First row of the season

Jon and I got out today on the Croton River for the first row of the season.

Charlie and I spent some time earlier this week scrubbing out the guideboat and getting it cleaned up. Despite being wrapped in a tarp in my boat racks behind the workshop, some raccoons found their way in and made a mess.

Inspired by Brian Schulz, I picked up some Aere Beach Rollers to use as float bags in the guideboat. Think of them as repurposed inflatable dock bumpers.

INFLATABLE BEACH ROLLER – AERE Marine

Inflatable Beach Roller, Reinforced Fabric, 2000 Lbs Capacity Made from Heavy Duty Materials, 9 inches x 60 inches. Large air valve included.

aeredockingsolutions.com

I’ve never flipped, but they give me piece of mind going out in the Hudson during windy weather, and when taking Charlie out. I strapped them in with 4ft x 1in straps.

They did not interfere with my rowing, and I found them comfortable as arm rests and to lean my legs against. They also had a secondary benefit of holding my removable seat in place, even when the boat is upside down on top of the car.

Tertiary benefit: Decent makeshift fly rod holder.

Jon and I plan to do some tests when it is warmer out. We’ll row up to a favorite swimming hole and flip one boat with float bags and one without float bags and compare the difficulty we have in recovering them. Both of us know how to self-rescue in kayaks, but haven’t tried in the guideboats before, so it should be interesting.

One of the main draws of the Adirondack Guideboat is the overall stability because of their shape and displacement volume. Still, good to be prepared, especially when a 4yo is a passenger.

Speaking of Charlie, he didn’t go with me today because I don’t feel comfortable taking him out on the water when it is this cold. The water temp was 53F and the air temp was around 56F. Too cold for someone without much body fat who is still learning to swim. I promised to take him out as soon as it warms up.

As Jon and I were rowing back downriver, someone on a dock waved us over. We met Gareth Hougham of the Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy, who recognized our Adirondack Guideboats and wanted to see them and chat with us. Gareth is a delightful guy doing great conservation work in the area, and I’m glad we got to meet.

Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy: www.streamconservancy.org

Welcome to Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy, we are a tax-exempt nonprofit that works in aquatic ecology, water-related infrastructure, environmental education, and outreach.

streamconservancy.org

A secondary reason for going out today was to try casting a fly rod from the guideboat for the first time. Can you believe I’ve had the guideboat for almost 5 years and hadn’t cast a line from it yet? I brought my 8wt striped bass rod and cast it around the mouth of the Croton River, though still on the Croton side of the train trestle. Way too windy today to go out into the bay.

I didn’t catch anything, but I did get some practice casting from the boat and now all my gear is ready. I’ll go out again soon and target some striped bass for real.

Nice evening out on the water. Looking forward to the 2026 season.