Not just another “Kayak Night” at Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club—special guest and good pal, Luke (aka kayakhipster), presents a show-and-tell about traditional paddling and its “downside,” rolling. The audience is transfixed. Including this guy (can you name him? Please tell us!):
While you’re down there, fetch me a bunker?
Birds’ eye view?
August 17 Paddling back to HHYC on a balmy Wednesday “Kayak Night,” we encountered huge schools of bunker—and August’s magnificent “Sturgeon” (almost-full) Moon. Native Americans gave distinctive names to each recurring full moon, and Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior agree that sturgeon fishing is best right about now.
Some tribes call it the “Red Moon,” thanks to its reddish appearance through August’s sultry haze.
We love this photo from our paddle on Saturday, 12.12.15 (a surreal, windless day). Oops…
…Hahaha, still water can fool you! Let’s try that again:
That’s better. Um, or not… On certain days in winter, Long Island Sound turns into a hall of mirrors!
And the only way you can tell “right side up” in photos is by your kayak’s wake.
Saturday morning was unusually warm and still. With temps in the low 50sF, the water and air mirrored each other in every way.
Sky, sea, and horizon became one. Symmetrical and calm…like a Greenland blade.
See other interpretations of this week’s Photo Challenge here. 🙂
All hands on deck—and the beach, in the garden, on the docks and in the kayak storage room! May 2 marked the beginning of the season for Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club and the end of a very, very long winter.
We couldn’t be more thrilled about this week’s photo challenge: orange. There’s no word that rhymes with it. No color quite like it, either. It’s happy. Practical. Visible. And at times, serene. Orange is at the top of our list—on the water and off.
This week, Ailsa’s travel theme is colorful. Hmmm, bad timing. Our autumn leaves have died, and we’ve gone bleak. Photos from today, 11/23.
The boathouse at Horseshoe Harbor is in hibernation mode
Party’s over til next May
The docks are gone, so Alex preps to launch from the beach
Even the park feels abandoned
No obvious riots of color here. But all that can change quickly, when you wriggle into your mango and paprika dry suits and paddle 4.5NM to City Island, in the Bronx. Winds this Sunday morning were 10 kts. SW, water 43F, the air around 55F—enough to put some color in our cheeks.
Andrew brightens the day
Passing Hunter Island
Orange and yellow aren’t just for trees
Reflections of Rick
The extent of the “boat traffic” between Long Island and Westchester. Can you find all four vessels?
Brunch at Sugar & Spice Bakery. No one notices that the aliens have landed at the next table over.
Jean and Alex drip, while Jerry ponders the menu
Even the choking emergency poster is cheery
Paleo pastry it isn’t
Jerry
This colorful character was fascinated by our beach launch
Salty sea dog of City Island
City Island is known for its shipbuilding. During WWI and II, it produced minesweepers and tugs, as well as many landing craft used in beach invasions. City Island has produced seven Americas Cup-winning yachts.
We relaunched around 12:30. Andrew and Jim headed for home.
The rest of us circumnavigated City Island. That’s Stepping Stones light and Long Island on the horizon of a deep blue-green sea.
Going around clockwise for a change
Alex’s paddle wins the Most Likely To Be Seen award
Local color: According to area tradition, anyone actually born on the island is known as a “clamdigger.” A City Island resident not born on the island is known as a “musselsucker.”
Calm, cool scene at the top of City Island
Today’s commissioning ceremony marked the start of the 125th season of Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club (or, in our book, the shmanciest kayak storage around).
Organized in 1888, HHYC is one of the oldest (and most laid-back) yacht clubs in the U.S. You can see historical pics of the club here, courtesy of the Larchmont Historical Society, and some of the very latest, below.
We skipped the champagne (well, for the most part, ahem) and celebrated by jumping into our yachts and paddling across the Sound to Execution Rocks lighthouse.
Some say it’s haunted. Ooohh! Maybe that’s why the wind swung around from the SSE and blew us back in record time… Video here is en route only—we were too busy surfing whitecaps on the return (both hands required).
We’re always amazed to see the sky on fire. But oh, when it’s the water… A study in color(s) from 40.917N, 73.747W
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2 Geeks @ 3 Knots 