6:30 am at the Corning Preserve Launch ramp:  We're ready, uh huh!   A few kayaks were already on the ramp and preparations were just getting underway.   More kayaks and a travel van arrive.  Paddlers from the tri-state area, Vermont, Marie and Gaetan from Quebec, and Greg from New

Zealand--well, it is winter there, where’s a guy gonna paddle? -the Hudson, of course. Quickly the gear piles up and a whole bunch of colorful plastic jellybeans line the ramp.  Move over, here comes the Whitehall skiff, complete with its teenage crew.  Splash, into the water it goes. Out come the oars, and the crew rows it to the loading dock.

        The safety meeting is called and Scott outlines the paddle plan. Mary Mangione, Scott's boss, talks about the importance of showcasing the Hudson and how this event contributes to that end. Mark looks around with a grin and declares, “Let’s put some lipstick on this pig!” Translation: the ebb and the river current are flowing south. Let’s go while the paddling is good. No one objects. Everyone is getting to know each other as the flotilla heads south. Everyone is on their best behavior.

        Lunch and Channel 10, an ABC affiliate, is on the dock—camera  rolling. Don tells them about the area, and Greg explains why he flew here from New Zealand. ”Where’s Wally and Sharky?” I ask. (These are Frisbee-

type throw arounds that float.) They were out and about in the morning, getting acquainted with the paddlers “Shhh,!”, cautions Dan, “Carol put them down for a nap. If you're good, Carol will let them play with you after lunch”. Good is a relative term, because after lunch he decides it is time to test fire his water cannon.        

        We are all getting used to following the guides’ lead by now. So everyone with a water cannon puts down their paddle to see if theirs still work. We’d make the NYC fireboats proud.  Marie from Quebec City laments that her cannon is below deck and

she can’t get it out. Discretion being the better part of valor,  Marie is out of there before the second salvo arrives.

      1:30 pm: New Baltimore Campsite comes into view. This is my third time here and it is the first time the rain is not falling. What a marvelous place to pitch a tent!  The land staff is wonderful. They help us get our boats out of the water and have nuts, fruit and Gatorade ready.

Up go the tents and out come “the girls!” Dan’s girls, that is. This needs some explaining.  In 2006, Connie, a guide from California, put four pink blow-up flamingos on her tent stakes. The idea being to keep the unwary  from kicking the tent guys loose in the dark, or worse yet, collapsing the tent

on the sleeping occupant.  The flamingos were such a hit that at the trade blanket that year,  Dan traded all of his considerable stash and an IOU (I’m told) to possess the pink flamingos. From that point on, they have been referred to as The Girls or Dan’s Girls.

        Showers at the New Baltimore Yacht Club, dry clothes, and a barbecue at John Wallner’s house, complete with locally churned ice cream in a variety of unorthodox flavors. What better way to end a most perfect day on the Hudson River.

Bob Campbell

July 1, 2007