Paddle boarding may be known as the
trendiest watersport right now but, for urbanites who wouldn’t want to fall into the local bodies of water available to them should a board go wobbly, another vessel is keeping them afloat in metropolitan rivers. Indeed, urban kayaking programs are spreading across the country, giving city folk a taste of the great outdoors without
giving up their beds for the night.
LA River Expeditions: Most Southern California residents equate watersports with the pursuit of the almighty wave, yet some are bypassing the city’s famous beaches in favor of a lesser known body of water.
LA River Expeditions, an organization devoted to revitalizing its namesake waterway, offers
a sanctioned program that allows rebel kayakers to paddle their way down portions of the
relatively undiscovered 51-mile riparian ecosystem. The endeavor is more than just a recreational outlet, however. By altering the public’s perception about what most think of as a sewage basin, this initiative aims to establish the environmental stewardship necessary to protect the river.
North Brooklyn Boat Club:
Swimming in the East River is not a pastime that interests many New Yorkers, but more city folk are testing the waters via kayak lately.
North Brooklyn Boat Club, one of a number of
local kayaking outfits, is a volunteer organization promoting “human-powered boating on and environmental restoration of the waterways” in neighborhoods more widely recognized for the
so-called ruination of the borough. The group provides waterway access to rowers intrepid enough to explore the river’s infamous estuary,
Newtown Creek. So intent is NBBC on restoring the polluted inlet for public recreational use that it’s secured funding for a proper
community boathouse set to open in 2014.
