Yonkers Canoe Club

Somehow...even though I've been paddling for almost ten years, a large portion of which was out of New York, I never made it over to Yonkers Canoe club. I was invited by two of their loyal members a few days ago and made it over yesterday.
I was so impressed! It was like walking back in time. I saw all these old boats that paddlers from Yonkers Canoe club built themselves, raced in, and became champions in.
I spoke with Nancy, who was a member of the National Team in the 70s. That was great! She told me a whole bunch of stories...and I realized that even since the 60s and 70s paddling hasn't changed that much! Sure, the boats have slimmed down and we all paddle with wing blades now, but the same sense of community and the same competitive edge has always been there.
Sadly, the conditions to paddle out of Yonkers Canoe Club aren't always great. You have to paddle on the Hudson River which can get really rough and sometimes has a lot of boat traffic. However, I suggested, if they really want to start a program there they should invest in surf skis. I've seen so many great paddlers come over from surf ski and transition very easy, then they can paddle in all conditions on the Hudson.
There used to be so many clubs in the New York area. Its sad, that now only Rockaway is represented at Nationals. There was Yonkers, Inwood Canoe Club South of them, Rockaway in Queens, Sebago in Rockland County, and Wanda over in Jersey. Thats five clubs within an hour of each other! What happened???!?!?!?!?
There are barely ten really active clubs across the USA now.
The only way to really get the competitive level of the USA up internationally is by bringing these clubs back to life.
Oklahoma City has set a great example for creating a program there. Cities need to follow their example.
I took some great pictures of Yonkers Canoe Club but they're stuck on my memory card until later this week. Sorry!
I will get those pictures up soon!!

Be in touch!

I head back to San Diego on monday. I'm kind of excited. Its been a couple of months since I've been situated in one place for more than a few days. I'm starting to dream a lot which always happens when I move from one place to another often.

Life is fairly slow at the moment, but I'm forcing myself to stay active physically, and in looking for sponsors.

When I return to San Diego I will start my public speaking series in the Southern CA school system. This is something I've talked about doing for a long time...and now I'm finally actually doing it.

I was up in Lake Placid New York for a couple of days. I worked with Terry Kent making a Kayak Fitness video. I got to paddle all different boats, Sprint, Surf Ski, and wildwater on Mirror Lake and Lake Placid. Its beautiful up there!

I had a bit of an adventure hiking Cascade with my mom on Wednesday morning. She slipped and caught her finger on a rock dislocating it. I splinted it with a sturdy stick and some hair rubber bands. I'm so resourceful! It was pretty scary. Cascade is a rocky hike, so its pretty steep coming down.

Luckily, the Doctor set it back into place and she can move it already! She paddled that afternoon....nuts.

I'm still on my hunt for sponsorship. I'm networking with a lot of people but I've yet to have a fish to bite. I need to make a list of potential sponsors and approach them with my sponsorship package. That's truly the scariest part.

I know I'm worth...especially with my plan for next year. But I would be one of the first sprint kayakers from my era to really be pursuing sponsorship. Uncharted waters!

Please spread the word and if you're interested in recieving my bio and sponsorship information please email me at SusannahStucchio@yahoo.com