By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Sunken Meadow State Park to Pier 40, Manhattan
44 nautical miles (51 land miles)
.
(click on photos to expand them—they look a lot better when they’re BIGGER!)
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Sometimes the best ideas are the last-minute ones.
We’d carefully planned the Labor Day holiday weekend, balancing work, rest, paddling, and socializing, and after due consideration we’d agreed that the best strategy would be to work and run errands on Saturday, followed by a long paddle on Sunday, which had optimal currents and weather forecast.
Then Vlad said, “Would you like to go see the tugboat race this weekend?”
Well, of course! We both love everything maritime, and tugboats in particular. And we’d talked for a while about wanting to see this event—the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition, hosted each Labor Day weekend by the Working Harbor Committee, in which a dozen or more NYC-area tugboats parade up the Hudson, race, and then engage in various contests (pushing contests, line tosses, and who knows what else). And it was all happening this weekend!
Posted in New York City, Science and Technology
Tagged Boats, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Race, Ships, Tugboat

Vladimir Brezina (RIP)
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
Johna Till Johnson
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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