[Journal entry for July 7, 2014; Hermon A. Macneil Park, College Point, Queens NY]. I joined a group of kayakers from Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club, volunteering as a safety boat at the public kayaking sessions during Family Fun Day. I had paddled before with many of the volunteers, who included my friends Lee Reiser, Andy, John, Steve, and Victor.

The park is at College Point, a north-facing peninsula on a narrow section of Long Island Sound, a mile of so west of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. I arrived about 10AM on this gorgeous day. I spent a half-hour or so walking around the park, which is crossed by several pedestrian paths. The center is wooded, with surprisingly tall trees. A baseball diamond is set against the road at the south side of the park, and a playground with fountain and bathroom building near the seawall on the north side. The views across the Sound are very nice, especially on the west side of the park, from which one can see the Manhattan skyline. Several groups of volunteers, from community groups including the Coastal Preservation Network, the local Library and the Cancer Society set up booths.

The area we used for the public kayaking was a small cove on the northeastern shore of the park. It has a stretch of sand between hummocks of Spartina grass, set just west of the remains of an old dock. Some of the pilings host solar panels that are part of an oyster restoration project operated by James Cervino, a marine biologist from Pace University. When I arrived, the beach was badly littered with garbage, but during the day a group of volunteers cleaned it up, so that it looked very nice by late afternoon.

Victor and I cordoned off a small area of the bay, using large colorful floats. We positioned each individually, anchoring it the sea bed using a weight on the end of a nylon cord. We opened the area to the public at 11AM, allowing them to paddle around in sit-on-top kayaks that we had brought. At any given time, we had between five and ten such boats afloat plus the several of us on safety duty. We provided some paddling instruction, but mostly just let the people, who included both kids and adults, have fun splashing about. At 3PM, we closed the area. Steve and I brought the floats while the other packed up the rest of the gear.

Overall, I spend about four hours padding.