paddling the san lorenzo river

i am a bit shocked that it has taken me 15 days of the government shutdown to write a new post. we have been a little preoccupied with house projects. there are many blog posts now in the queue, including the house and our trip to croatia - but i will start with some low hanging fruit....and ironically, the most recent event on the list.

last saturday marked the first time in nearly fifty years that boats (non-motorized in this case) were allowed on the san lorenzo river within the city limits of santa cruz, california. a city ordinance banning boating and swimming was passed as a way for the city to avoid future liability after a child drowned while playing in the river. the ordinance has managed to stand to this day despite the fact that the river runs through the heart of downtown to the ocean, running next to the world-renowned beach boardwalk. 

i am currently on the board of directors for the coastal watershed council (http://coastal-watershed.org) - a great non-profit group with a fabulous executive director who spearheaded saturday's event (great job, greg pepping and staff!). with help from the santa cruz water department, the one day paddle event was organized to bring awareness to the river and the need to bring the community back to her. the mayor and multiple city officials joined the paddle and are committed to, at the very least, investigating the possibility of allowing recreation to flourish on the san lorenzo river within city limits. hooray for hope and new possibilities! as i was photographing the event, i could not help but notice how natural all those boats seemed on the river... hopefully someday soon it will be a frequent sight.

 there were a variety of vessels on the river -
river kayaks, ocean kayaks, stand up paddleboards, canoes

 santa cruzans ready to paddle! 

 taking in the lovely river sights

 paddling past the beach boardwalk

about fifty paddlers joined in for the event. what a great day!