New York is the kind of city where a tour guide is far from necessary. But sometimes even the most jaded locals want to discover something new.
That's when it's time to consult Urban Tours, the least touristy tour company ever. Organized by the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, Urban Tours offers walking, biking and boat trips around the city's least traveled destinations.
Coming up later this summer: A walk through Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery, as well as a water taxi tour of "The Other Islands of New York," which explores the non-Manhattans: Roosevelt, Randall's, Ward's and the two Brother Islands. (Bonus points if you've ever even heard of the Brother Islands, wedged between the Bronx and Rikers Island, they formerly housed quarantined smallpox victims.)
So you're done with kayaking Manhattan and ready for an edgier boat trip? If you've got your basic boat skills down, one of the world's most picturesque kayak trails is just a few miles from the states, in Mexico's Baja California.
The sparsely populated coastline along the Sea of Cortez is one of North America's most remote waterways. Paddling through aquamarine seas surrounded by desert, rocky caves and the towering volcanic Sierra Giganta mountains, you'll catch sight of humpback whales, California grey whales, dolphins and, if you're extremely lucky, leatherback sea turtles.
GORP has an excellent guide for how to get going on the Sea of Cortez, or for less loner types, Sea Kayak Adventures offers six- to eight-day guided kayak tours through the sea.
That didn't take long. Just a couple weeks ago, Olympics officials and sailing enthusiasts were panicking about an algal attack off the coast of Qingdao.
But thanks to 20,000 "volunteers," the Yellow Sea is all cleaned up--at least so says the country's state-run media outlet. Officials also say that three sea barriers designed to hold back any further algal outbreaks have been set up around the waters designated for competition.
F. Scott Fitzgerald may not be your typical pop culture travel icon, but back in the day (New York in the '20s to be exact), The Great Gatsby was just as huge as Gossip Girl.
In case you're still about eight decades behind the curve, you can catch up on all your F. Scott gossip with The Great Gatsby Boat Tour.
When last we left Jaunted editor Paul Brady, he had finished the first two days of his basic keelboat sailing lessons at the Manhattan Sailing School. How was Day Three?
It was a serious drag to wake up before 8 am on a Sunday. But I managed to pull myself out of bed, tired from tugging on lines the day before, to meet up with my instructor and fellow students to set out for another day on the water.
The early weather report didn't look good, but like true mariners we rigged our boat anyway. Soon after, we were out on the Hudson again, practicing our tacking and jibing in winds so light we were probably only making a couple of knots.
After years of talking about it, making excuses and generally being a baby about the whole thing, Jaunted editor Paul Brady finally signed up for sailing lessons. He took Basic Keelboat Sailing 101 at the Manhattan Sailing School.
The first time I got in a sailboat, I managed to flip the thing over. Granted, it was a Sunfish--and could handle being capsized--but the experience didn't exactly make me eager to get back at the helm.
Still, I can hardly spend my time traveling along the Eastern Seaboard and through the Caribbean avoiding sail boats. It'd be like going to Bourbon Street and ordering a virgin margarita. So since I didn't grow up near water and I don't have a crusty old sea-going uncle to show me the ropes, I did the next best thing: I signed up for a class with an American Sailing Association instructor in Manhattan.
If you read our post about kayaking in Manhattan and thought, I'd like that, but with a greater chance of falling in the Hudson, then kayak polo is for you.
The sport is just what it sounds like--a take on water polo where players paddle around on boats instead of swimming. You can use your paddles to take a hold of the ball, and while bumper car-style attacks are frowned upon, there are plenty of grade-A crashes. It's popular throughout much of Europe, but is only just taking off in the United States.
On July 2 and 8, New York Kayak Polo is offering introductory classes to the sport, held at the Pier 66 Boathouse at the Hudson River and 26th Street. Classes are free, but there's a $5 insurance fee.
Sound the alarms! The Chinese city of Qingdao has come under algal attack--and the Olympics could be at risk! More than 30 percent of the waters designated for sailing contests off the coast of the city are inundated with thick enteromorpha prolifera. But the Chinese authorities have a way with getting people to "volunteer," and a reported 20,000 citizens have pitched in to clean up the Yellow Sea.
Agricultural run off is often the culprit when it comes to algal blooms, but Chinese officials told the state news agency that isn't the case this time. And they may not be lying! Blooms fueled by nitrates from fertilizers are usually red, and the stuff on the shores of Qingdao is bright green.
As the clean-up continues, the local Olympics Sailing Committee is planning a 30-mile-long fence to help keep the bloom at bay. The group says everything should be sorted by July 15; the games start on August 8.
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by BS
