In early January 2011, the newly elected LICCB Chair and Steering Council set forth objectives for the 2011 season:  Safety on the Shore and on the Water, and Quality of Experience for Volunteers and Guests alike.  In our 2011 free walk-up paddling program at Hallets Cove in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park, we accomplished that and more!

We kicked off the preseason with two well-attended volunteer orientation and training days.  New and returning volunteers practiced a variety of roles from welcome/intake to patrol and everything in between.  Although the early season weather was a bit raw, the 30 or so volunteers who came out appreciated knowing what to expect and what was to be expected of them.

A major innovation in 2011 was to operate the program only on days when the tidal currents were favorable for paddling to and from the Cove — as opposed to moving the fleet by car and trailer.

This had lots of benefits.  Arriving on the flood tide and departing on an ebbing tide meant that the program ran from mid-to-high tide, when the beach is at its best — and never in the thick, sticky mud and muck of low tide, with slippery slimy rocks to trip up even the most sure-footed and agile among our participants.  It meant avoiding the glass and rebar and other hazards that, sadly, are still much in evidence when the tide is out.

It also meant avoiding the risks of accident and injury associated with lifting and tying boats onto cars and trailers and being out on Vernon Blvd loading and hauling boats over the streets.

It allowed us to offer the delightful 2 mile paddle between Anable Basin and Hallets Cove to many more paddlers.  It allowed us to bring more boats, and a bigger variety of boats, including more singles and canoes for our guests to choose from.

Importantly, it was in keeping with our human-powered boating and greenness objectives — we did not burn a teaspoonful of gas unnecessarily.  On some days we took no cars at all, we moved all the equipment up the east channel and back by boat.

We were intent on not only maintaining our safety record of prior years but on improving on it.

We introduced a ring of bright yellow buoys to mark the perimeter of the relatively calm waters of the Cove and to keep novice paddlers from being swept out of sight by strong currents beyond the buoys.  We are delighted to see this innovation now copied by at least one other boathouse!

We expanded our use of marine radios by our patrol paddlers, preventing potentially problematic situations, improving coordination of sea and shore-based activities, minimizing the need for whistle blowing — and, mission critical — reducing the stress on volunteers paddling patrol boats.

The patrol paddlers also received training in recovery techniques.  The few rescues that were necessary this year (and there were very few) were executed calmly, without drama or trauma.

We put out traffic cones to slow down passing cars and minimize risk of a pedestrian-automobile encounter at the low visibility section of roadway there at Vernon Boulevard and 31st Avenue, near the heavily trafficked Costco.  We had shore-based and water-based first aid kits available at all times.  As far as I know, none of them were needed.  Now that’s the mark of a safe season!

We experimented with running the program on a few Saturdays, for those whose religious or other activites preclude boating on Sundays.  Saturday programming is a strong contender for LICCB energy and resources — increasing public demand and desire for participation and stewardship of the program are the factors in growing our Saturday presence at the cove.

In order to run the program as many days as possible while moving our fleet by water, it was necessary to shift the hours a bit one way or the other on some days, due to the timing of the tidal currents.  One downside of this was that schedule variation confused some of our guests who don’t have access to the Internet or are simply accustomed to us being there at the same time every Sunday.  For next year we plan to combine efforts with Socrates to post the schedule more widely.

2011 saw an unusual number of cancelled paddling days, with stormy weather and the unfortunate fire at the North Hudson sewage treatment facility.  These situations had far reaching effects, resulting in restrictions on water contact due to high bacteria levels throughout most of New York harbor.

Yet in spite of this AND not paddling on low-tide days, the total number of people we put out on the water was only slightly lower than last year.  And the proportion of children was still high — 24.8% of our waivers were for minors.  Speaking of waivers, we were greener that way too — with a new format we were able to get six or seven signatures per page instead of one per page as in prior years.

What can we do better next year?  For starters, we’re working with the new leadership of Socrates Sculpture Park, the Queens Parks Commissioner, and Greenshores NYC to find a place to store boats and equipment in or near Socrates Park.

Our plan for 2012 is to run the walk-up paddling program on back-to-back Saturdays and Sundays on high tide weekends, storing the equipment securely overnight.  This will nearly DOUBLE the available high tide paddling days, without adding any more boat transport effort.

More quality paddling, more people served, more volunteer satisfaction, very little incremental boat hauling!

Canoes proved to be popular with young families, and single kayaks were popular with athletic and/or adventurous guests.  Sometimes people were waiting for canoes or singles.  Next year we plan to bring more of them.

With the help of Socrates and Greenshores NYC we can do a better job of posting our schedules — online and onsite — and posting notification when it’s necessary to cancel a scheduled session.  Of course we plan to continue to enhance the volunteer training and safety initiatives we introduced in 2011.

A word about our Hallets Cove volunteers…

We are indebted to more than 60 individuals — the same number as last year, but many of them new this year — who served at the Cove or behind the scenes in 2011, and in so doing, enabled the free public paddling program to thrive.

Dear Volunteers,

You came in March to the work parties to get the equipment ready for a packed season, and you were still around in October.  You came in good weather and bad.  You arrived early, you stayed late, many of you worked 10 hour days.  You hauled, you lifted.  You hosed down equipment at the end of the day and occasionally got hosed…

You were motivated, enthusiastic, kept your spirits up on days when the rain was coming down.  You were gracious.  You did your utmost to ensure that every guest had a good and enjoyable experience.  I can’t count the number of times that a hesitant guest was taken out in a tandem or canoe by a good-natured, competent and confident volunteer and returned wearing a huge smile having “conquered the Cove” and whatever reluctance he or she arrived with.  Beautiful!  We love you.  We want you back, again and again.

Yes,  Long Island City Community Boathouse volunteers are the Heroes of Hallets Cove!   Thank you for embodying the true spirit of volunteerism and for your service to LICCB and the Hallets Cove community.

— Steve Ellis, Hallets Cove Paddling Program Coordinator

Continuing opportunity:  Many of you will make yourselves even more formidable with skills acquired over the winter in a warm and welcoming environment.  Take advantage now, in the off-season, to learn to do some amazing kayak tricks and at that same time, serve a new generation of kayak enthusiasts!  We encourage you to check out the Riverbank Pool Kayak Program previously mentioned in another post.

If we don’t see you in the warm waters of the pool, we’ll see you next season!