July 28th 2016
Brooklyn, NY
Today was one of those late start days. We got back down to Pier 26 and I re-launched Lex-T-Sea just before 1pm. Low tide had occurred around 10am, but I was enjoying a slack tide and still had some current with me due to the Battery, but that would soon be ending.
I had spent hours last night studying this section and inquiring with my friends at Winds Against Current. Vladimir and Johna know these waters better than anyone and I had discovered them sometime ago when researching a kayak trip across the Eastern Tip of the Long Island Sound. With their guidance, I was able to pick a route that would thread me through the busy Hudson and Battery and across to Governor’s Island. From there I would stay East of the Commercial Channel until I got closer to the Verrazanos Bridge where I’d have to push across to the Western Shore.
Now in the water, I was doing my best to time my approaches across the Ferry Docks, Ferry Paths as I reached the southern tip of Manhattan. Next up would be the Staten Island Ferry and I held my position at one of the buoys as I waited for an inbound ferry to pass while a sightseeing boat came through. All of this while I battled four and six foot wakes from The Beast who only purpose in the Hudson is making and jumping big wakes with a boat load of tourists. Think of the Beast as a 14 yr old on a Jet Ski with 50 of his friends on board. While their website shows a distinct path, they zig zag all over the Hudson and often came within 100’ of me and other boats. That might sound like a good distance until you understand he’s throwing a six foot wake I’m puzzled as to how this boat is allowed to operate in such a manner in one of the busiest harbors in the world that is littered with marinas on both shores. Enough complaining though.
I somehow managed to avoid the Ferries, the Mega Yachts and the Beast and arrived off the bank of Governor’s Island and soon the Manhattan Skyline was growing smaller behind me. I weaved my way through the barges anchored between the Shipping Channel running up the center of the Hudson and the Shipping Channel heading to the Battery and Hells Gate. This is where I was when the tied started to turn on me and a steady Southerly Wind increased in its intensity.
I was making good progress up until that wind increased. Even with a 2 knot Flood Tide, I could move the kayak forward against it, but once that wind hit on my nose, I was struggling to maintain forward progress. With Brooklyn off to my East and New Jersey off to my West, I had no place to duck in for cover from the wind and rest. I was running full out for an hour and barley making ground. The sky in front of me turned dark, the bridge I was shooting for was becoming fogged in. I could hardly see the New Jersey side of it and the Jersey Shoreline was fogged in from my point of view. If I got to the bridge and had trouble, I’d be in trouble. The bridge is a Security Zone and the do not take that lightly around here. Not even for a boater in trouble. You simply do not land under the bridge for any reason without a trip to the local police station. I had to make a call. It was 3pm and at this rate, I had 3 hours to go and the weather was growing worse. I was either all in or I needed to bail out now. I bailed.
I felt horrible about it because I knew today was the day I was pulling Lex-T-Sea out for a few days. I wanted to clear that bridge before I did that. Clearing that bridge would mean I only had one 7 mile leg across the Atlantic before getting to Sandy Hook. Now I wouldn’t make it, but I’d rather bail than be rescued or worse. If those ships funneling in through this narrow section could not see me and I could not see them, there could be a collision and Kayak Collisions do happen out here. They are rare, but there was no reason to risk it today. Now to find a place to bail out.
A barge was coming up on my Port Side and I held my position as he passed. I watched a police boat waiting for him as well and then I saw him pull into a cove. I Checked my kayak launch app and there were no launch sites nearby. The closest was on the other side of the river. The river I did not want to cross in this hazy weather. I checked my Navionics app for marinas and again, nothing. I paddled into the cove for shelter as I figured it out.
Upon arriving in the cove I realized I knew where I was. This was the area my friends, Valdimir and Johan had been in when they ran into weather and landed under the bridge (story here). They talked about this police harbor unit and it was made clear they could not launch here once they recovered their kayaks that had been seized that night. So I knew that I would not be able to pull out on the police docks. I began looking for another location. The shoreline in front of me had large rocks, there seemed to be a small area behind some transportation trucks I could pull out, but I wasn’t sure I could get a vehicle in there to rendezvous with me. The sky grew darker and the wind grew in intensity. My phone started to report weather alerts of Flash Flooding due to hit by 8pm. With the look of the sky overhead and a quick look at the weather map, there was a good chance they were underestimating its arrival and if they were wrong, I didn’t want to be out here when it hit.
