New York has plentiful waterways for beginners as well as intermediate and advanced paddlers. With more than 10 kayaking clubs in the New York area, there is a club to suit all abilities.
Kayakers can choose an hourlong trip or a day's excursion on, for example, the New York City Water Trail, which "connects 160 square miles of rivers, bays, creeks, inlets and ocean in the five boroughs suitable for kayaks," according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. With so many kayaking options, kayaking clubs regularly meet to enjoy the water.
Membership
The majority of New York kayak clubs are open to all levels of experience, from those new to the water to experts who can handle rapid white water. The emphasis is mostly on making kayaking a social sport and bringing people together while navigating New York's waterways. New York kayak clubs range from recreational clubs that are free to join, generally meet next to the water and may not provide lessons for beginners to clubs that charge an annual fee, have a boathouse and committee board, and organize instruction classes.
Instruction for Beginners
CNY Kayakers, in central New York, regularly organizes trips to areas like Lake Ontario and Skaneateles and Otisco Lakes. It is a free recreational club that allows all levels of kayakers to participate but does not advertise basic skills instruction for beginners.
Other clubs, like Downtown Boathouse, a club with two Manhattan locations, hold pool practice sessions during the winter to help beginners learn paddling techniques and the basics of safety. The club's experienced kayakers volunteer to provide free public walk-up kayaking and instruction.
Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club, based next to the Hudson River, runs youth training programs at four locations throughout the year. The club also arranges classes in advanced paddling techniques and self-rescue.
Gear
Recreational kayak clubs, without clubhouses, like CNY Kayakers and Mature Adult Sea Kayakers, a club that organizes trips from Maine down to the Chesapeake, do not own boat and paddling equipment, so members must invest in their own gear. These recreational clubs tend to meet on an ad hoc basis at the shores of New York's waterways. Clubs that do not provide equipment will happily recommend a dealer or have a newsletter through which members may be able to buy second-hand boats and paddles.
Kayaking clubs like Downtown Boathouse have a selection of equipment in the clubhouse that members can use. All kayakers have to bring along to sessions is a bathing suit, t-shirt and a lock. This kayak club also has a changing room and hose to rinse off with after sessions.
Trips
During the summer months, kayaking clubs often depart on longer trips on weekend mornings. Many of the clubs will try to go for a four- to five-mile paddle, depending on tidal and weather conditions. Due to the variety of waterways open to kayakers, excursions range from lengths of New York Harbor to rivers and lakes in the wider New York area and or visits to other states.
Conservation
As well as promoting the enjoyment of kayaking, many of the kayak clubs of New York try to educate members in conservation issues surrounding New York's waterways.
The Kayak and Canoe Club of New York, a whitewater club that serves New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut as well as New York, actively encourages members to join conservation groups and donate money to organizations that help improve river environments and lead scientific research. The club also lobbies government entities to increase awareness of conservation issues and rivers.
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