly. for me (and apparently half of my fellow plane Unfortunately the flight itself does not warrant the passengers). I get to sit in the front with Darvin the same adjective. After a miserably tumultuous ride that driver, with whom I make idle conversation in order was only made mildly tolerable by watching Memoirs of to keep my mind off the squealing wheels as we make a Geisha, we arrive in San Juan airport where Tracy and every turn of the snaking road from airport to marina I have to part ways to catch different connecting flights without use of the brake (but with prodigious use of to Beef Island International Airport on Tortola in the the horn—as if to remind the other drivers on the road British Virgin Islands. Having never been to the Virgin that they have no right to be there). Islands before, I look forward to getting to sail in one of I breathe a sigh of relief when the taxi pulls in to the prime cruising grounds in the world. Sunsail. No bruises, no broken bones. I’m still alive. In a serendipitous turn of events, I manage to get a So far so good. I bid Darvin farewell, and make my seat standby on a flight four hours earlier than the one way to find our boat—a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 34.2 I’m scheduled for, which makes me happy because it named “Sea Pup”. Fortunately for me, since all the would get me in to Tortola at the same time as Tracy. Sunsail boats seem to look the same, Captain Steve, our The 45 minute trip flies by (no pun intended), at the end fearless leader from New York Sailing Center and Yacht of which I’ve lost feeling in my nose since it was pressed Club, has already done some laundry and I see his socks flapping from the lifelines like code flags telling me I’ve reached my destination. I step on board, ready to greet my sailing buddies, but find myself all alone instead. Although there are plenty of indications that Steve has been there (not just the drying socks), there is no sign of Tracy. I decide to take the opportunity to survey the “lay of the land” as it were, and pick a place to sleep. The inside of Sea Pup is beamy but compact, with a V-berth cabin, and two aft cabins with small double beds and something that could be called a closet if you had to hang clothes for a four-year-old. I choose one of the aft cabins next to the navigation station (instead of the one next to the head, for reasons entirely selfish) and get myself settled in. As I finish up, I see Steve making his way along the  Sea Pup in all her glory—laundry included! dock with someone who is not Tracy. This someone not Bellies full and hearts light, we make our way back to Sea Tracy is Chris—a Sunsail charter captain who gives us a Pup’s coziness and fall asleep with the setting sun. lecture entitled “Everything you need to know in order Day 2: I awake at what I can only assume is an early to sail Sea Pup and then some” in which he throws hour since I refuse to look at my watch for the rest of around words like “deck filler”, “sea cock”, “windlass”, the trip. I’m the first one up, but Tracy and Steve are “winch”, and “macerator”. “This ain’t your mamma’s not far behind. Feeling no rush to get going, we enjoy Laser,” I think to myself. “Where’s the hiking strap? And a leisurely al fresco breakfast on deck (including a less the tiller? Wait—I have to use this wheel thing to turn than satisfactory cup of coffee—looks like it will take the boat? And if I turn the wheel left the boat actually some time before we master the galley stove and the GOES left? Amazing.” coffee percolator). After a few more lessons from Chris on boat steerage, The first task of the day consists of deciding our engine use, and identifying all of the running rigging, itinerary for the week. We unanimously agree to he goes on his merry way, and Steve and I continue avoid the Easter Festival in full swing on Virgin Gorda, getting settled in. Finally as evening starts to fade, Tracy favoring snorkeling among the fish over wading appears, having emerged from a nightmare of cancelled through crowds of drunk tourists. So off we sail towards and overbooked flights. Whereas I managed to arrive a cluster of small islands called the Indians (really rocks four hours earlier than expected, she showed up five sticking out of the water) which is a prime dive and hours later than her planned arrival. But once we make snorkel area. The Indians, which include a protrusion our way down the road to Fat Hog Bobs for a dinner called Pelican Rock, certainly live up to their reputation. of