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e and shore up the island and did i mention it s extremely illegal cell phones cameras and the press are banned from the island getting caught on hart island is considered trespassing on prison property and carries a sentence of 2 years in prison good sources for more information about hart island are here melinda hunt an artist who started photographing the toppled grave markers in the early 1990s started amassing a database that is considered more complete than official records made through a freedom of information act request she has also published a book called hart island and produced a film called hart island an american cemetery these and the database all can be found at the hart island project website a recent but pre covid nyt article fishermen at dawn 8 comments posted in life nature new york city tagged hart island long island sound sc b1 1985 happy birthday vlad posted on june 1 2020 by johna till johnson 11 comments sunrise at calvert marina by johna till johnson dawn 5 45 am the morning is calm clear and cool the birds chirp and tweet otherwise all is silent slowly the fingers of the rising sun touch the masts of the sailboats across the water a perfect near summer day a perfect start to the morning of vlad s birthday echoing that long ago sunday in prague the child that is born on the sabbath day is bonny and blithe and good and gay that he was all his life and loved well by many who love him still happy birthday vlad 11 comments posted in history life nature society tagged dawn june 1 prague vladimir brezina solo trip to the yellow submarine posted on may 26 2020 by johna till johnson 3 comments sky of blue and sea of green by johna till johnson it s may 26 2020 and the world has changed so i got to wondering what i was up to last year at this time by good fortune i have the photographic record a solo kayak trip to the yellow submarine in brooklyn almost a year ago to the day i hadn t been for almost four years the last trip was with vlad in october 2015 many links to the history of the yellow submarine appear there the 2019 trip marked a milestone for me though i didn t really think of it at the time i d begun to embrace my new identity as a solo expedition paddler it s a longer more ambitious trip when launching from pier 84 the home of manhattan kayak company than it was from new york kayak at pier 40 and of course it s always more ambitious to go solo the rural industrial mix of coney island creek i remember meeting up with a young father and his seven children on the beach at kaiser park we chatted for a while and i praised his parenting skills it s not easy to manage a brood that size with the smallest in diapers and the oldest burly pre teens then i continued on down coney island creek for whatever reason vlad and i had never previously explored its full length it s a strange combination of bucolic and industrial lush greenery sliced through with a subway track and blocky apartments looming in the background the current had turned against me so it was time to go the sun was low in the sky as i crossed the anchorage and the dramatic skylines of manhattan and jersey city hove into view it seems so long ago now another world manhattan and jersey city skylines seems so long ago and far away 3 comments posted in kayaking life nature new york city photography tagged brooklyn coney island creek gravesend bay kaiser park kayaking manhattan skyline new york new york harbor the yellow submarine sail and sky composition posted on may 20 2020 by johna till johnson 7 comments sail and sky composition by johna till johnson blue sky white sail harmony happiness 7 comments posted in life nature photography travel tagged chesapeake bay patuxent river sailing sky trimaran the blues of battle creek posted on may 16 2020 by johna till johnson 14 comments great blue heron and shoreline battle creek by johna till johnson they say to start a story in the middle so here goes the sun was slipping towards the tree covered hills that lined the dark navy blue water the air was fresh silent except for the occasional chirping of birds including the weep weep of the ospreys and the deep grunt of the great blue herons i climbed down the ladder from our trimaran christina rose and stepped carefully into the cockpit of sisu my blue white and black surfski i unclipped the carabiner from the bow line and pushed off water lapping gently at my bow my immediate destination a tiny golden spit of beach that jutted out from the trees about 40 yards away over the sound of birds chirping i d heard voices an adult and a child and was that a dog barking sure enough it was a young family mother father little girl and naked baby brother along with their fluffy dog houdini they d come across the creek in a gleaming brown wooden rowboat now pulled safely up onto the dunes the baby played in the gentle surf under his mother s watchful eye as i chatted with the father who pointed out some good places to explore by boat the evening before my partner v and i had been to the end of battle creek where the deep blue waters terminated in a spreading misty green marsh today we decided to head in the opposite direction to the patuxent river into which battle creek fed we smiled and waved goodbye to the little family and set off into the slight chop as we headed south out into the river the chop increased we were going against wind and current nothing particularly strenuous but new ish conditions to us in the surfskis moreover following v s lead i d adjusted my wing paddle to its shortest possible length with a strong feather angle and i was still familiarizing myself with how it handled so we proceeded carefully with an eye on the conditions there was a finger of land extending out the eastern shore into the river we crossed over to it and paddled along the edge green grass and reeds stood out from clumps of mud in places the water was only inches deep but lively and bouncy in the wind a brisk southwest breeze dusted the waves with white froth as we got closer the apparent finger of land dissociated into a string of individual islands with swift channels between each we rode the waves through one channel and found a quiet oasis beyond where the water was barely ruffled the shoreline was consistent green hills dotted with white brown and brick houses many with wooden steps leading down to a dock or two patuxent river shoreline after a bit we turned around and made our way back through the choppy river back into the sheltered creek the waves slowed softened and evened out the sun was now low its slanting rays illuminated the eastern shore and touched the blue sky beyond with radiance blue creek blue sky green trees in its serene beauty the shore was very different from my usual urban haunts we paddled up the eastern shore of the creek taking the time to explore every cove inlet and tiny marina in each we admired the boats a tiny sleek powerboat creatively named ice box a graceful black sailboat lovingly moored in the center of a cluster of pilings there were clusters of kayaks canoes and dinghies with the occasional zodiac but no people other than the young family we d encountered at the start all was strangely still and peaceful cranes and herons patrolled the shore v saw an otter swimming osprey calls were ubiquitous every now and again we caught sight of a bald eagle wheeling overhead great blue heron on shore battle creek after we d been out about an hour we turned