[alberg30] OpSail 2000, New York Harbor

[finnus505 at aol.com]

Hi Sanders, David,
Hope you don't mind me chiming in here, but that trip from the Sound to New 
York Harbor on the East River is a fun trip, and I've always enjoyed it.
I don't know how long it would take to get from Oyster Bay to Throggs Neck; 
if you're making a good 4 or 5 knots, either because the wind is perfect, or 
you're powering, I guess figure two to three hours. It's been a couple of 
years since I've done it, and so I don't trust my memory about specific 
times.  Plot it out on your chart;don;t take any chances.  You have to be 
sure you will be at Hell's Gate at about the begining ofslack high water.

What I'm sure you've heard from other sailors is to time your trip so you are 
going through Hell's Gate at Slack Water.  This means you may have to buck 
the end of the incoming tide at Throggs Neck and Whitestone, etc.  Everyone 
suggests that, because......if you ever get to see Hell's Gate  at maximum 
flood or ebb, you will never want to see it that way again!!!!    The Army 
Corp. of Engineers spent a few million dollars at the turn  of the century or 
so to dynamite the passage and make it safer, but there are still huge 
boulders and what not on the bottom, and even though the water is 50 feet 
deep, those bottom contours  turn the 7 or 8 or more knot current into 
whirlpools and eddies that can completely turn you around, pull you way off 
course, etc, etc, , especialy if you have an outboard as your power.  You 
would most likely survive, but it will be easier at slack water.  So this 
means, for the trip down, looking up in Eldridge what time slack high is at 
Hell's gate, and backtracking how many hours before that you will have to 
leave Oyster Bay to make that time, and , for the trip home, calculate what 
time to enter the east river, so you will ride the incoming tide up the 
river, and pass through Hell's Gate again near slack high.  You must have an 
ebbing tide to go south on the river, and a filling tide to go back to the 
Sound.  There are few sailboat auxiliaris that can buck an 8 knot current. On 
the return trip, try  to work it so you reach Hell's gate just as the high 
slack is begining, so you will have time to pass through Throggs Neck before 
the tide turns much.  On the trip down, it would be better to get to Throggs 
neck early and sail around for a while  or drop a hook, then to be late, and 
miss that slack high at Hell's Gate.
The area between the Whitestone Bridge and the north end of Roosevelt Island 
can be confusing.  there are a number of islands in that area, with a number 
of channels marked by cans and nuns running around them, and as you are being 
sped along by the current, it can be confusing.  Make sure you read a good 
chart of this area before you attempt it.  There is a NOAA chart of this area 
alone, and for good reason.There are some neat abandoned buildings on the 
larger islands; old hospitals and the like; interesting to look  at the trees 
growing through windows, etc.
Once you get to the North end of Roosevelt Island, it is pretty much straight 
and narrow, though you still have to control the boat in the current, and 
watch out for the other river traffic, which ranges from other small pleasure 
boats, to huge garbage barges pushed or towed by huge tugs, which cannot 
possibly steer to avoid you, so you have to avoid them.  Also, you will be 
irritated by the guys in the 45 foot cigarettes or sport fisherman who go 
through with or against the current by blasting their twin 5 million 
horsepower engines, and who don't know the rules of the road, or what 
courtesy means.  Be mindful of their wakes, which are amplified by the 
current  and the confined space.  you might want to keep you're hatch closed, 
and I say that knowing how dry and sea worthy the Commander is!!
Remember, going south, Roosevelt Island is left to port, though  I think the 
commander could fit under the bridge on the other side-I'm not sure. It's 
height is listed on the chart, of course.
Passing the United Nations, beneath the Throggs Neck Bridge, The Whitestone 
Bridge, The 59 th Street Bridge, The Williamsburgh Bridge, The Manhattan 
Bridge, and the best one, The Brooklyn Bridge, is always a thrill.  On a 
sunny day, the New York skyline looks like Oz from the river.South Street 
Seaport always looks best from the water, too.  There is even something 
dramatic in watching the ruins of the queens and the brooklyn waterfronts go 
by.
It's quite a trip.  Be sure you have plenty of fuel, and if you have any 
doubts about your engine, get it fixed, or buy a new one.  Have an anchor, 
and lines to tie up to pilings or a dock ready if they are needed, but don't 
go ashore except at the 23rd st. marina, or south street seaport, unless 
there is no alternative.  :)
Enjoy,
Lee
Stargazer #255

(On the East Side, the marina is either at 23rd, or 28th street.  I can't 
remember for sure-the chart will say.)

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