05 Jul Sun’s Out, Canoes Out!

I have been looking forward to the canoe program all summer. And, now, it is finally here! The canoe tour program includes paddling through Watch Hill’s salt marsh, and learning about the importance of this vital ecosystem. Next, we canoe out to Long Cove. Long Cove use to be a community at Fire Island before the government turned it into federally designated Wilderness.

Today, it exists as a great area for clamming and paddling. It is also excellent for bird watching. For instance, there are plenty of egrets and Osprey to look around for. However, before I could go out on these canoe tours I had to get canoe certified. The canoe certification took two rigorous days. The first day, we learned how to canoe in a swamped canoe, save someone else’s capsized canoe with your own canoe, put on our life vests in water, and more. By the second day, we were trained so well that Roxana and I got to race the other rangers. It was daunting to go from never canoeing to becoming certified over the course of just two days. But the instructor was very patient and the other rangers were very encouraging. I am looking forward to going on more canoe programs this summer!