[Journal Entry for May 7, 2008] I launched Lahar, my West Side Boat Shop EFT sea kayak, from Memorial Park in Nyack NY just before 7AM on a calm, warm and sunny morning. Dogs were playing on the launch ramp, dunking themselves (which I suppose that their owners didn't appreciate). I paddled north, against a strong outgoing tide, passing numerous patches of floating debris, suprisingly all of which seemed to be natural, mostly branches and logs. I looped out into mid-river, and then headed northward up the Hudson River towards Nyack Beack State Park. The water has warmed a bit from last week, and was now 59F. Roger, a fellow paddler, was already there. He had come over from Ossining. I congratulated him on his Charles River win. Gideon and Judah drove up and launched their Greenland-style kayaks, and we all headed west, across the Tappan Zee, to Ossining NY. The view of Hook Mountain was very beautiful in the morning sun. All its trees are green now, and set off the brown cliff faces very nicely. I sprinted the EFT now and again, to get a little practice, but mainly I paddled ina leisurely pace. We sighted a NY Waterways ferry, which was making a very big bright white stern wake, and a tugboat pushing a barge up-river. We turned about in a little cove in north Ossining. Roger headed into shore, and the remaining three of us paddled back across the Hudson to Nyack Beach. We met another kayaker, a friend of Gideon's and Judah's, near the start of the Bike Path. I said goodbye to them, and then hustled south, hugging the Upepr Nyack shore, and admiring the flowering bushes and trees that residents have planted along the shore. Trip time, three hours and fifteen minutes. My 12th day kayaking so far this year.