Swim with your boat day!

Went to "swim with your boat day" with the Hackensack River Canoe and Kayak club. The event was held at Green Turtle Pond in Hewitt and it was such a great experience. They went over a bunch of safety things including PFD's, whistles, etc. Showed all kinds of gear, safety and otherwise and then showed how to do an assisted rescue and a self rescue. Then we got a chance to swim around in our PFD's and then practice doing a wet exit and assisted rescue. With my back hurting the way it does I was doubtful that I could accomplish it, but I did. Painfully. The design of my boat also made it quite difficult, mostly because of the open cockpit, but It was an awesome experience and certainly made me feel a lot more comfortable if I were to fall out of my boat.

Swim with your boat - 7/23/11

Finally!!

I took the day off today to finally get back to paddling. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get in and out of the boat but it proved to not be too much of a difficulty. I started out at Oakwood Park in New Providence, trying to cover more of the Passaic River. I don't know if there could be a harder day for paddling. We're in the middle of a heatwave (my truck said 103) and it hasn't rained in so long there was hardly any water in the river. I didn't go too far because the lack of water made it really difficult to navigate. I spent most of my time trying to find my way through channels that I could get the boat through. I did get stuck only once and finally turned around when I hit an impass. I could have portaged but between my back, the heat and the difficulty in paddling I decided that I would just make it a short day.


The pictures will show you just how low the water was...


It was, however, a pretty day and great to get back onto the water.  Here are some pictures of the river and of some of the animals I saw along the way:

Passaic River 7/22/11

I did see a blue herron also...he and I kept playing tag all the way up and down the river as well as seeing a few sunbathing turtles and a whole lot of carp that kept splashing the water around me as I would pass.


Here is the track I took...

Wish I could get out!!

Well, I hurt my back almost a month ago and I haven't been able to paddle at all. I could probably paddle...I THINK I could get in the boat...not sure about getting out though. I'm going a bit stir crazy so I MAY try to paddle this upcoming weekend. We'll see how it goes.