By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Last year, I wrote about the first annual Cardboard Kayak Race, held on City of Water Day at Governors Island. This year, I was in it!
No, it’s not what you’re thinking. We didn’t build a boat out of cardboard and then race it. But others did! And I was part of a fleet of “safety kayaks” whose job it was to rescue paddlers whose cardboard boats sank (and fish out the sodden detritus).
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Relic.
Kayaking around New York Harbor, we pass many relics of its maritime past—
— Major General William H. Hart
— the Yellow Submarine, Quester I
— and, of course, the celebrated Graveyard of Ships
By Vladimir Brezina
Sea kayaking, most of the time, is about wide open waters… But, paradoxically, kayakers also can’t resist exploring tight spaces. They poke the nose of their boat into every sea cave they come across, for instance.
Urban paddling is a bit different. Instead of sea caves, we have low bridges, tunnels, passages under piers.
And now and again, we even get the chance to paddle under another boat…
… to create our own sea-cave experience
By Vladimir Brezina
Vlad in action (photo by Johna)
I am often asked how I take my kayaking photos. What camera do I use? Am I not worried that water will damage it? And how do I manage to keep those pesky water drops off the lens?
So, here’s a brief answer.
Posted in Kayaking, Photography
Tagged Camera, Kayak Photography, Kayaking, Optio W, Pentax, Photography, Waterproof Camera
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Contrasts.
Spot the kayak in these photos—
The first set of Contrasts was here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Barges, Contrasts, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Sea Kayaking, Ships, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Last Sunday, the current was predicted to ebb through the morning, then flood in the afternoon. Perfect for a paddle south, through New York Harbor out to sea!
But then where, exactly? Round Staten Island? Or to Sandy Hook? But we’d been there just two weeks before…
This summer, we’ve been hearing a lot about whales. By all accounts, whales have been positively frolicking about, just outside the harbor. A whale-watching boat, the American Princess, has reported sightings almost every day. And many of these sightings, of feeding humpbacks as well as pods of bottlenose dolphins, have been off the Rockaways, just a mile or two from shore.
So that’s where we decided to paddle on Sunday.
In the event, we didn’t see any whales. (The American Princess didn’t either, that day.) Perhaps fortunately, neither did we see any of the great white sharks that (we read later) were present in that same area at the same time…
But it was a great ocean paddle nevertheless. Here are a few photos—
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Ambrose Channel, New York Harbor, Photography, Sea Kayaking, Whale, Whale-watching
By Vladimir Brezina
Summer’s here—it’s high time to make our summer paddling plans!
And, as in the last four years, those plans absolutely have to include the Blackburn Challenge—our favorite open-water boat race. It’s 20 miles around Cape Ann, Massachusetts. All manner of human-powered boats take part—canoes, rowboats, dories, kayaks, surfskis, outrigger canoes, dragon boats, stand-up paddle boards—making for a fun day out on the water and afterward on the beach.
Last year, we raced in the Blackburn Challenge, then spent another two days paddling leisurely around Cape Ann.
In eager anticipation of this year’s trip, we’ve been looking over the photos from last year…
Posted in Kayaking
Tagged Blackburn Challenge, Cape Ann, Kayak Race, Massachusetts Sea Kayaking, Photography, Sea Kayaking, The Dry Salvages
By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Fresh.
Yesterday I saw that the ground under the mulberry tree on the corner is littered with fallen mulberries. It’s that time of the year!
And that means that, on our next Manhattan circumnavigation, at a certain spot we know, we’ll be able to pick fresh ripe mulberries right from our kayaks!
Posted in Kayaking, Photography
Tagged Fresh, Kayaking, Manhattan Circumnavigation, Mulberries, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
On Sunday, we were joined on our regular Sandy Hook paddle by our friend Julie, aka Kayak Cowgirl.
This was her first time to Sandy Hook!
Her writeup begins: “Every girl knows her first time should be special. The weather should be beautiful, rose petals should line the way, and someone more experienced should take her hand.”
And it gets better from there. Go and read her story!
We can’t possibly improve on it. So here, simply, are some photos:
Posted in Kayaking
Tagged Kayak Cowgirl, Kayaking, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Sandy Hook
By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Unexpected.
We were expecting a peaceful paddle through autumnal marshes and creeks. We were certainly not expecting the locals to put up such strong resistance—
Come to think of it, we’ve already had Unexpected as a photo challenge theme. Here‘s another fellow who was quite prepared to defend his turf :-)
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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Wind Against Current 