PP and I did a casual sprint from Long Dock at 7am May 10, 2013. I played hockey hard the night before, and I am frankly far from my peek paddling condition. Fortunately, the tide was approaching slack-before-flood (which is happening as I type this), the wind was calm, the water warm – 60F – and glassy. The sun, which rose almost two hours before we got on the water at 7:15, was bright and warm, and began burning off the fog banks that blanketed Bannerman's and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.
No photos from this trip, sorry. Highlights included lots of Canadian geese on the grounds and ramparts of Bannerman's, the most wonderfully irridescent head of a mallard swimming alongside his mate, and the usual group of cormorants sunning themselves on the channel marker just west of Bannerman's. Just after rounding Bannerman's and starting our trip back north, PP noticed a fin poking out of the water. We paddled up to a sixteen inch striped bass swimming on its back. Our best guess was that it was caught by one of the nearby fishermen and thrown back because of its size.
We got back to Long Dock just around 9. A red-wing blackbird – the first I have seen around Beacon – darted over my head as I "cooled my heels" in the water while straddling my back deck. We packed up our gear and were out of there by 9:15. I am now feeling blissed out, eating a muffin and sipping on coffee at Bank Square.
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