A couple of NACK paddlers recently had the opportunity for a trial preview of the soon to be announced Kayak Watertrail established by the Town of Hempstead. For those not familiar with the concept of a “watertrail”, it’s basically the waterway equivalent of a hiking trail. A course, or courses, is established along with trail markers to guide the paddlers on their way.  There are maps, signs, designated launch points and information on sights to see along the way. Even the all important rest room locations are marked.

Hempstead town’s south shore waterfront includes three large bay areas appropriately named West, Middle and East Bay.  This first installment of the Watertrail is entirely within West Bay but we found plenty of wildlife and marsh to explore.  Among the abundant wildlife we observed were about a dozen Osprey, magnificent birds of prey with a wingspan of almost six feet. We covered about nine miles on our trip but there are several shorter loops for those who don’t feel like paddling that far on a single trip.

This Google Earth image is the approximate path we followed.  It is NOT the same as the final watertrail.  We did a little exploring and took at least one shortcut that is only passable at high tide.  Don’t try to replicate this path, stick to the soon to be marked watertrail.

The town has been working on this for a long time and has done a great job with the planning of the course.  The maps we were provided included details like the locations bay houses, and even the locations of the many Osprey nesting sites the town established in West Bay.

The Town Watertrail is part of a greater program to include all three bays and will one day provide a continuous watertrail along the entire south shore of Long Island.  Our thanks go to Town Supervisor Kate Murray and Town Conservation and Waterways Commissioner Ron Masters for committing their time, personnel and funding to this important project.

”It’s here– the long awaited paddling trip of the summer to the Seafood Shack at Tobay Beach. This is an ACA Level 2 trip covering about 5 miles. We are planning on meeting at Field 10 Jones Beach at 4:30. There is no entrance fee at this hour. We will drop off our boats and then drive our cars to the Seafood Shack. One or two people will drive everyone back to the launch. One person will stay at the launch to keep an eye on the kayaks while we are driving our cars to Tobay.

When we are done kayaking someone will drive the people whose cars are still at field 10 to get their cars and then return to the Seafood Shack for dinner.

Please let Ann know (call or email) by Tuesday the 24th if you can make it. Even if you can’t make the paddle you can still meet us for dinner.

Earlier this summer three NACK members, Ann, Dara and Colin traveled to the west coast to participate in the first American Canoe Association Pacific Northwest Expedition to the San Juan Islands area of Washington State.

The San Juans are a vast collection of islands right on the U.S. Canadian border. During their week long expedition they covered more than 50 miles and enjoyed good weather, great paddling conditions and breathtaking scenery.

The ACA has just posted a video of the trip on YouTube.

As you may already be aware the Governor has proposed some very significant cuts in NY State Parks funding.  This wil impact parks all over the state and especially on Long Island where at least 10 parks will be impacted.  Waterfront access is already severely limited but the proposed cuts will impact kayak launch sites in Orient Point, the Nissequogue River and Heckscher Park. With the economy already adversely effecting more costly recreational opportunities, this is not the time to close state parks!  Now is the time to let the Governors Office know how you feel.

 Canoeing and Kayaking New York is the only guidebook on the market that focuses solely on the rivers and streams of the Empire State. There is a lot of water to cover in a state almost 55,000 square miles in size, with a good variety of geography to experience as well. From the slow tidal rivers of Long Island to the urban waterways of New York City, the swift whitewater in the Adirondack Mountains to the majestic grandeur of the Hudson River, this book covers a bit of everything.

NACK was fortunate to have Kevin appear at our November meeting to introduce his new book and do a presentation on paddling the waters of  NY.  It was very well recieved and many members went home with a signed copy.  It should be available locally at the Dinghy Shop in Amityville and Glacier Bay Sports in Northport.  Well written, entertaining and packed with information, maps and photos.