LA4-200 PLT EXPERIENCED CONFLICT WITH PARACHUTE ACTIVITY AIRSPACE DURING VFR FLT AND LOWERING VISIBILITY CONDITIONS.

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I OBTAINED A PREFLT WX BRIEFING FOR FLT FROM PLB TO 4N1 (2.8 HR FLT). PARACHUTE NOTAMS WERE ISSUED FOR SEVERAL LOCATIONS ALONG RTE OF FLT INCLUDING GARDNER (PVT AIRFIELD) NEAR NEWBURGH; NY. NEWBURGH; NY HAD PREVIOUSLY RPTED 2800 FT BROKEN. AT TIME OF AIRSPACE CONFLICT; I HAD JUST FLOWN OUT FROM UNDER A BROKEN LAYER AT 2900 FT. CLOUDS WERE LIGHTLY SCATTERED AT SAME ALT. I NOTICED A PARACHUTIST (CLOSEST) LOW AT 1000 FT GLIDING S TO N NOT IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF ARPT (I BELIEVE S 2-3 MI DUE TO WIND). THEN SCANNING AREA I SAW 6-8 PARACHUTES AT APPROX 3500 FT DSNDING FURTHER S FROM LOCATION. I IMMEDIATELY ALTERED COURSE TO THE W TO PROVIDE INCREASED SEPARATION. AT THE TIME I WAS MONITORING 122.8 FOR OTHER LCL ARPTS. I HAD NOT HEARD ANY JUMP ADVISORIES BUT THEY MAY HAVE OCCURRED EARLIER OR ON GARDNER UNICOM 122.975; OR PERHAPS STEWART (SWF) ATIS. I WAS USING GPS FOR NAV EQUIPPED WITH MOVING TOPOGRAPHIC MAP; BUT DID NOT SHOW JUMP AREA AND WAS NOT PAYING ATTN TO ITS VICINITY WITH SECTIONAL. I WAS SURPRISED THAT ANYONE WAS JUMPING IN CURRENT CONDITIONS WITH RELATIVELY LOW VISIBILITY IN HAZE; BROKEN AND SCATTERED CLOUDS AND WINDS THAT INDICATED TO BE 25-35 KTS AT 2000 FT OUT OF THE S. I WAS CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY OWN LACK OF VIGILANCE CONCERNING THESE AREAS LOCATION AND ACTIVITY. LESSON LEARNED: EXPECT PARACHUTE JUMPING IN EVEN MARGINAL VISIBILITY WITH SCATTERED TO BROKEN CLOUDS. XCHK GPS MOVING MAP POS WITH SECTIONAL MORE OFTEN FOR HAZARDS. CHK WITH CTR/APCH TO VERIFY ANY JUMP ACTIVITIES. RECOMMENDATIONS: PARACHUTE 'ZONES' VERSUS SYMBOL MIGHT MORE CLRLY INDICATE PERMITTED JUMP AREAS. WITH INCREASE OF PARACHUTE ACTIVITIES DESIGNATED AIRSPACE COULD REDUCE CONFLICTS. ISSUING A TFR DURING THESE TYPE OF ACTIVITIES MIGHT BE A CONSIDERATION. I DO NOTE MANY SUPPORTING PRODUCTS (GPS MOVING MAPS; FLT PLANNING SOFTWARE) VISUALLY DEPICT TFR'S WHICH IS A GREAT PLT AID.