By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Standing on the dock at the Inwood Canoe Club along the Hudson River, it’s easy to forget you're in Manhattan.
To the north is a seemingly endless stretch of blue sky, green trees and no buildings. The river quietly laps along the ridge of rocks and even the George Washington Bridge to the south looks serene.
It's the perfect setting for novice city folk to learn how to canoe or kayak.
Last Sunday, nearly 40 people attended an open house where they worked with club members who helped them get comfortable in the water and learn how to paddle. The day marked the beginning of the canoe club’s season of free kayak outings every Sunday at 10 a.m. to noon until late August.
“This is such a great way to get to know the river,” club member Joe Wojak said.
Founded in 1902, the club has been in the same location for more than 100 years, although the actual building had to be rebuilt in the early 1990s after a fire. It is the oldest canoe and kayak club in Manhattan and up until recently was a racing club, one of many that existed along the Hudson during the early 20th century.
During the 1960s, the club played host to several racing kayak athletes who trained in the Hudson and ultimately went on to compete in the Olympics. But by the time of the club’s centennial, many of the longtime members and professional rowers had either aged or moved out of the city, so members saw a need to take a different approach to recruitment.
Antonio Burr, the clubhouse’s "commodore" — a nautical term for president — said the club needed to recruit new members willing to volunteer time for the upkeep and man the boathouse, so the members voted to revise the club’s charter to allow nonprofessional boaters.
“That has been an absolute and total success for the program,” Burr said. “Both because we provide Inwood and Washington Heights with public access to the river and provide a greater understanding of the river.”
In addition to hosting weekly summer classes, the club also provides kayak escorts for the city’s Hudson River swimming programs and helps the Parks Department keep the path around the clubhouse clean and trimmed.
Membership is extended to those who participate in club activities throughout the summer and are asked to join at the end of the season.
“We’re very much a sweat equity club,” club member Diana Szatkowski said, explaining that the work is worth it because it keeps her close to nature. She has been a member for four years and moved to Inwood from Lower Manhattan after 9/11.
“It’s great to be out here on the water,” she added. “Once you try it, you get the water bug.”
Native New Yorker and novice kayaker Taina Montalvo-Teller grew up near Riverbank State Park, the former sewage treatment plant along the Hudson River that sits just over two miles south of the club.
Montalvo-Teller said she remembers that area’s “awful smells and pee-yellow smoke" coming from the treatment plant's stacks and her mother’s warnings to stay away from the water.
But despite an errant coconut and some plastic she spotted in the water, she said she was pleasantly surprised to see the state of the river.
“As we got further from the dock, the water was much more clear,” she said, “the view of the G.W. Bridge was gorgeous, and the cool breeze on the hot day was absolute perfection.”
