HARLEM RIVER TO THE HUDSON RIVER

What a beautiful day! Hardly any wind this morning when we left from Port Washington, with the first several miles full of interesting sites as we passed by Laguardia Airport (where arriving planes flew overhead at about 200 feet elevation),

Harlem River

Rikers Island Prison, East River Hell Gate, then made a sharp turn to starboard into the Harlem River.

Prison barge at Rikers Island 

We decided to bypass Manhattan this time, since we could save a couple of hours by traversing the Harlem River up to the Hudson River. The Harlem River is about 7 miles long and puts one right in the heart, if not the gut, of New York City.

Arrival at Laguardia

Sirens blaring, traffic on all the bridges, trains and subways rolling by - it was a lively scene, the whole way through. Interestingly, we were the only boat the whole length of the river. We passed under 15-20 bridges, then had to radio in to have the last barrier between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers, a nine-foot clearance train bridge, opened for us.

Railroad swing bridge

Once on the Hudson, it was a major change in scenery.Heavily wooded palisades on the west bank, small cities on the right and many more boats, both commercial and recreational.

A real classic yacht

There are some incredible houses along this river, both historic big-money family mansions as well as many modern ones. As one follows the river north, the scenery is idyllic, with green hills all along the banks.

Our timing was not ideal, as we hit an ebb tide the first few hours on the river. Since we were traveling at our slower (trawler) speed today, we were only making a bit over 5 knots for a couple of hours. The tide finally changed, and we got up to our normal 7-8 knots by the afternoon.

West Point

We passed the very impressive structure of West Point Military Academy and, a few miles further up the river pulled into a sheltered cove at Cornwall-On-Hudson to anchor for the night. By this time, around 4 PM, it was in the low 80s with a sunny sky and wind of 5-10 knots. Perfect conditions for a quick dip in the river to cool off, then a short nap to refresh before dinner. It was still warm enough after dinner that another dive into the water was very refreshing. Nice not having to rinse off the salt water after a swim…

A swarm of kayakers at our anchorage