Safety Kayaking the Hudson River Swims

Early this summer, Ripitz reached out to me about the Newburgh to Beacon Swim. He was swimming to help raise money for The River Pool in Beacon. He asked if I’d be interested in volunteering as a kayak safety escort. I thought it was a cool idea so, once I’d checked that my schedule was open. “Where do I sign up?” Rip directed me to their website.

Long Dock Park
Long Dock Park

Before the day of the swim the organizers had a meeting which I joined via Zoom. They explained things thoroughly. Our job was to keep an eye on the swimmers, provide something for them to grab onto if they needed to rest and call in a jet ski or motorboat if somebody needed to come out of the water.

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Tappan Zee GWB Bike Path Loop

Exploration and adventure are a necessity to living a happy a fulfilling life. Finding ways to inject that adventure into the daily grind can be tough and now with the snow gone I admit I’ve been feeling a bit of the post winter blues.

Tappan Zee Bridge Bike Path

I ride my bike a lot, it’s a big part of maintaining my sanity and fitness throughout the warmer months, that said I’ve been void of the motivation for rides on familiar mountain bike trails and the usual road loops have been lackluster. So, I got my ass in gear for a bit of exploration right out my front door.

Heading north from New Jersey it’s a quick 30 minutes up the Old Erie Rail Trail to the Tappan Zee bike path.

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Lake Kanawauke Paddle

So far, my summer kayaking plan has been working out pretty good. I haven’t done big trips but I’ve gotten in a lot quick paddles on the lakes in Harriman park. Like always, parking has been an issue at Harriman.

Lake Kanawauke map

Making things worse, Lake Welch has been closed due to a toxic algae bloom. Lake Welch has a huge beach and parking lot that would normally absorb a big percentage of the picnickers who show up to grill and swim and hang out with family and friends every weekend. Lake Kanawauke has been a reliable spot. Somehow I’ve always managed to find parking there, even when other areas are full. My first day there this year I spent exploring.

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