NYC Kayak Circumnavigation: Paddle a Lap around Manhattan

Water surrounds Manhattan, and it is in constant motion. New York City's most famous island is set in one of the most complex harbor and waterways systems of any great city. The Atlantic Ocean meets the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan, and  the Atlantic also flows up and back down the East River, thru the Hells Gate narrows, and out to the Long Island Sound on the other side. North of Hells Gate on the East Side, the skinny Harlem River completes the water route, connecting the tides of the  East River to the tides of the Hudson, all of them pulsing back and forth, and changing direction four times a day.

    

But Then Which Way Do You Call Downstream?

By timing this tidal dance, it is possible to paddle completely around Manhattan, a grand day trip of 31 miles, with the current flowing with you the whole time.  And so we did, launching 6 kayaks at dawn from Pier 40 near the southern tip of Manhattan, on the last of the Hudson's morning ebb tide. We went south-around, 6 paddlers, for three rivers, one day, 31 miles, one lap.  We circumnavigated the island like a pod of cautious orcas, at home in the watery environment along the perimeter, but never penetrating the teeming land surface.  When people asked where we were from, we said we had paddled over from Ireland.  

Start with a Paddling Plan

I had read the paddling web pages and tide charts to plan the route.  The NOAA page was best:

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides07/tpred2.html

We had snacks, water bottles, Google Earth air photos, radios, and a series of milestones to hit to stay with the tides: around the Battery by 9:30AM, under the Brooklyn Bridge and up past the UN building to Hells Gate by noon, through the Gate with the tidal flood (6 knots max!) by 1 pm, then on up the East River, now ebbing north out to the Hudson, toemerge at the northern tip of Manhattan, Sputen Dyvil, by 4:PM, and ride the Hudson's grander, more mature and elegant tidal ebb (2 knots), south along the long 10 miles back to our origin.

And it all worked. We moved through the early river traffic of the Battery cautiously, podding up our kayaks to allow the Staten Island Ferry to bellow past, and then meeting with the Coast Guard runabout boat. Twin machine guns reminded us that the Coast Guard had some rules down here, and would like to have them obeyed. (Imagine if Grand Canyon rangers had machinee guns). We tried to look like innocent tourists, and promised to keep 150 yards away from the UN Building, power plants and bridge abutments.  City views going up the East River were terrific, with the sun coming up clear and strong, Brooklyn Bridge iconic and ancient, the Chrysler Building and Midtown sparkling with promise, and joggers everywhere along the shores sending us waves.  Expensive toys like cigarette boats and helicopters were clustered around Wall Street riverfront, with no visible sign of the billion dollar financial meltdown of the previous week. The City looked like Hedge Fund trader's dream, but who owned those yachts now, after their brokerage went bankrupt?  

Our group of paddlers was strong, untroubled by the harbor chop or the eddies of Hells Gate. We were making great time,  at ease in our boats, almost outpacing the tide. We pulled out on the rocks at the top of Roosevelt Island and climbed the seawall to relax at the park, lunch and watch the max flood through the Gate.   We stopped later along the Hudson-Harlem line railroad tracks that line the Harlem River, and again at a waste patch of land we dubbed The Murder Scene, near an overpass north of Yankees Stadium. There was a steady and mysterious flow of car traffic to an apparently abandoned group of shanties on the Bronx riverfront, and we got back in our boats and launched quickly.  

As with any day in the city, we had casual interactions with all manners and classes of NYC officials and citizens.  A NYC Police helicopter buzzed us twice, and then returned to its hovering station over Yankee Stadium (watching the game?). We saw fiberglass ski boats and and classic wooden motor boats, NYC and Yonkers police launches, a pack of 15 racing jet-skis with We're-From-New-Jersey written all over them, the Circle Line, and a few other kayaks, including another circumnavigationn group, with a hired guide. I caged a cold beer from a friendly motor boat gal, paddling hard to catch her stern (ahem) under a bridge for the handoff, and then to stay ahead of my buddies till I drank it. From the river, we glided past family picnics, South Street Seaport, subway car storage yards, exercise classes, football practice, and all manner of abandoned industrial waste yards. A tug pulled an enormous empty barge, floating high and boxy witha sheer bow wave, by a cable as thick as my leg. There is a separate city life on the rivers around Manhattan, and we were visitors to this society.

As the day wore on, and our backs and legs got stiff, our breaks got more frequent. We decided this river needs a surfing wave somewhere around Brooklyn to up the fun level,  and a good rope swing  would be nice at one of those Harlem River railroad bridges.  Good scenery, but still, 31 miles of flat-water will do that to you.

 

Finally, we left the narrow Harlem River and emerged back onto the main Hudson. It seemed enormous after the intimate gorge section  of the Harlem River. Our paddling group moved out into the river to catch the main Hudson flow south, and all of Manhattan seemed to stretch out  before us. That is one glamorous island, but when you have been paddling for eight hours already and have to go the length of it, it is the size that is most impressive. The sun was heading down as we floated past the George Washington Bridge and the Little Red Lighthouse, and we still had 180 blocks to go.  But the horses smelled the barn, and we paddled on. The ebb tide south increased and carried us, as Manhattan and Newark towers caught and reflected the  sunset, and our day on the water came full circle. We reached our dock below Houston Street as the sky became purple, and made our take out and load up before the first star appeared.

Tired and proud, we drove north out of the city, land creatures once again, but able to claim ownership of a full view of one of the most complicated, interesting and storied waterfronts on the planet.

  Next: Circumnavigate Ireland?

Comments

[water damage repair utah]

Good post. Even there are multiple benefits to a pedal boat for both sports enthusiasts and for the leisure kayaker.