pineapple shrimp and pumpkin soup on their deck Since it is our first snorkel of the week, everything is overlooking the harbor (OH! and some Red Stripe beer exciting and the fish look especially vibrant and colorful. thrown in), island time sets in, and suddenly the stressful The snorkeling is made more exciting by the fact that hours spent getting to this spot melt away, and we revel the pelicans perching on the aptly named Pelican Rock, in a pervasive feeling of satisfaction and contentment. are constantly dive bombing into the water to feed—an  Tracy is not feeling much better than I am, and neither one of us takes any comfort in the fact that once we get back to Sea Pup, even though the amount of motion will decrease on the larger boat, it will not go away. Thus we decide to take a minor detour to a little rock beach off Norman Island. Not only do we revel in the sensation of lying on solid ground, but the warm rocks take the edge off the chill of snorkeling too long in cool water. We pile little sun-warmed stones onto our legs, finally understanding why people pay good money for hot rock massage treatments. And we got ours for free! Feeling like our inner ears have returned to normal, we take the dinghy back to Sea Pup and find ourselves a quiet anchorage at Norman Island. That evening we attempt to Tracy at the helm as Steve looks on during their first day of sailing. master the art of casting a fishing line (to no avail), and actually DO manage to master the galley stove event that looks especially dangerous from underwater, in time to prepare a delicious dinner that we eat in even more so when it occurs only a few feet away. The the cockpit while listening to Neil Young and gazing other highlight of the dive is getting to float amongst at the stars. Purely by accident, Tracy discovers that a school of literally thousands of little fish that look the water itself also twinkles with the light of tiny like heads of wheat waving on a Nebraska plain. They phosphorescent creatures. Not only to they provide conform to every movement of our bodies as we float endless entertainment as we swirl our fingers in the among them, flowing away then closer again with sea, but they make the toilet light up when I flush it each stroke of our arms or fins, like a protective barrier in the middle of the night. Endless wonderment and between us and the reef. entertainment, and fodder for vivid and rich dreams as The only scary moment of the day is when I convince I snuggle back into the coziness of my berth. myself that a reef shark is swimming towards me, only The sun sets on our anchorage at Norman Island to realize after a few moments of heart palpitations that it’s a small innocuous fish only a few inches long. Day 3: To be continued… Amazing what imagination and the optical illusion of underwater magnification can do. That event marks the end of my first snorkel adventure and I clamor back onto the dinghy for the ride back to where we have moored our boat. For some reason, in my head I have convinced myself that the dinghy should be stable and that the endless bobbing that I experienced while snorkeling will end as soon as I climb aboard the little boat. Unfortunately, the waves buffet the dinghy about even more so than they did me while I was in the water. I find no respite from the constant motion and wonder if a bout of sea sickness is on the horizon. By the time Tracy and Steve get back from their own snorkeling adventures, dizziness has overwhelmed me. I soon learn that Sun on Norman Island. 10 PFDs for PA Boaters (Proposed new rules)©

Efforts are under way in the U.S. (PA, MA) and A recent sad case Canada to make PFD use mandatory for folks on the On September 19, 2006, at Avon Beach on Cape water in small boats. The public comment period for Hatteras, NC, a 35-yr-old man borrowed a “Sit-on-Top, the proposed rule changes in PA will run from October SOT” kayak (short, stable boat with a large outside 14, 2006 to November 14, 2006. Rule making decisions cockpit) from a neighbor and went out to do a little will be made in January 2007 and will take effect upon surfing. He capsized on the first wave about 50 yards publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. offshore. His friends said… “He was thrown from There are two possible options currently on the table. the boat”. They saw him holding onto the boat and In the lesser case, boaters in watercraft under 16 s and went down to the beach to help him. When they got all canoes and kayaks will be required to wear PFDs