Kerbs Memorial Boathouse

It’s good when it’s not crowded but most of the time it’s crowded. $ 15 for the first hour isn’t too bad. There’s a $ 20 deposit and it’s CASH ONLY. Always a solid place for a date. Be prepared for a decent workout.

After a few weeks of discussing going on a rowboating date, the boy and I took to the pond in a little rowboat last Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect, not too hot — not unnecessarily breezy, but perfect boating weather! I was lucky to get out of work around 3:40pm and we arrived to the boathouse around 4:30pm after a longish walk from 57^th and 8^th.
We only waited about 15 – 20 minutes, wasn’t too bad — the wait went by quickly because I talk a lot to the point where I don’t shut up and my «gift of gab» is able to bend the space & time continuum and thus time goes by faster… lolzies. True story.
Words cannot express how happy I was to be in the middle of Central Park’s pond. This is such a welcome change from traditional dinner/​movie dates (which I LOVE! But c’mon — BOATS on a POND in CENTRAL PARK, no comparison or competition there!).
I was envisioning that classic scene from the Little Mermaid where Eric is trying to figure out Ariel’s name but she can’t talk so Sebastian has to whisper it to him while gaining his balance on the end of an oar and they almost kiss right before the sun sets on the third day but then Flotsam and Jestam are stupid, dumb jerk face buttholes and they make the boat flip over thus ruining Ariel’s chance to get some that night… only my actual experience was a million times better because my boyfriend knew my name, did kiss me and there’s pretty much no way in hell that Flotsam and Jetsam would survive in the pollution infested and murky hunter green waters of Central Park… although technically they are moray eels and are designed to thrive best in freshwater… ugh, I digress :).
Love how the oars are attached to the little boats. Thank goodness or I feel as if there would be a lot of stranded people out there that would have to be saved by gondola people… speaking of gondolas, OMG THEY HAVE GONDOLAS!!! And the guys who row them around for the lazy folks who don’t want to work up a sweat, actually wear traditional gondola-​wear! Yanno, black and white striped tops, little red silk scarf things and hats — little gondola hats! AWESOME!
As I said to my boyfriend (who did 75% of the rowing, lol) every guy in a boat with a significant other was totally going to get it that night. Ladies, don’t go on a rowboating date if you’re not going to put out (unless it’s specifically stated), men take your ladies here whether or not you’re looking for some instant boomchickawahwah. It’ll create an unforgettable memory either way, you’ll get a good arm/​cardio workout and it’s just plain FUN.
DO IT. Oh, and it’s only $ 12 per boat, $ 3 for each additional minute (so really another $ 12 if you really want an extra hour) and it’s a $ 20 deposit — but you get it back upon returning the boat… which I totally suggested taking back to Astoria, Queens and at first the boy humored me and said we could take it back to Queens via secret, underground water tunnel… but then he just laughed and told me I could not take the boat with me. I still think $ 20 for a rowboat with attached, industrial strength oars is a STEAL, but whatever — lol.
Last tip — this place is CASH ONLY. Don’t be a douche and try to use a card after waiting on line to take your lady rowboating only to have to reschedule. Then you’ll probably not get any for sure, lol.
Okay, lies — this is REALLY my last tip. Rowboating doesn’t have to be all coupley. It’s totally cool to go with friends and with kids or family members. Ponds are for everyone. Except for jerk eels from Disney’s «The Little Mermaid».

When my boyfriend and I went to NY, the only thing he specified that he must do is sail one of the model boats in Central Park. At the time we were living on a people sized sailboat and he wanted to teach me sailing basics with one of the mini boats. We were there for a week and each day we checked in to see if the boathouse was open, each day finding it closed. On our last full day in the city, we were exploring the mass of the MET and got understandably overwhelmed so we decided to take a break and try the sailing one last time.
Of course, it was open and the wind was perfect. I’m not sure it helped me with sailing a real boat, but I am now an expert at chasing ducks with a model boat and would like to propose that someone back in San Francisco starts up something like this. It was a ton of fun, and something that anyone can do. There were five year olds powering their boats around, right along side the older folks.