again and headed back to the christina rose the sun was getting low and more importantly we were getting hungry back at the boat a feast of fresh caught fish awaited us earlier that day v had caught a catfish and two perch and made rice and salad as accompaniment within a few minutes we were back at the boat we lifted the surfskis onto the wings of the trimaran and hung our wetsuits to dry on the stays then we tucked into our dinner of hot just fried fish and cold rice and salad surrounded by the blues of battle creek blue creek blue river and deepening blue twilight early morning battle creek if you re a regular follower of this blog this post might leave you with more questions than answers who is v how did i a new yorker wind up on a river off the chesapeake bay in the middle of a coronavirus lockdown where did the trimaran come from and most importantly after 12 years committed to sea kayaks what was i doing paddling a surfski all will be revealed i promise although it may take a while i hope you ll find it entertaining in a previous version of this post i misidentified a great blue heron as a crane i actually thought first of a gbh but didn t take the thought seriously enough to look it up for some reason i thought they were too exotic for maryland my friend chuck conley set me straight 14 comments posted in kayaking life nature tagged battle creek crane heron kayaking maryland otter patuxent river sailing trimaran convocation posted on february 28 2020 by johna till johnson 3 comments by johna till johnson sometimes an image grabs you so vividly that it demands you stop and pick up the camera i was hurrying to a meeting in san francisco when this ghostly convocation caught my eye 3 comments posted in culture life society tagged mannequins san francisco first paddle of winter 2019 2020 posted on december 24 2019 by johna till johnson 16 comments palisades facing north by johna till johnson note i ve been remiss in blog posting for the past few months the adventures have been happening faster than my ability to keep up i look forward to sharing them with readers over the next little while there s quite a lot going on please stay tuned it s 3 pm on a fine winter day the sky is a clear pale blue there s little wind the temperature is in the low forties warm ish three of us brian richard and i have met up for a short paddle celebrating the winter solstice richard and brian at launch we launch from yonkers heading south with the ebb slack is supposed to be at 3 18 at the george washington bridge but i ve conveniently forgotten the one hour difference between gwb and yonkers so i m naively assuming it will be slack soon we set off across the river and catch sight of a tug and barge farther south is it coming up the river towards us the distance between us appears to be shrinking rapidly so we put some effort into the crossing to stay out of the path of the oncoming barge soon enough we re on the far side of the river paddling gently with the current enjoying the sights of the new jersey shore we pass a frozen waterfall then richard spies something in a tree is that a bald eagle he asks is it an eagle we squint no we decide just a trick of the light and maybe a patch of fungus white against the tree trunk then the patch of fungus moves and sure enough it s the head of a bald eagle they re common sights farther up the river but this is the first time we ve seen one this far south we stare in awe nearly holding our breaths then just as we go to take a picture it takes flight majestic wings flapping gracefully it s an eagle white head near center we continue down the river helped by a current that according to johna s faulty calculations shouldn t still be ebbing strongly but it is brian paddles close to the bank to inspect another waterfall this one leaps majestically from the cliffs frozen in cascades of ice even though the day is warm the ice warns us of winter to come ice capades a tug and barge announces is it the one we passed no that one isn t moving except to shift with the finally changing current it was anchored after all but there s another one a barge towed by one of the bright turquoise tugs the megan ann or one of her sisters it s heading south to sea and passing by another tug and barge on the eastern shore we watch for a while then turn to cross the river towards home there s still a strong ebb in the middle of the river even though it s past four the manhattan skyline glows pink in the misty sunset the strange new spires glimmering facing south we cross over surfing the waves and chat a bit as we begin to paddle north on the east side of the river this time we admire the new kayak storage at the yonkers paddling and rowing club a flock of seagulls circles overhead squawking seagulls and eagles i joke seagulls and eagle richard corrects me he s right only one eagle full twilight sets in i push ahead working on my forward stroke slow down so we can make the trip last longer brian says i stop paddling and just drift for a moment admiring the yonkers skyline against the darkening sky finally we round the corner and pull up to the boat launch it s 5 pm we ve been out for almost exactly two hours not a marathon trip by any means but a fine way to welcome winter spires of manhattan 16 comments posted in kayaking life nature new york city tagged eagle hudson river waterfall yonkers back in black burn posted on august 30 2019 by johna till johnson 15 comments starting line blackburn challenge 2019 by johna till johnson sometimes winning is just about showing up i don t think i ll ever do the blackburn challenge again i said to my friend jean i meant it the race was too intimately connected to vlad it was the first race we d ever done together and the only one we d done repeatedly no i couldn t do another blackburn a year went by and another and to my surprise i heard myself asking jean are you thinking of doing blackburn this year she was along with her friend b so i blocked time on my calendar and forgot about it that is until b sent me an email asking for advice although she was an accomplished marathoner blackburn would be the longest kayak race she d done and she had questions would conditions be overwhelming what happens if you bonk midrace what did i recommend for hydration and food it wasn t until after i d explained my thoughts on the above that i realized i really would be doing the race my sixth time launch site my solstice is the red boat next to the bag which holds supplies as i planned and prepped for the race everything was achingly familiar yet totally different the drive up from nyc as always i left later than planned vlad and i had had many a tension spat en route north thanks to the added time pressure but this time i was leaving on thursday giving myself time and energy to recover on friday before the race and of course there was no one to have a spat with the lovely little hotel that jean had found vlad and i had always stayed at the inn at babson court right downtown they were full up by the time i committed to go but the castle manor inn was just as lovely if less idiosyncratic and we met up with some blackburn challenge competitors who went out with jean on a pre race paddle i had to stay back at the hotel to get work done the early morning start in the gym at gloucester high school the boats had been loaded and were in place we were at the captain s meeting at gloucester high school edgy and nervous about the day ahead but there was plenty of hurry up and wa...