at there, they saw the kayak, but the victim could not be all times on the water in the cold months of the year found (information provided by District Ranger John (October through May). Alternatively, the PA Fish and McCutcheon, Cape Hatteras National Seashore). Boat Commission may vote to require boaters to wear The wave height was 3-4 feet breaking across a bar, their PFDs year round on the water (see item #188 at water temperature 71 o F, air temperature 78 o F, with www.fish.state.pa.us/reg398.htm). light SSW (along shore) wind. Visibility was clear to Statistics and dissent the horizon. The victim was a novice paddler, a weak swimmer, was dressed in knee-length shorts and was not In spite of years of effort in the U.S. and Canada, state wearing a PFD. He had had some alcohol earlier in the and federal agencies have been unable to convince the day. His body was recovered a few days later. boating public to wear PFDs on the water. At present, PFD use by adult boaters remains low (21% Canada, ~ The most dangerous moment in the unfolding of 13% in the U.S.). In the U.S., many adults won’t wear an accident is the moment when the victim enters the PFDs even to set a good example for children in their water. Without a PFD, momentum drives the victim boats. In this way, we are training the next generation underwater and momentary surprise and panic often of boaters to carry on their distain for PFDs. causes the victim to gasp, even in warm water. The victim’s ability to swim can not prevent rapid drowning. Some US statistics indicate that 7 of 10 boating There is no going back for the PFD. fatalities occur with boats under 20 ft in length. Drowning is the most common cause of death and in Cold water immersion nearly 85% of all boating-related drownings the victims As water temperature falls, another factor enters were not wearing PFDs. Alcohol was involved in about the picture. Boaters dressed in street clothes, who are a third of those cases and 9 of 10 victims were male. suddenly immersed in cold water, experience a reflex Most drownings occurred within 10 feet of shore or (involuntary) gasping response. Without a PFD, the “safety”. The largest percentage of deaths, relative to victim inhales water while briefly submerged. As in the number of boats on the water, occurred during the the Cape Hatteras case, victims are also then seen for a off season when the water was cold. minute or two at the surface before disappearing from Drowning occurs in an average of 20 seconds for sight. Even nearby boaters can not respond quickly children and in less than a minute for adults. Extensive enough to save or even reach such victims. The gasping data on these matters indicate that swimming ability response, along with immediate increases in heart rate does not correlate strongly with survival in the water. and blood pressure, is called cold shock. This may be because panic-induced or cold-induced gasping (inhaling water) precludes swimming even if Conclusions the victim briefly returns to the surface. To rephrase In the U.S., Canada and many other countries, there is that, without a PFD and regardless of their known wide spread stubborn resistance to wearing PFDs on all swimming ability, some victims do not return to the manner of small boats throughout the year. This is the surface after accidental entry into the water. case even though there can be no justifiable argument Arguments against PFD use include confidence in on any grounds for at least wearing them when boating one’s swimming ability, lack of comfort or mobility in a on cold water. Accidents don’t provide Fair Warning! PFD, and fear of the “wimp” factor. PFDs are considered Instead, they catch us when our backs are turned. “too hot” in summer weather. Boaters “don’t need Despite our best efforts, such accidents can not be PFDs” because they are staying near shore, they are eliminated. The best we can do is to prepare ourselves expert boaters, they have had boating courses, they to respond effectively to the challenge. I routinely wear are with other boaters, etc. Statistics, no matter how my PFD on the water. I refuse to die without a fight! dramatic, will never convince the U.S. boating public to By Chuck Sutherland (Email: [email protected]) routinely use PFDs on the water. For information on PFD use, carry out a Google search [pfd use U.S. Canada]. 11 Clamming at Sedge Island

Sebago Canoe Club members clamming in the protected waters of Barnegat Bay during a kayak trip to Sedge island, New jersey, last September.

