VCB vists Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse

By Sally on June 16, 2015

By
Paul Caviano

From VCB Visits Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse

Both the wind and current were northbound on a recent Sunday, and the plan that seemed reasonable ashore — across to Jersey City, then south to Morris Channel — was looking iffy. So the crew, comprised of Hans, Margaret, Rene, Larry, Elena, David, and I decided on a plan B. We would row to the beach in Hoboken at Maxwell Place Park. Frozen yogurt and Starbucks would tide us over till slack at 3:50 PM, and hopefully the wind would ease up by then.

JML and occupants were soon at the mouth of the cove and we found we had lots of company. The Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse was open for business, running the season-opening session of their weekly free kayaking program. Actually, it’s their free kayak, canoe, stand-up paddleboard program, and the cove was nicely speckled with boats and boards. By comparison the JML was the big dog, and the paddle leaders called out to “mind the longboat, longboat coming in!” Martine, the group leader on the beach, helped clear a spot for us and kindly assisted with our landing and tie-up.

Safely ashore, the crew headed for refreshments and later mingled with the various paddlers and program volunteers enjoying a perfect Sunday afternoon. The walk-up paddling was very well organized and everyone seemed pleased with the chance to get out into the cove. A couple of strollers-by were a bit disappointed that they could not go beyond the end of the relatively small cove. I gave them the VCB address and rowing schedule should they wish to get out into the big river, so maybe we’ll see them on the New York side some day.

At 4 PM the crew piled back into JML and pushed off from home. The wind had not let up, and the stiff 10+ MPH wind out of the south made for a good workout. The crew was up to the task, buoyed by the fresh muscles we could swap into the rowing positions. We got a good look at two NCL cruise ships slipping down the river past our starboard side before turning into the cove at Pier 40. All in all, a good day of sights and sounds and exercise in the city’s biggest public space.

Happy rowing!

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Prospect Park Rowing Opening Day 2015

By Sally on June 14, 2015

Six boats, Nine volunteers, Ninety waivers signed in four hours

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New Floating Dock & Ramp Successfully Installed

By Sally on June 1, 2015

From Rob61

Rob Buchanan and VCB volunteers installed the ramp to the new floating dock- a feat of ingenuity and creative problem solving that Rube Goldberg might admire.

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Row to Liberty State Park

By Sally on June 1, 2015

By
Brian Tong

From LSP

The King Tide, Pete Seeger, and Quixotic left the boathouse at 12:15 PM with 18 aboard–7, 6, and 5 respectively. The fleet arrived at Liberty State Park at 2 PM. The King Tide crew attempted to beach at the jetty near the Liberty State Park office 0.6 miles from the diner, but found that it was quite rocky and there was insufficient space for the three boats. Luckily, Pete Seeger found a secure floating dock within a 5 min walk from the diner. Since we had to queue up ourselves to dock on it, they went into the diner first as the Quixotic and King Tide crews watched the boat, and vice versa when the Quixotic and Tide crews ate. After that, we paid Port Liberté a visit.

Seeger, having people who needed to be off the water earlier, left before King Tide and Quixotic did, so they did their round by Port Liberté first and came back to Pier 40 at 5:15.

Tide and Quixotic stayed around the general area of Liberty State Park adjacent to Liberty and Ellis Islands after visiting Port Liberté before heading back to Pier 40 at 6:30 with a SSE tailwind in the mid 10s.

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Elm City Challenge

By Sally on May 5, 2015

By Tony Fung
Photos by Sally Curtis & Tony Fung

From Elm City Challenge

The Village Community Boathouse sent two crews to Elm City Challenge 2015. These crews rowed the Warrior and the Notorious GIG, and consisted of eight students from Stuyvesant High School and two from the Harbor School. Although it was originally planned for there to be three events: a distance race, a knot-tying competition and a slalom course, whereby crews would navigate through an obstacle course rudderless, the latter two were cancelled and the only event left was a 3.5 mile distance race. On the way there, the students did their best in preparing for the trip, by tying down the boats, setting up the trailer, and creating plenty of thole rings.

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