Passaic River Paddle Relay adds finishing touch

Sunday, February 18, 2007
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger

A paddling race down a river might be exciting for the canoeists and kayakers surging neck-and-neck to the finish line. But after the front-runners cross it's not exactly the Kentucky Derby for those watching from the shore.

The organizers of the Third Annual Passaic River Paddle Relay realized a sporadic trickle of boats at the race's end wasn't very exciting for the spectators. This year, they're trying something new: They're moving the finish line upstream a bit and they're asking all paddlers to wait there after they cross it.

Then, when everybody's done racing, the whole gang of competitors will paddle in unison toward the waiting crowds at Riverbank Park in Newark. Go ahead, call it contrived or Madison Avenue. If it helps bring a successful event for the Lower Passaic & Saddle River Alliance, and the race's other sponsors, they'll be happy.

"We're trying to have more of a visual impact of all these dozens of boats on the river," explained organizer Tom Pietrykoski. "Instead of having them come down one by one, what we having them do is finish a few hundred yards before the finish line, gather up and come down in a big flotilla, a big group of boats." It's not something you see every day on the Passaic and it should make for a nice photograph, figured Pietrykoski.

There should be plenty of cameras on hand. The race is scheduled for May 12, meaning it will coincide with "Art and Music in the Park," the 100th anniversary celebration of Riverbank Park in Newark. When the paddlers arrive, they'll get to mingle with folks enjoying live music, dance performances, art displays, animals from Turtleback Zoo, educational activities, food and other fun stuff. The paddle relay will begin at the Nereid Boat Club in Rutherford, about eight miles upstream from Riverbank Park. Canoe relay teams made of six paddlers will compete as will individuals piloting kayaks. The course will take the racers through Rutherford, Harrison, Kearny, North Arlington, East Newark, Belleville, Clifton, Lyndhurst, Nutley and Newark.

"The reason we started this thing was to get people out on the river, to change their perceptions of it," said Pietrykoski. "We figured the hardest part was going to be getting people to do this, but what we found was that getting people out there was the easy part. We got dozens of calls from people interested in paddling." Pietrykoski expects more than 100 paddlers will sign up for this year's race. Last year there were about 80.

He said the unexpectedly difficult part of organizing the event was securing suitable access points along the course. Because it's a relay, two interim access points were needed (between the start and the finish), for teams to switch. "That proved to be our biggest problem," said Pietrykoski. "There is such limited access on the lower Passaic. We had to work with a number of municipalities. Some boat launches had to be cleaned up."

The Alliance sought aid from the National Park Service which helped it identify all the public access points on the lower stretch of the river. That information is going to be used to improve those spots, make signs and create a map and guidebook for prospective Passaic River paddlers, said Pietrykoski. The finished product is going to be called The Passaic River Water Trail and Pietrykoski said it will include about 24 access areas. For more information on the race, contact Pietrykoski at (973) 817-5735.

Fred J. Aun covers the outdoors for The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at
outdoors@starledger.com

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