12 BARTON SETS RECORD AROUND MANHATTAN By Joe Glickman

n October 8, 41 paddlers headed north on the Hudson ORiver at the start of the inaugural Mayor’s Cup, a 28.6 mile circumnavigation of Manhattan. Among them was four-time Olympic medalist Greg Barton. With Barton on board, the question was not so much if the record of 3 hours and 43 minutes would fall but by how much. Since winning his last Olympic medal in 1992 – he won two Gold in ’88 -- he’s won virtually every race he’s entered more than once including two of the last four US Surf Ski Championships. The task was straight forward; the distance intimidating. Eric Stiller, the author of Keep Australia On Your Left, had some advice for a first- Gary Krapf logged the fastest circumnavigation in a timer at the start at the North Cove Yacht Club just one-man outrigger (OC1), 3:53; Caroline Brosius, the west of Ground Zero: “Keep Manhattan on your right!” fastest female in an OC1 (4:16); the first female kayaker, Heading north with the incoming tide in his 21-foot, Alex Landrum, 4:21. 25-pound Epic surf ski of his own design (the same boat I was in), Barton averaged over 9.5 mph up the wind- Next year the Mayor’s Cup hopes have a larger purse, swept Hudson. An hour later, at the top of Manhattan, attract an international field, and serve as an East he turned right into the calm, protected Harlem River. Coast bookend to the US Surf Ski Cahamps held in San Francisco on September 29, 2007. For more information, For the next half dozen miles, Barton paddled go to: www.nymayorscup.com purposely against the current, pulling me on his wash at 7.0 mph. A mile from Hell’s Gate, a treacherous stretch where scores of wooden sailing ships litter the rocky bottom at the confluence of the Harlem and East Rivers and Long Island Sound, we overtook the first boat, a double surf ski that had started in a prior wave. Below 90th Street in the swirling water rebounding off the steep concrete banks, Barton did what he usually does -- paddled off alone – with the current through a frenzied cast of motor boats, around the southern tip of Manhattan, past the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor and back to an appreciative Sunday crowd at the finish in a record time of 3 hours and 21 minutes, six minutes ahead of me, and a whopping 22 minutes ahead of the old record set by Dorian Wolters, a former member of the German National Slalom Team. Opting to use an ultra tippy low- volume Olympic flat water K1 (against sound advise) Sebago’s Yaroslav Ovarchuck managed, somehow, someway, to stay upright and finish seventh overall in a time of 4 hr. 5 min. Truly an impressive feat! 13 Birds of Jamaica Bay This was a summer of exploration and discovery for me, but not in the typical sense of exotic travel. Jamaica Bay is a birding destination, well known for the variety of species that visit throughout the year. I have birded the Bay and surrounding areas from the land – the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, the beach along the edge of Paerdegat Basin, Plumb Beach and Gerristen Creek, and other areas along the shores. But the opportunity to bird from the water side gave a splendid view of birds more undisturbed in their habitat. I became a birding enthusiast about 4 years ago, and never imagined I could find a better passtime than trekking through fields and woods and along beaches. But here I was in the Bay, with birds all around, at eye level in and near the water. Great Blue Heron There were the “regulars” that would greet us every time we set out from the dock. Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Ruddy Turnstones, Canarsie Pol, Ruffle Bar, the Rockaways and the north Semipalmated Plovers, at least one Green Heron, and an end of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Shore birds abundance of Yellow-crowned Night Herons (just before skittered along on the mudflats at low tide. Marsh the Belt overpass). The Yellow-crowned Night Heron is Wrens surrounded us with their songs at high tide similar to the more common Black-crowned Night Heron, when we could paddle back into the grasses. A flock of but for some reason, seem to be particularly fond of the Oystercatchers - 30 or more - took flight from Canarsie beach and marsh just west of the overpass in Paerdegat Pol as we glided by, incessantly scolding as they flew Basin. They were always there in July, but by August past us and circled back. A pair of Osprey nested on the they were harder to find. The Terns, mostly Common, remains of the pier off the Pol, where once there had some Least, liked to dive for fish alongside our kayaks. been a tourist hotel. I did not see, but know of, the I suppose they liked to dive elsewhere, but the ones owls that nest out there. I hope someday to have the near the boats were most enjoyable. Double-crested pleasure of an encounter with one of them as well. Cormorants fished, dived and surfaced (and often ran As the summer progressed from early July through flapping across the water) as we coasted by them. August to September, the assortment of species I developed a habit of taking off from work on changed, but the pleasure of the encounters remained Wednesdays, when the boat traffic was lighter, and the high. In the midsummer, in midday, the sight of a birds more relaxed. Often