THE HUDSON RIVER - For half of its length (153 miles) the Hudson is also an estuary, in which brackish water from the Atlantic Ocean is propelled upstream during high tides. Because of this, some local Native American tribes, called it Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, Mahicantuck, translated to mean “river that flows two ways.” Henry Hudson, an English mariner and explorer entered the river in 1609 while searching for the fabled Northwest Passage through or around North America to Asia. Today the river is named for him.
Plans are always changing out here. So as I mentioned, we wanted to be on the water by 6:00 to take advantage of the tide and currents. But when we woke up at 5:15 the fog was thick. Yep, we were fogged in. We waited and waited some more and finally around 7:30 it was beginning to lift enough to see traffic in the Hudson River. It still hung heavy over the top of the New York City Skyline and ferry traffic was already running but not much else. Seas were calm, just little swells in the inlet, and we still had a small push from the current until about 11:00 a.m.
Seeing the New York and New Jersey Hudson River coastlines was amazing. Seeing the different architectural styles and determining the era in which certain structures were erected was entertaining.
Water’s Soul is the 80’ statue of a woman using a hush gesture. It was quite amazing as we slowly made our way past this sight and later looked it up to find out more about it:
Water’s Soul stands approximately 80 feet tall and is positioned on a newly redeveloped, historic Hudson River waterfront pier. LeFrak and Simon, developers of Newport, chose the world-renowned artist Jaume Plensa for this project for his ability to convey a collective hope for humanity’s future. Looking across the Hudson River, Water’s Soul acknowledges the surrounding waterfronts, aligning with Plensa’s ongoing engagement and interest in waterfront spaces as proxies for humankind. Water’s Soul is the neighborhood’s first public art installation by an international artist.
The artist wrote: “Water is a marvelous metaphor; one drop of water is quite alone, like a single person, but many drops can create a tidal wave or immense rivers and oceans, much like individual people come together to create community, exchange ideas and build something incredibly powerful.” – Jaume Plensa.
Wow, who knew that New York would be so beautiful as we Sauntered through the green mountain bluffs and past West Point, a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high ground overlooking the Hudson River with a scenic view, 50 miles north of New York. What an incredible Military (Army) facility.
Thirty minutes from our destination the wind picked up and a storm was rolling in. We landed without issue. A sailboat came in shortly behind us and Glen assisted them with their lines. When we came back from a walk with the girls, we found a very generous gift of a bottle of wine placed just inside the pilothouse door with a thank you from Bob and Michelle of Le Cheile (Gaelic for “Together”)
With the weather coming in we decided to eat on board. And it came in hard and ugly. We were rolling as much at the dock as we had in the Atlantic. We were on an outside long floating dock with no protection. We had easy three-foot swells pitching us bow to stern. As the rain eased, Bob and Michelle returned from dinner, and we promptly thanked them and invited them back to help us drink the wine following our dinner. They accepted and we enjoyed time hearing their story and Glen enjoyed teaching and giving them pointers on seamanship. They bought a sailboat in Boston and are taking it home to Lake Canandaigua, NY. (one of the five finger lakes). Both are still working, Michelle is a ninth grade art teacher and Bob is an orthopedic surgeon and they are pushing to get home.
We went to bed with splashing and crashing on the bow but around midnight it settled down and so did we. We woke up to so much wood debris in the water and packed into the marina. Which brings us back to “The River that Flows Two Ways”. Because of this, it takes up to four months for debris to exit the river (estuary) due to tidal change four times a day. It just travels back and forth.
On to Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston.
The Hudson River photos were amazing.