Group of kayakers with new Kayak Chair, Lydia

Sea Kayak Report

By Lydia Thein

Ahoy Sebago!

Your new Sea Kayak chair here. First, I want to thank Tony Pignatello for an amazing year of programming and applaud him for his many years of service and four years as Sea Kayak chair! Tony is responsible for organizing many inter-club activities, as well as making sure there was a lot of instruction and programming for all levels of paddlers.

I am excited to be your new Sea Kayak chair and for the year ahead. For those who I haven’t had the chance to meet yet, I am a Level 2 Sea Kayak and SUP instructor. I am also a kayak polo player and play on the US Women’s Kayak Polo team. For the past year, I was managing the kayak polo program at Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, where I also coach. I love the Sebago community, which is dedicated to stewardship and instruction in beautiful Jamaica Bay. You can find me in my red, white and blue Romany sometimes with a harpoon strapped to my deck. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions regarding programming, kayaking, polo or harpoon throwing!

Thanks to all kayakers who participated in and won the races this summer! Sebago hosted the first leg of the “Triple Crown” on a beautiful summer day with lots of festivities and an amazing clam bake. A big thank you to all the volunteers who made this a huge success, especially Steve Heinzerling who provided the clams! The Triple Crown ended in Yonkers, where we took home the Joe Glickman Memorial Cup. We also won both divisions of the Mayor’s Cup. Congrats to Melissa Goyette, Talia Horner, Julia Brodsky, Ed Brodsky and Carlos De La Hoz for helping us win the trophy! This summer, we also had a beautiful trip to the Norwalk Islands and many attended the overnight trip to Long Island. In addition to these trips and races, we had a very full schedule of trainings and day paddles.

Thanks also to Steve Heinzerling and Melanie Lorek for organizing the Tuesday Night Paddles and Kid’s programs respectively. Also, thank you Vicki Moss and Anthony Abagnalo for leading the moonlight paddles. Here’s to more howling at the moon in 2017!

I also want to express my gratitude to our amazing instructors, trip leaders and assistant trip leaders. Without your dedication to Sebago, we wouldn’t be able to have such great programming for our members.

See you on the water!

 

Pictures from various kayaking activities:

Sebago – Volunteers Help Adaptive Paddlers Get On The Water W/Help From Mt Sinai Spine Center, courtesy of  Chris Bickford

Sebago – All Club Invitational & Food Fest, courtesy of Chris Bickford

5/28/2016 Sebago All-Club Invitational
Paddles, races, and a real nice clambake! – courtesy of Bonnie Aldinger

8/27/2016 Inter-Club Racing at Inwood
All canoe race and awards photos by Tony Pignatello – I had to get into at least one boat during the day! – courtesy of Bonnie Aldinger

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