Trip 12: Hudson River, Peekskill to Manhattan

By Vladimir Brezina

Winter sunshine on the Hudson

Sunday, 5 March 2000

7:34 a.m. Metro-North train to Peekskill. Spring-like day, mix of sun and clouds. Cold front crossing in the morning and early afternoon; mostly cloudy, then gradual clearing, and mostly sunny toward the end of the trip. Very windy all day; small-craft advisory. Launched around 9:45 a.m. Few ice floes still in Peekskill Harbor and in coves south of Peekskill, and some snow further south along the shoreline of Haverstraw Bay, but, part from the bare trees, these the only signs remaining of real winter. Water still cold (according to the Web in the mid- to upper- 30s), but no longer stinging on contact.

Paddled in moderate tail wind (10-15 knots) and following seas (1-2 ft), but against the flood current, south to entrance of Haverstraw Bay, then crossed to west shore and followed it south.

Sequence of points provided shelter from the wind, then wind and waves increased with fetch before the next point. Periods of increased gusty wind raised numerous whitecaps in the main channel through the middle of Haverstraw Bay. Water leaden grey except turning light brown in the brief intervals of sunshine. South to the Tappan Zee. Current now starting to ebb. Wind increased from the west, to 20 knots or so, just north of the Tappan Zee bridge. (Using wind meter, found that real wind speeds about 5 knots less than would have estimated. Quite strong wind was only about 15 knots.)

Confused 2-ft breaking waves. Boat trim incorrect, so very strong and hard-to-control tendency to turn directly into wind. (Note: Kayakers call this “weathercocking”. As Vlad notes, in some cases it can result from loading (“trimming”) the boat improperly; in other cases it’s an inherent quality of the craft.)

Must ballast stern in tail winds and following seas. Although open framework, Tappan Zee Bridge provided significant shelter for some distance past it, but the same conditions again just north of Piermont Pier. Lunch at Italian Gardens.

Hard to pee unobserved; people everywhere along the Palisades path, and no leaves to shield my mango suit. (Note: We kayakers are forever asked, “But how do you manage to pee?” The answer: With difficulty, it’s an art!)

Wind now apparently coming from the northeast, so crossed river back to the eastern shore. Clouds now starting to break. Making very fast progress with fast ebb current (probably speeded by runoff) and tail wind. Wind-with-current conditions really smooth out the water; waves only 6 inches, but breaking. (Against the current, this wind would have produced waves of 3 ft or more.) By Yonkers wind increased again to 15-20 knots for the rest of the trip, breaking waves building to 1-2 ft. Landed at Dyckman Street around 4:30 p.m.

(Note: This is Vlad coming into his own. Notice the attention he pays to wind and current conditions, plus obvious preparation beforehand (looking up the weather and water temp). What’s most significant—though also very subtle—is the way he compares the objective situation (“..according to the Web site, mid- to upper- 30s”) with his subjective experience of it (“…no longer stinging on contact.”). He does this several times in this piece. The net effect over years of experience will be his ability to gauge the situation at a glance, with almost supernatural accuracy. In future years he will be able to estimate the wind and water conditions and forecast the weather without appearing to consult any instrumentation–the Vlad I knew.)