In the heat of summer’s dog days Urban BoatWorks assembled an amazing flotilla of canoes and kayaks on the Rancocas Creek, 29 paddlers (including some amazing folks from UrbanPromise Miami!) and 19 boats (six of which are the hand crafted wooden boats made by students and volunteers) for the finale of the summer paddling program. Jesus Castro, Program Director and the volunteer staff organized six Saturday paddling trips on local rivers and creeks of South Jersey. We paddled the tidal westerly flowing tributaries; Cooper, Pennsauken, and Rancocas that empty into the Delaware River and the easterly flowing Wading River that winds through the New Jersey Pine Barrens and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. The variety and diversity of habitat all within a thirty mile radius of Camden is astonishing.
One of the most revealing and inspiring comments I heard this summer came from one of our student boat builders, Chris Williams, while paddling down stream on the Cooper River as it flows through the city of Camden, “I feel like a tourist in my own neighborhood” he exclaimed as we passed under the State Street bridge and for the first time got to see the confluence of the Cooper and Delaware Rivers.
The summer on-the-water program of Urban BoatWorks gave the student boat builders the opportunity to enjoy the fruit of their labors and a chance to escape the hot streets of the city. But, what was just as important was the students were learning the value of nature and history from the waterways that flow through our neighborhoods and the region. My highlight came from the multiple occasions on the water and on the road when people stop and ask, “Wow! Who made those boats?” and the kids, while grinning from ear to ear say, “We did”. Now that’s Joy!
Keep on Trekking,
Jim
