#Kayaking

Matthew Chebatoris An approximately 19 foot great white shark attacked a kayaker off Catalina Island on Saturday, October 5, 2019. The attack lasted only seconds and left behind two shark’s teeth embedded in the kayak. The teeth were roughly two inches long, which enabled scientists from the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach to estimate the shark’s size. The attack took place near Ship Rock, a popular open water diving spot, roughly three miles from Emerald Bay. Danny McDaniel, a San Diego resi Rebecca Parsons The Na Pali Coast was everything I imagined it would be and more. Matthew Chebatoris Hudson Highlander hits the water after the spring thaw The ice is gone. No more blizzards in the forecast. Spring is finally here. Time to get on the water. Winter hadn’t been very long or very cold, but I hadn’t been on the water in a while. All last fall my new teaching job had been sucking up my mental energy, but things had since settled down. Then my kayaking friend James Dougherty invited me to paddle The Great Swamp in Brewster, NY. Calling the Great Swamp a swamp is a Matthew Chebatoris Empanadas and a fish in my shoe Our last day on the Hudson River started at 1:30 AM. So remember my guess about camping above the tideline? Yeah, that was pretty wrong. Waves were lapping at our tents. Jim and Dan were already up. We moved our tents the best we could above the waterline, but the steep hill beside us kept us from moving much further. I spent half that night worrying about whether the waves would consume us, but we were okay. One of the things I was learning fr Matthew Chebatoris But I thought we were done! Not only didn’t I sleep well, I woke up kind of a mess. Yesterday had been so grueling — I didn’t think I could face any more of that combined wind and tide. So, to make sure we got some miles in, Jim and I left early with the morning tide. We were meeting Dan a couple of miles downriver at Kingston Point Beach. It turned out the beach was a bit more than a couple of miles, (My bad!), but eventually we spotted his kayak. Two were now three, and Dan Matthew Chebatoris Jim and I awoke to a sunrise over the Hudson’s eastern shore. There was a looming sense that people didn’t interrupt much up here. Sure the freighters passed close by, but this side of our island was a refuge, a pocket of wilderness. There was a stillness that I’d never experienced on the river. We made breakfast listening to the last of the crickets, then set off. Our first goal was water. We were almost out. The town of Athens was a few miles south, so we packed up and laun Matthew Chebatoris Paddleboarding involves risk. Not a lot, but some. You’re on the water, so drowning is always an issue. There are other hazards too: chop, lightning, critters, other boats. Most paddlers make a calculus between how safe is “safe enough” to go out, and when the risks are too high. We do it every time, and usually we choose to go out, but sometimes you’ve got to bag it. This is one of those stories. I wanted to explore a Moodna Creek with my daughter Guinevere. It’s a small cre