I paddled around to the North side of the cove where there was a barge and an old boat. A ladder dropped down into the water, two of them to be exact. One was close to the barge and another was further out. I picked the one close to the barge and secured the kayak and climbed out. Up top was a fence just twelve inches off the edge and three feet high. I’d have trouble getting my stuff up the ladder and over the fence and then of course, I’d have to get an 85lb kayak over it too. The barge seemed to be secured by two outside pilings though it was was moving quite a bit I observed it for a few minutes and decided that I could get my kayak through the narrow 5’ area between the seawall and the barge. I was nervous because if that barge did move, it would crush the kayak and if it happened while I was paddling it through, it would crush me too, but between the barge and the old boat was a break in the fence and that was where I needed to get her to.
I got back into the kayak and untied her from the ladder. I paddled along the side of the barge watching it heave up and down in the surf just inches from me. I watched the water smash the underside of the concrete Pier on my other side and tried my best to keep the nose of the kayak out from under that. I secured the kayak to one of the lines on the barge and climbed up the wall trying my best not to fall in the water. People on the Pier were observing me like I was the creature emerging from the lagoon. They neither said anything nor came over to help.
Laying down on the pier, I was able to reach my gear in the kayak that was heaving up and down in the waves. I removed the lashings and threw my gear up onto the pier bag by bag. I was just getting the last of it when I realized the few people on the Pier had grown to many people. I asked one of them what they were waiting for and one guy pointed to an inbound ferry. I got worried. The kayak was right between the Pier and the Barge. He told me the ferry docks at the rear of the barge and I quickly pulled the kayak forward to the old boat in front while standing on the twelve inch lip on the other side of the fence. I waited there as the ferry unloaded and then loaded up and left. No one on the ferry said a word to me though they did look at me. They had to know who I was, perhaps not who I am, but I’ve been paddling next to them for the last three days.
Once the ferry departed and the remaining gear was removed, I grabbed hold of the bow line and untied the stern. With a big tug, I got the nose of the kayak up on the Pier and once there, I pulled her up the rest of the way, all 87 lbs of her. Lex-T-Sea was safely out of the water and I could breath a sigh of relief. I used my map to get an address and texted it to Arlene who was already en route back to me. She hadn’t even been home 45 minutes before having to come back though this would be a bit tougher to get to me and much longer.
I sorted out my gear on the Pier, which served as a parking lot. Aside from there being no kayak launch, this was a great location to pull out. One that would allow Arlene to get right up to the kayak so I could load it up. Now I waited, and waited. Arlene was fighting rush hour traffic through Manhattan and Brooklyn to get here. Finally my phone rang. I’m here she said, but I don’t see water. I described the large beige building on the shore and she didn’t see it. I asked her to tell me what the intersection was that she was near and as she started to read it, I realized that she wasn’t at my location. Instead of 1st Avenue, she was on 1st Street. We got that corrected and it showed that though she was only across town, she was about an hour away still. I assured her I was fine. The old boat could serve as shelter if the storm did hit. It had begun to rain. My kayak was out, my gear was secure and there was no rush. I knew that no matter what I had gone through today, it was nothing compared to fighting traffic in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Arlene arrived and it turned out I was at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. We loaded up and then went for some good Brooklyn Pizza before heading back to Yorktown. I’ll be taking a few days off from paddling now to restock my gear. Resupply my food and make some equipment changes. I’ll be re-launching right where I pulled out once the weather improves and I can catch a low tide under the bridge and out of the Hudson into the Atlantic From this location, I should be able to make Sandy Hook in a days paddle if I time the tide right and I may decided to celebrate my Sandy Hook arrival with a day or two resting on the beach there because there is no celebrating going on tonight.
Day 27 Done
Enjoy the pictures
