One year ago Kathy and I blindly walked into the Jersey Paddler’s Paddlesport show at the Garden State Expo, located off of Easton Ave. Exit of I-287, and with over 20 paddles now under our belts we approached our second Paddlesport show with a much different head.
One thing we knew is we had to equip a second car, my Honda Fit, with a roof rack to carry our 2 kayaks. With that in mind and knowing they don’t necessarily install the rack for you unless you buy a boat with it, we bee-lined to the Thule dealer. I quickly specked out the rack and got confirmation that they were willing to install my rack if I did it immediately. Kathy went to pay for the rack and I pulled my car up. It took 2 guys who had been installing racks all week end 45 minutes to get it on the Fit. Thank G-d I got them to install it for me. If we waited 15 minutes longer I would have been toast as the place got busy. Great timing and strategy on our part. I also discovered that my Fit has tow wholes in the front and rear bumpers in which I can screw a metal tow loop. The car only came with one but I assume I can purchase a second from my local Honda dealer. I was concerned because there were no safe places to secure the ropes. The whole under carriage is plastic. the tow loops will be great and convenient. Now I am that much more psyched about carrying the kayaks on the Fit. The whole installation cost$568 which includes the pair of hulla-a-port pro folding J kayak carriers plus a $20 tip for the installers.
After the rack was done I parked the car and enjoyed the rest of the show. It was funny because while bee-lining to the Thule dealer we passed this tye-dye-haired generation-X dude trying to stop me and tell me about his kayak club, and I blew him off and told him I would be back. When I did get back I discovered a cool NJ paddling club that does lots of trips, free of charge, so we will have to check them out. They were called: Delaware Valley Kayakers.
We also stopped by some petite lady who represented the lower Hudson River and she had some good maps and information about where to go in Manhattan We have to check out the Downtown Boathouse.org for information about the city launch points. We got a nice New York City Water Trail Gu ide. Some links to check out include the Hudson River Watertrail Association and the NYC Water Trail Association.
We then stopped by our Hackensack River Canoe & Kayak Club’s booth and paid $25 cash to renew our club membership for a year. That was good cause our membership was set to expire on April 10 anyway. We the ran into the leader of the Raritan River trip we did with Rutgers last year, he was with the NY/NJ Baykeepers and they seem to do Raritan River trips and have 4 planned this year. We got a nice Tyvek Raritan River Access Map from them.
After these visits sauntered into the Barneget conference room to listen to an excellent lecture on kayak opportunities in New Jersey put on by John Pagani of the Kayak East touring and instruction company about the different places to go in New Jersey to kayak. It was a great lecture with great pictures and he split it between the lakes and river to go as well as the reasons to go places including nature man-made beauty, seeing the city, sunsets, etc. This was well worth the listen. He mentioned the following:
- Splitrock Reservoir
- Cranbury Lake in Sussex County
- Delaware Water Gap
- Paterson Great Falls and the Passaic River
- Shresbury River
- Cheesequake Creek just past the Driscoll Bridge
- Arthur Kill, Ship Graveyard
- Round Valley Reservoir
- and More
Now we were ready to check out some accessories and spend a little money and then head home. In addition, Kathy is still interested in the concept of getting a tandem kayak, where the two of us and the two dogs can all share one happy ship of fools. We found a company called Mad River Canoe that makes an recreational plastic canoe in their Adventure Series that is almost a tandem kayak. Probably the best and the worst of all worlds. It actually looks very promising for the 4 of us.
Finally we both got a sea line watertight waste pack that we can wear while we paddle. a great concept. Retails for $35 and we got it at the show for $23. We also got a spare paddle that I can take with us, just in case if you know what I mean. At $55 the JP Rec kayak paddle made for Jersey Paddlers was the cheapest one we could find. Made of cold aluminum, I hope we never have to use it. Finally I got 2 leftover polyester cooling shirts for $4.25 each that will be great for kayaking or biking. A good trip over all and most importantly we are now set for easy one-way trips down the rivers.