“Anything that keeps me from kayaking is the work of the devil,” Robert MacFarlane says.
And as the devil works overtime in the guise of projects, politics and the outside forces associated with running a development company such as Homes for America Holdings Inc., MacFarlane makes sure weekends and vacations are reserved for the solace of paddling on a quiet pond in the Adirondacks or maybe an estuary on the North Fork of Long Island.
From Mamaroneck Harbor to the Hudson River to the lakes below the Rangeley Mountains that straddle New Hampshire and Maine, MacFarlane has expanded his seaworthiness since he was a boy in Fall River, Mass., when he and his pals would often strain the passenger limit on an old rowboat in the hopes of sinking it. The rowboat never sank, despite the efforts.
MacFarlane left Fall River behind about the age of 15 when his family moved to Bensenville, Ill., in the shadow of Chicago”™s O”™Hare International Airport. He went to DePauw University in downtown Chicago and ended up working at International Industries, “a mini-conglomerate,” based in Los Angeles. Along with Robert Kohn, he founded Homes for America in January 1996. Focusing on undervalued properties with excellent potential, the company has bought properties in Florida, Texas, New York, Connecticut and Indiana, growing the portfolio to more than 1,600 residential rental units and 572,000 square feet of commercial space.
MacFarlane built the $12 million Station Plaza, a 70,000-square-foot commercial building in downtown Yonkers, now home to the company”™s headquarters.
Eleven years ago he married Emilia Nuccio, who grew up near the Madonie Mountains of Sicily, not even close to any body of water. MacFarlane wanted to partake in a sport that the two of them could enjoy. Nine years ago he struck upon kayaking; low impact, great exercise, no fossil fuel needed and no impact on the environment.
He was the first to get a kayak, learning the skills that could only be attained through practice and perhaps a sense of balance. Once mastered, he prevailed upon his wife to join him. Like a bicycle built for two, the two shared a tandem kayak. She learned and he got better.
Soon it was time to part ways, kayakwise, that is. On a trip to Maine, they hopped into their respective kayaks and paddled down the Kennebec River. As they paddled, MacFarlane grew nervous. He had heard there might be some moose along the way and sure enough he spotted some tracks. He sweated it out. He knew he could navigate around a moose, but he was unsure of his wife. Never ever hit a moose, he said, they don”™t take kindly to it. They didn”™t see any moose on that trip, much to MacFarlane”™s joy.
Moose aside, MacFarlane says kayaking affords him the enjoyment of the quiet and solace he can find nearly anywhere he enters a body of water, even near the noisy and busy Croton-Harmon train station. Paddle a short ways onto the Croton River just south of the station and you enter another world with solitude and exceptionally clean, clear water.
Through experience, MacFarlane found foldable wheels that can be affixed to the aft of the kayak makes portage a dream. Leaving the Moose River in the Adirondacks to make his way along the path to a lake, MacFarlane listened as a man and woman following behind grumbled as they wrestled their nonwheeled kayaks along the same path cursing as he made his getaway.
As he has enjoyed the sport more and more, he awarded himself and Emilia with a couple of top-of-the-line kayaks ”“ 14.5-foot Airalites by Perception. This year, he and his wife are planning a trip to the 10,000 islands down near the Everglades.Â
Instead of moose, they”™re going to have to be on the lookout for alligators.
