A Paddler's Glossary for Greene County Waters
The guides on this site try to use plain language, but paddling still has a vocabulary, and guessing wrong about a term like "strainer" or "slack" has real consequences. This page defines every recurring term the way the guides use it. It reads fine straight through, or jump to the group you need.
Tidal water terms
These matter most on the Hudson, which is tidal along Greene County's entire shoreline.
- Tide - the twice-daily rise and fall of the water level. The Hudson is tidal all the way to the Federal Dam at Troy, so every launch from Coxsackie to Catskill sits on water that rises, falls, and reverses.
- Current - the horizontal movement of the water. On the tidal Hudson it reverses direction with the tide rather than always flowing one way.
- Ebb and flood - the two directions of tidal current: ebb runs seaward (downriver), flood runs landward (upriver).
- Slack - the short pause when the current reverses, around high and low tide. The friendliest window to be far from your launch.
- Wind against current - the rough combination: wind blowing opposite the current stacks up short, steep waves. The classic reason a Hudson paddle gets called off.
- Tidal flats / mud flats - shallows that drain to mud at low tide. At places like RamsHorn, timing the tide wrong can mean being grounded in mud rather than floating home.
- Navigation channel - the deep lane commercial traffic uses. Paddlers stay out of it and cross it, when they must, quickly and deliberately.
- Wake - the waves a passing boat throws. Taken head-on (bow first) they are a bounce; taken side-on they can flip a beginner.
Wind and water terms
- Fetch - the open distance wind travels across water before reaching you. More fetch, bigger chop: the wide Hudson has miles of it, a small mountain lake has little.
- Chop - short, steep, closely spaced waves, usually wind-built. Tiring in a kayak, punishing on a paddleboard.
- Cold shock - the involuntary gasp-and-panic response to sudden cold-water immersion, dangerous in the first moments of an unexpected swim. The reason the spring checklist says to dress for the water, not the air.
- Strainer - an obstacle, usually a downed tree, that water flows through but a boat or swimmer cannot. A defining hazard of moving water, especially creeks after rain.
- Gauge - a USGS measuring station reporting a river or creek's level and flow. Useful for judging whether recent rain has changed the water; see tides and gauges for the two gauges on Catskill Creek, and conditions for the wider checklist.
Launch and access terms
- Put-in / takeout - where you start and end a paddle. Often the same spot on a lake; on tidal water, planning them separately is a real decision.
- Hard-surface ramp - a paved or concrete launch built for trailered boats. Easy for kayaks too, but shared: see launch etiquette for how not to be the problem at one.
- Hand launch - carrying the boat to the water and getting in without a ramp; kayaks and canoes only. Example: Fourth Street in Athens.
- Car-top launch - a site for boats carried on a car roof rather than trailered - no ramp needed, like the beach launch reported at Green Lake.
- Carry (portage) - the walk between parking and water, boat in hand. The single biggest difference in how hard a launch day feels: compare a dockside launch with Four-Mile Point's reported quarter mile, and see easy-access launches.
- Day-use - a site open for daytime visits, often seasonal and sometimes with a per-vehicle fee, like the fee NYSDEC lists at North-South Lake.
Rules and gear terms
- No-motor / electric-only - waterbody rules about motors. "No motors" means none at all; "electric only" bans gas engines but allows electric trolling motors. The distinction is lake-by-lake and each guide states what is reported - and rules touching your safety are always worth confirming with the managing agency.
- PFD - personal flotation device; a life jacket. The one piece of gear every page on this site treats as non-negotiable, worn, not stowed.
- Leash - the tether connecting a paddleboarder to the board. On flat water the board is your flotation, and the leash keeps it with you.
- Clean, Drain, Dry - the routine that keeps invasive species from riding your boat between waters - full guide at Clean, Drain, Dry.
- DEP Access Permit / boat tag - the New York City watershed requirements for paddling reservoirs like Schoharie Reservoir (Schoharie County - just outside Greene County): a free per-person permit plus a tagged, professionally cleaned boat, arranged before you go.
Paddle Greene's own labels
- Desk-researched / Community update received / Field visited / Needs re-check - the four provenance labels every guide carries, explained in full at field review status.
- Confidence (High / Medium / Low) - how strongly the evidence behind a guide supports it. High is reserved for field-visited or strongly confirmed pages.
- Needs verification - the guide-by-guide list of facts we have not confirmed. Not filler: it is the to-do list readers help clear via launch updates.
- Beginner / beginner-with-caution / beginner candidate - the graded beginner labels, unpacked in how we decide beginner-friendly.
New term in a guide that is not here? Tell us and we will add it. For the terms in action, start with Before You Paddle and the map.
