By STEVEN VIERA
Staff Writer
RED BANK — A community tradition celebrating the Navesink River is back for another year.
The sixth Paddle the Navesink Day will be held from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 10 at Maple Cove along the river to give Red Bank residents and visitors the chance to kayak or paddleboard on the waterway.
“Linda Ensor and I started this event in an effort to familiarize people with Maple Cove because it is the only public access in Red Bank on the Navesink River where you can hand-launch a small, non-motorized craft, throw a ball in the river for your dog to fetch or just put your feet in the water,” Borough Council President Cindy Burnham said.
From Maple Cove, Paddle the Navesink Day will let people try kayaks, rowing shells, paddleboards and even a class in paddleboard yoga.
“I am so happy that we can offer this event to the community for free, and so many people tell me that they moved to Red Bank because of the river, but they’ve never known how to get to the river,” Burnham said. “Public access to our rivers and oceans is very important to me, and so this event shows people where they can come when they want to launch a kayak, paddleboard or a canoe.”
Single kayaks — both sit-in and sit-on-top models — as well as two-person “tandem” kayaks will be supplied by Red Bank Marina and its owner, Steve Remaley, who will provide on-water safety support from his pontoon boat along with the local Exit 109 Yakers group.
Little Silver’s Brave New World will supply paddleboards, including inflatables, with supervision from a certified instructor, and certified yoga and flexibility instructor Sally Bruno will also be available to lead demonstrations of flow paddle yoga.
Just west of the main event, Navesink River Rowing will be hosting an open house to offer information on their rowing programs and allow visitors to try a rowing shell.
Representatives of the Monmouth County Park System, Clean Ocean Action, the Navesink Maritime Heritage Association and other marine-based groups will be present to provide hands-on children’s crafts and share information about their programs for people of all ages.
Parking will be available at the parking lots at White Street and English Plaza as well as along Front Street.
The event is free, and registration is not required. For more information, contact Burnham at 732-241-9532 or Ensor at 732-693-3067.
Contact Steven Viera at [email protected].