July 24th 2016
Riverdale, NY
This morning began with breakfast at the Mohegan Diner. It was a treat from some old and new friends and I appreciated the opportunity to sit down and chat with my friends face to face. While we were talking, the waitress overheard the conversation and asked if I was the guy kayaking to Florida. She was so excited to find out I was, but I think even more so that she’s known or known of me for years. After all, I use to work right next door to the diner. What a perfect way to start the day. Thank you Debbi, Sharon, Beth, Kenny and of course, Arlene for the wonderful breakfast.
Arlene and I left the diner and headed south to the Irvington Boat Club for the launch. Debbi and Sharon came down as well. The water was calm and there was a gently breeze blowing across the river. It’s hard to say that today was to be a hot one especially since I’ve had 80 and 90 degree days since I began, but today would be hot and humid. I’d also loose the breeze which would make it difficult to breath and then there was the tide which was now in Flood stage so I was paddling against it.
When I arrived in Irvington last night, I could see the George Washington Bridge. It was much clearer today and I was shooting for it as my destination.
By noon, I was soaked in sweat and exhausted. I needed a break and began looking for someplace to pull over. With the George Washington Bridge still in the distance, I spotted a gang of kayakers up ahead. I started to paddle harder to catch up to them when they made a beeline across the river. I backed off and let them go. They had paddled across the river to the Palisades, specifically to the scar. The scar is a mark that was left when an entire rock column came crashing down one night covering the area with rock. It revealed the original color of the rock untarnished by pollution. Now in the location from where they crossed over, I saw a boat club up ahead so I paddled up to it.
The building was old and I saw a sign indicating the Palisades Boat Club was here since the Eighteen Hundreds. I tied up to their dock, got out and walked around but the place was empty. Next door was the Yonkers Yacht Club and while people were over there, I was happy right here so I decided to stay. With that, a huge wake came rolling in and I decided to reposition my kayak to handle these wakes better. As I was tying her back up, two people walked up. I asked them if they were club members and they said yes. I was relieved to meet someone so I could get permission to hang out.
JP and Patricia introduced themselves to me and I told them what I was doing. JP opened up the Boat Club to me and offered me some water. Inside the building, there were dozens and dozens of kayaks all nicely stored in this historic building. I later learned the building had been relocated here via a barge and is the oldest boat club in its original building. I chatted with my new friends over lunch and hopefully inspired them to explore the northern region of the Hudson River someday soon. JP told me he’d reach out to his New Jersey club friends to see if he could get me some assistance when I hit Sandy Hook, NJ. Hanging out in the shade made for a remarkably different experience than being on the water. I wasn’t anxious to go back out in that heat and stifling air, but it was time for me to go so I shoved off and bid my new friends farewell.
It didn’t take but a minute to be drenched in sweat again, I had the tide on my side now so I was creating a slight breeze, but after fifteen minutes I had no choice…I jumped overboard. The murky Hudson River water felt wonderful and salty. I love the feeling of salt water on my skin, though I would prefer it to be on a beach and not in the lower Hudson. Within the hour, I’d jump in again. The heat was just too much.
In the distance, I could still see the George Washington Bridge, my goal for the day. I was now passing Yonkers City dock and thought back to my friend Roger who had tied up here and then decided to move across the river when it got dark. Yonkers has done a nice job on its waterfront, but there is still a lot to do before transient boaters feel comfortable staying here overnight.
I checked my navigation and saw that I still had ten miles to go to get to the 79th Street Boat Basin. I didn’t have ten miles left in me even with the current now in my favor. I began looking for a pull out. On my Kayak Launch app, I found two spots about 5 miles away. I made a call to Arlene giving her the address of the Inwood Canoe and Kayak club and estimated that I was about two hours away. This would give her plenty of time to get down here.
I was about thirty minutes into the push for Inwood when the wind suddenly picked up, but it was a Southerly and blowing right on my nose. Now I was fighting the wind and exhaustion. Even with the ebb tide on my side, I was barely making progress. Up ahead I saw a couple of boats on mooring balls, but didn’t see any docks. A check on my charts didn’t reveal any marina or boat club. I decided to investigate as I fought the headwind.
As I got closer I saw a boat headed toward the shore and it revealed a hidden boat launch, but no dock. I beached the kayak right behind the boat that had just pulled up on the shore and chatted briefly with the captain and children aboard his boat. He directed me to the location of the bathrooms and I walked up to the building to find someone in charge. I called Arlene as I was walking to inform her I’ve landed, but it was not the rendezvous point and to await an undated address. I texted her the new pick up point and in the nick of time. She was just about to go over the Henry Hudson Bridge, but was able to exit immediately. She was only 3 minutes away. Talk about perfect timing!
I approached the folks inside the building, but they explained it was a Private Club and they did not have the authority to allow me to park the kayak here. A gentleman there showed me where the next marina was; minutes for a powerboat, but an hour away for me. With Arlene already en route to this location, I just decided to pull the kayak out and load it up on her car since we could not get permission to leave it, but walking back to the kayak I ran into the same gentleman at the boat and decided to ask him who I could speak to about leaving the kayak. He said I needed to speak to Andreas and when I inquired as to where to find Andreas, he laughed and said that he was Andreas. I laughed and was relieved. I made my request, but unlike the days past, I’d need to leave it here two days due to the strong potential for Electrical storms tomorrow. With limited pull out points in this portion of the river, I was not going to risk being stuck on the water in an Electrical Storm. As it turned out, this was perfect because I was at the Riverdale Yacht Club and the club would be closed tomorrow. I thanked Andreas and his wife for the opportunity to leave the kayak here and I set to unpacking her and getting her out of the water and up on shore.
This was one of those days where my goal was visible all day. From the moment I launched, I could see the George Washington Bridge and after paddling all day, I had only covered about Eight and a Half nautical miles or Eight Miles short of my distance yesterday. When people ask me when I’ll be somewhere, I always tell them that I don’t know. Today is a perfect example of why I can’t tell. I’m limited in my ability to overcome nature. Yesterday, nature pushed me along at cruising speed and today it slowed me to a crawl. The one constant has been that wherever I end up, there has always been someone there willing to help me out. Today it was Andreas and the Riverdale Yacht Club and I am very grateful for that. Oh, and I’m officially in New York City, The Bronx to be exact. I didn’t make it to the bridge, but tomorrow or rather, the day after, is another day. Tomorrow I will make some gear adjustments and do some calculating on my New Jersey arrival.
Day 23 Done
Enjoy the pictures.