we paddled into the marshes Skimmer off the shore was somewhat common, and along the shore, into Spring Creek, over to and around always delightful. As August moved into September, the Skimmers were not to be found. But on the Full Moon Paddle, on September 8th, as we paddled across the channel towards Canarsie Pol, several of the ghostly forms crossed the bows of our kayaks in the not quite moonlit night. I was so happy to see them, maybe the last of the Skimmers for the year. Although I have not yet spent any of the colder months out on the water, I hope that will be my next adventure. In the winter the water fowl that frequent our area are much more exciting than other times of the year. An enormous variety of ducks, grebes, geese and loons will be in the bay from November until March or April. Paddling among them would be delightful. Offshore, you might see a Northern Gannett plunging straight into the water. The Gannett is beautiful Piping Plover bird, strong and graceful in its flight. Sometimes we encounter Alcids, the Penguins of the North (Common Murres, Razorbills, Thick-billed Murres and sometimes Puffins or Dovekies). 14 I haven’t mentioned the gulls, and that’s because birders are a bit snobby. Gulls are mainly taken for granted (unless they are rare for our area). The four species that frequent our docks, shores, and water during the summer months are the Great Black-backed Gull (our largest), the ubiquitous Herring Gull, the slightly smaller Ring-billed Gull, and the black headed Laughing Gull. Gulls are opportunistic, and like some other “unpopular” birds, such as Starlings, might be too successful. They sometimes prey on the young of other species, such as terns and plovers, and populate areas that cannot support as much variety due to their numbers. But here they are among us, so we might as well enjoy what they offer. Our land birds were active around the club house as well. Mockingbirds will remain throughout the Mullard year, alternately serenading and scolding. They insist on defending their territory against any intruders. around, and don’t get too absorbed in trying to Frequently the Monk Parakeets squawked in the trees. determine which species you are looking at. Of course, I’m amused to see them at the Club, but also relieved if you want to get serious about identification of that they don’t live outside my bedroom window. I am bird species you need a field guide. There are many especially fond of warblers, and was excited to hear the available, and while I prefer the Sibley guide, a lot of song of the Common Yellow-throat during the summer. people use Peterson’s. Although it could have been a straggler, I suspect they were breeding in the brush surrounding the If you want to get a more complete picture of the club. One of the great achievements of the Gardening birds that can be expected in the Jamaica Bay area at Committee, the pay-off for all the hard work clearing, any time of year, go to www.nycbirdreport.com. There is tilling and planting, was the appearance during fall a report for Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Breezy Point, migration of many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Fort Tilden and Floyd Bennett. Also, some people asked They don’t usually stay in our area during the summer for advice on purchasing binoculars. I have a few pairs, breeding season, but may return early on their way for different purposes. My land birding pair is 8X42, back south. Along with the hummingbirds, we had Aububon Equinox binoculars from Eagle Optics, many butterflies visiting our native flower gardens. In www.eagleoptics.com. I highly recommend that site as late October, the sparrows are regular visitors, and near a source of information and also very good equipment the shore areas some less common species are often deals and helpful sales people. I wanted binoculars discovered, like the Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow. that are waterproof, a short close focus (5 feet), not Sparrows and shorebirds present a serious identification too heavy. The ones I use in the kayak are smaller, challenge, so you might prefer just to note they are waterproof and also from Eagle Optics. They are Audubon Vectors, with a four-foot close focus, making them useful for butterflies as well as birds, and easy to tuck into your PFD while paddling. For some great photos of some of the birds of the area, go to Steve Nanz’s web page: www.homepage.mac. com/snanz/Menu255.html. He’s generous with his photos, and doesn’t object to their use, as long as you acknowledge him. Mary Jo Eyster

The EBLADE is the official newsletter of The Sebago Canoe Club. The viewpoints expressed are those of each individual contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Sebago Canoe Club. As a all-volunteer organization, the EBLADE depends on its members to put together this newsletter. If you are available to assist (by proofreading, contributing articles or photographs) for the next issue, please Chickadee contact: Elizabeth Green, 718.332.4527. 15

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Sebago member, member, Sebago

Sebago Canoe Club Paerdegat Basin 1400 Paerdegat Ave. North Foot of Avenue N Brooklyn, New York 11236-4181 www.sebagocanoeclub.org

Founded 1933 Opened to women 1960