Paddling your way down the Hudson River

COEYMANS — Ever wanted to take a spin around the Hudson River and give kayaking a try?

It’s as easy as clicking on an app, heading to Coeymans Landing Park to hop into one of six available kayaks, and then paddling your way down the river.

Donna Larkin from Upstate Kayak Rentals was the guest speaker at the September meeting of the RCS Community Business Association. This month’s meeting was held at Coeymans Landing Marina.

Upstate Kayak Rentals makes trying out kayaking — or making it a regular hobby — simple. The company has four “hubs” where you can pick up a rented kayak, including Albany, Bethlehem, Shady Harbor in New Baltimore, and, of course, Coeymans Landing.

Once you are done kayaking, you can return everything to any of the hubs or walk-up stations along the shores of the Hudson River.

“Whenever you can get out on the water, do it,” Larkin advised the audience. “It’s just an amazing experience.”

In addition to the five hubs, each of which has six kayaks available to rent, there are staffed walk-up stations in Waterford and Schenectady, where an employee can get you started if you are new to kayaking.

“We brought in thousands of people to Waterford, and I am hoping to do the same here,” she said.

The Coeymans Landing hub opened in May of this year, but Upstate Kayak Rentals has been around since August 2012.

“I wanted to bring people on the water,” Larkin said. “It’s a chance for people to explore our beautiful waterways — it’s relaxing, it’s tranquil and peaceful, and it is good exercise.”

While there are kayak rental companies elsewhere in the Capital Region, this is the only one of its kind — you can pick up your kayak at one site, and then return it to another after your paddling experience is over.

“Kayak rental hubs are a brand new concept,” Larkin said. “At other kayak rentals you need to walk up to a manned location, rent your kayak and return it where you started.”

Kathy Donovan, owner of Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore, said having the ability to travel by kayak in one direction only is a big plus and can make for a more positive experience. That’s because the Hudson River has tides — reaching as high as six feet twice a day, she said — which can make paddling against the tide difficult.

“Paddling against the tide is very challenging,” Donovan said, “so being able to drop off your kayak and not paddling back, and being able to not have to paddle back against the tide, makes it much more enjoyable.”

Getting back from the second location, where you return the kayak, is up to you. Some people use Ubers, taxis, or have a friend pick them up.

Of course if you just want to paddle around the river and return to the original location where you picked up the kayak, that is also an option.

The cost to rent a pair of kayaks is $50 for three hours beginning in 2019; this year a session was for two hours. For perspective, consider that paddling from Coeymans to New Baltimore would take about an hour and a half, Larkin estimated.

Each rental comes with everything you need for a trip down the river, including paddles and a life jacket.

Renters pay for two kayaks at a minimum because Larkin said that for safety reasons, there should be at least two people paddling together. Each kayak at Coeymans Landing seats a single paddler.

The northernmost kayak hub is in Waterford, and New Baltimore is the furthest south.

For more information, visit www.upstatekayakrentals.com.