Month: February 2023

Why in the hell is the 51st Buffalo Bayou regatta starting at Allen’s landing and going east, into the Houston Ship Channel?

For one, Buffalo Bayou is a nice looking trash ditch at the best of times but the waterway east of downtown is just full of all the nastiest city runoff that the petro-metro has to offer. The TPWD Paddling trail ends at Allen’s landing. If you are taking the paddling trail, it is best to takeout at Elanor Tinsley Park at the latest. The race turnaround point is literally between a concrete batch plant on the south side and a wastewater treatment plant on the north.

Second, by starting downtown, you are missing the nice views of the city that you can get from being on the bayou and there is absolutely no tree-lined riparian habitat to enjoy. I’m sure that having a single drop-in/take-out location will make it easier for people to use their own vehicles to transport their boats, but then it will just be that much more crowded in the parking lots.

Third, the regatta is a boat race where the non-competitive heat is starting first, with successive waves of competitive boaters. By going out-and-back, most people’s return trip will be coming headlong into an unending stream of slower and less safe (more drunk) boaters. This is a guarantee that more people will get capsized and swimming in no-contact water.

The race is in 2 weeks. What is BBP thinking?!