Kayak Kamp: Day 4

Today we began our day with devotions and then went to visit Mr. Gerry DeJong at DeJong Iron Works near E. 18th St. & Hamilton. Last year Gerry personally built our kayak trailer donating all parts & labor. It holds 12 kayaks and includes a gear box for our paddles, lifevests and other stuff. Its wonderful. We then went back to the south launch on the Monksville Reservoir where you see us launching below.

 We paddled around to the north launch area, went swimming and then paddled to "pirates island" below. We didn't find any pirates but did enjoy having lunch and swimming off the island. Just watch out for those hissing swans and snapping turtles. Mrs E. challenged everyone to identify two animals they saw and had a treat for all who did. Altogether we identified nearly 20 different species of birds, fish, animals and insects that God created.

 The water felt great on a warm day. After lunch Eric & Dominic paddled around the island and served as lifeguard to our swimmer - who all had on their lifevests by the way.  We then paddled around the shore toward the dam and back to our launch. Check out some of the videos above.

Kayak Kamp: Dav 3

 Today we visited the Great Falls National Historic Park to meet Sperintendent Darren Boch and Ranger Ilyse Goldman. We are so thrilled that the National Park will help us celebrate our history and the importance of the Passaic River and Paterson. Here Ranger Goldman is talking to Naomi

 We then went and put into the Passaic River at the Hawthorne access. We paddled upstream about 3/4 of a mile and then back down. Here is our whole camp.

Elijah

Victoria

Joseph

Al'lena

Shyear

Tayshawn

Justice

Naomi

Mr. Eric

Dominic

Mrs E.

 As we paddled downstream we went over the fish weir just above the Fair Lawn Ave. bridge. Native Americans built this nearly 300 years ago and it is still there. They caught the fish by net or spearing them. We had lunch at the Fair Lawn access and pulled out in Elmwood Park.

Paddling under the Broadway/ Martin Luther King way/ Route 4 Bridge

All in all we had a great day paddling almost 6 miles. We picked up plastic bottles in the river to recycle as part of being caretakers of God's creation and cleaned up the area we we landed at the Elmwood Park boat launch. We  ended the day with ice cream at Guernsey Crest.

Kayak Kamp: Day 2

Today we began our day with devotions about a "tale of two rivers" from Genesis 2.  Between these two rivers God placed the Garden of Eden and gave Adam & Eve a job to do of taking care of the earth. However they broke the beauty of creation in disobeying God and were thrown out of the garden. We reflected on the brokenness of sin that we see in so many different ways in our lives and world. The Bible teaches us about God's good creation and how people fell into sin. We're glad that's not the end of the story. Today we paddled at Lake Waywayanda, a beautiful state park in north-west NJ near the NY border.  It took us just under an hour to get there and we had a wonderful time on the water. Today Mrs. Patti MacCracken was our female volunteer.

 Here is Mr. Eric rounding up any stragglers.  Actually everyone kept up very well. We even got to paddle through some lily pads and see how their roots went all the way to the bottom of the lake but their leaves and flowers floated on the water to reach the sun.

We stopped for lunch on a nearby rocky ledge area and enjoyed hiking around and feeding the fish. We ended the day with a swim at the beach before we loaded up and came home.

River of God Kayak Kamp: Day 1

Today we began the first day of Kayak Kamp with 9 young people along with leaders Eric White and Alisa Englehard. This year we have Al'lena, Joseph, Shyear, Tayshawn and Dominick back from last year along with Naomi, Victoria, Justice and Elijah. After our devotions on Genesis 1 and God's creation of the heavens and earth....and waters we had some basic classroom kayak training. Then we headed up to Monksville Reservoir. Once there they all learned how to adjust their life vest, put together a paddle, unstrap and unload the kayaks, carry them together, adjust their seat and foot pegs. Then we practiced some proper paddling techniques and got everyone comfortable floating in their life vest. After lunch we paddled out thought the lost forest to where the Wanaque River flows into the Reservoir.    

Here we are at the Long Pond Iron Works. This iron furnace functioned over 100 years ago to melt the iron out of the oar rock. The waterwheels were turned with water from the river and powered bellows that kept the furnaces hot.

 We had a great day and everyone did terrific  Here's a group shot outside of the hidden Pirate Cove.

Ederle Swim

Today I was a volunteer paddler for the Ederle Swim which is a 17.5 mile swim from Battery Park to Sandy Hook. I was paddling for Ethan Herschenfeld of Brooklyn. We got to meet each other in the rain before the race along with his Dad Phil and friend John who were his support team. The support boat was Sparky captained by Al While and his friend Tony. Our NYSwim boat observer was Randy Savitt.  Here is the Zodiac that Ethan began  from and the Spark is below.

That orange cap is Ethan!

  Coming up on the Verrazano Narrows. We had a number of ships that came in and out while we were paddling. We crossed the Ambrose Channel under the bridge and then paddled just outside its western edge.

 Coming up on Romer Shoals Light House. From here we headed straight to the closest tip of Sandy Hook however the outgoing tide continued to carry us a bit east.

 Ethan ended up on the north east end of Sandy hook but more on the ocean side. What a swim!

 "I made it!"   We all knew he could. What a terrific swim. I didn't have any official time but my gps was showing just over 5 hours.  Below is Ethan & Tony talking as we approach Manhattan again. A video produced by NYSWIM is found HERE.

The whole crew back at North Cove. Front row is Randy & Tony, back row is Al, John, John, Ethan & Phil. 

Madison Ave. on the Passaic

Tonight Eric and I offered another congregational Paddle on the Passaic River. Above you see Lavern, Melonie, Al, Lois, Dominick, Alisa, Eric and Githingi. From the Elmwood Park "marina" we paddled north under the Rt. 4 bridge and just about to the Burger King on  Rt. 20 &10th Ave. For most it was the first time in a kayak and after getting over some of the initial uneasyness everyone did terrific   

Githingi and Al going under the Rt. 4 Bridge.


We  stopped to reflect on the beauty of God's creation that is all around us. We also reflected on the fact that "we own the river". Every river that you can paddle anything on is "held in trust" by the state for the people. That means we own it and should take care of it. You own the River. Read more about it!

 Everyone had a great time and we went out for ice cream cones to celebrate at Guernsey Crest.

Here are a few video clips of our evening together.