Bannerman's Castle to Havershaw Cove, NY

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

This morning we pulled anchor and got underway in a foggy rain.  We passed by the New York City water supply intake right below our anchorage.

Then we crossed the river and headed downriver, down-current hugging the western bank.  The Hudson is deep pretty close to shore in most spots, and we enjoyed the scenery.  

There was an eagle on watch to the north of West Point, which just seemed right, somehow.

West Point looks even better close up than it does at a distance!

We were going to see if we could access Bear Mountain State Park, but, there wasn't anywhere to easily land a dinghy.  It seemed a shame to see the floating docks sitting high and dry on shore, never put out this year.

We watched freight trains come and go, and decided that though they are more interesting, they are much noisier than the passenger trains on the other side of the river.

We pulled into Panco Fuel Docks for the cheapest diesel on the Hudson, and topped off our tanks, not quite 90 gallons, since the docks were empty, and, did I mention, they have the cheapest diesel on the Hudson?

We tucked into a 25' deep spot, a pond of sorts, below Havershaw.  Though the entrance is narrow, we came in at low tide and saw 7'.  There is a park at the entrance, and the power plant sits at one end.  I've heard it is a local hotspot for boaters on week-ends.  It was the perfect place to ride out high winds.  

We had the place to ourselves, but, it was too hot with all the wind knocked down, so we opted to cruise across the river to the east side.  We anchored in Havershaw Cove, across the river from Havershaw, and just north of  Croton Point Park.  41 11.529'N 073 53.806'W

The 42' Nordic tug, Errante', cruised over to say hello before they went into a marina.  They just completed the Great Loop a few weeks ago, and were telling us places to be sure to visit in Connecticut. 

A small male Mallard duck paddled over, looking for a hand-out.  Mocha and Mercy, our two labrador retrievers, were more interested in the crackers the duck was getting than they were in the duck.  

Hudson River to Pollepel Island

Sunday, 5 July 2015

This morning we rode the current up to Pollepel Island.  We could have actually made more distance, since I had the rpms set to turn 7.0 most of the day, and in some places we were making 9.0 kts.

It is hard for me to imagine that just a little ways up the Hudson from New York City, you are in the woods!  The 500' cliffs are evident most quickly on the Jersey shore, but the further up the Hudson you go, you realize you are in the middle of rocky, tree forested hills on both sides.

In the transition zone, between metropolitan and rural, across from the upper end of Manhattan, the Palisades Park Greenway Trail runs along the Hudson for miles.  We watched walkers and joggers along a park area on the east side of the river as well.

At Peekskill and Jones Point, however, the draw of the Hudson had hooked me!  If you don't look at a chart, it would be hard to tell between which steep hills the river passed between.  The Bear Mountain bridge is where the Appalachian Trail crosses the river, on its way from Georgia to Maine.

Just before the Bear Mountain Bridge, to the south of the bridge, on the western bank, about a third of the way up, is this copper stag deer head.  How cool is that!

We passed the United States Military Academy aka West Point along the, er, western point.  I'm going to have to check my history to see how old some of these buildings are, but, they are dramatic!  This Army facility looks formidable to any Naval craft headed up the Hudson.

The entire area is gorgeous.  Constitution Island, Foundry Cove, Cold Spring, Storm King, and Breakneck Ridge... to name a few.  The river is 100' deep through there.

We anchored for the evening in a shallower spot, a inside channel accessible only from the southern entrance (except by small boat), behind Pollepel Island.  

On the 6.5 acre island are the ruins of an old Scottish Castle, built by Frank Bannerman VI, and locally known as Bannerman's Castle.  The man made his fortune by buying and selling army/navy surplus, and became known as the "Father of the Army/Navy Store."  He bought the island in 1900 as he needed a spot to store the volatile black powder and munitions he'd bought at government auction.  He spent years building his castle.

Many of the old military relics have gone to the Smithsonian, the island was sold to the State of New York in 1967, who ran tours there for a year before a massive fire nearly destroyed the buildings.  Ever since, the island has pretty much been closed, though there is a group now trying to fund its restoration.  

I love amazing little places the world seems to have forgotten about.

Our anchorage seems idyllic, except for two things.  First, there are commuter trains running along either shore, with double tracks on the east side.  The trains sound their horns as they approach the train tunnel.  The first two dozen trains seemed novel.  Not so much after that.  They do slack off during the night.

Secondly, there is so much light pollution that I really miss seeing the starry sky I'm used to in the Keys.  Though it seems you are in the woods, there is enough of a glow to the sky that it makes a difference. I understand now why so many of the visitors to the Keys comment on how many stars there are.  The number of stars don't change, of course, just our perspective.

Sandy Hook, NJ, Manhattan Loop, Coney Island

Friday, 3 July 2015

Our day was planned around the tides and currents.  Our anchorage last night in Sandy Hook wasn't bad after the wakes had diminished, and we started before it got too bad this morning.  There were lots of boats this gorgeous holiday week-end.

The first tide we looked at was the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where, the Narrows acts as a deep funnel through which much of the New York Harbor waters must pass (as well as from Long Island, and Staten Island)

The reason we were paying so much attention to tides today, is that we wanted to travel down current around Manhattan.  We looked next at the current at Hell Gate, so that we could catch the current change that floods NE on the East River, to ebb NW on the Harlem River, and continue ebbing south on the Hudson.  We made better speed than I had calculated, but, my numbers worked pretty close, only causing us to meet a little current in the lower Harlem River.

We went from Sandy Hook to quickly crossing ship channels and riding the Brooklyn side of the harbor north.

We went under the Verrazano Narrows bridge.

We went up the Brooklyn Side of the harbor, turning to cross south of Governor's Island to the Statue of Liberty.

We went into the channel south of the Statue of Liberty, and investigated a good anchorage there.

We came out of the anchorage area, past the Statue of Liberty, and turned to go past Ellis Island, as close to each as the security zones would allow.

Then we crossed the Hudson River, under the new World Trade Center, and turned to ride the current up the East River.

Keep in mind, there is a LOT of boat traffic.  There is lots of commercial traffic (one ferry passed us at 36 kts in the East River) ships, ferries, commuter lines, sightseeing boats, tugs, barges, police, fire, USCG, recreational boats, yachts, jet skies, and kayaks!  If traffic makes you nervous, this is not the spot to be!  If not, the Manhattan Loop is a great experience.

I can't even name all the places we passed.  It was funny, that many of the bridges that we passed under were known names to me (ie. Brookland, Broadway,   etc.)  We passed the UN, and its security zone.  I think all traffic is closed through there at certain times.

We went up the East River to Hell Gate, and then turned into the Harlem River to the Hudson.  

It was interesting to watch as the landscape changed from sky scrapers to huge apartment buildings, with some park areas interspersed.

We saw Yankee Stadium.

I was surprised how upper Manhattan has huge trees, and across the river in the Bronx, there are huge rocks.

The only bridge that had to open for us was the railroad bridge immediately before the Hudson River.

Coming into the Hudson, the Jersey shore has huge cliff banks, and you realize this river actually puts you into the mountains!  The Appalachian Trail even crosses the Hudson further north.

We rode the current down, past lower Manhattan, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, through the tug/barge anchorage, down the Staten Island side, under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to anchor off Coney Island.

Every Friday night during the summer, Coney Island shoots off fireworks.  I'd checked the Local Notice to Mariners to find out about closed areas for security, and ended up with a list of who was shooting fireworks and where.  We watched Coney Island, which we were close to, and then Staten Island shot theirs, which was even better, since we could watch them through the Verrazano Bridge!

Tomorrow, we're going to Manhattan to stage for 4th of July fireworks.