Kayaking on the Hudson River

For the 4th time this Summer/Fall I went kayaking in hopes of some great photo opps. Back in July I first went at 72nd Street in the Upper West Side with Downtown Boathouse. It is free and you just walk up, sign up, grab a life jacket, take off your shoes, put your belongings in a locker and wait your turn in one of the kayaks on the dock. I'd never been kayaking before but last Fall I went canoeing in Central Park by the Boathouse and thanks to that previous experience I sort of had the hang of it.

About 2 months later when it cooled off some friends and I went again down to Pier 40 off of West Houston Street and the West Side Highway. Again, it was free with no reservations and you could just walk up and wait to get into a kayak. While kayaking in the cool weather, we wished we had our cameras on board with us to take pictures of the fantastic view of Jersey City across the river from us, and of Lower Manhattan/Battery Park City below us.

When we ventured out to Astoria to kayak at Hallet's Cove (located off the 30th Ave or Broadway stops on the NQ subway line, by Socrates Sculpture Park), we came better prepared to take pictures. We had plastic baggies to keep in our pockets and save until we were steady in the water and ready to snap a shot of the nearby Roosevelt Island and Carl Schurz Park just across the East River. This kayaking is also free (donations are welcome) and is put on by volunteers with the L.I.C. Community Boathouse.

Here's the view from kayaking in Hallet's Cove:

View towards the beach and shore at Hallet's Cove in Astoria

View toward Midtown Manhattan - Empire State Building and Chrysler Buildings

It was a cold and gray day though, so I wasn't crazy about the pictures but still determined to kayak with my camera again.

So last weekend we visited Pier 40 again and along with our cameras took pictures from the kayak. We saw sailboats, cruise ships, yellow water taxis and even little motor boats go by several times, which created a quite a wake. We also took fun pictures of each other (see agent j loves agent a's flickr photos from this time around).

The view of Jersey City from Pier 40

My friends kayaking near the esplanade

The view toward Lower Manhattan and Battery Park City

*Free kayaking at with Downtown Boathouse at Piers 40, 96 and 72nd Street ends Sunday, October 17th.