 |
Recreational boating in New York Harbor
Weekend Anchorages
We go off for the weekend whenever we don't have guests, or when we have a guest we know well will enjoy an overnight. Anchorages within easy range of Jersey City that we enjoy include Horseshoe Cove, on the south side of Sandy Hook, and several north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. There are moorings and maybe slips in Atlantic Highlands, but we have not gone there. Great Kills harbor on the Eastern shore of Staten Island has a marina and a yacht club.
Horseshoe Cove has an underwater sandbar that extends from, the left side a long way. There is usually a state marker buoy on the end of it. Sea Tow does lots of business here. The anchorage is often crowded, and we use both of our downrigger balls so we can shorten scope as much as possible. It is a pleasont place to swim off the stern, and you often see families hand seining fish on the beach.
From the George Washington to the Tappan Zee bridge, the channel is on the east. On calm nights you can anchor under the Palisades. The lighted GWB looks spectacular from a little distance, and you can watch the swing bridge operate. If you plan to stay the night you must set two anchors (described later).
The channel in the Tappan Zee follows the eastern side past Ossining and crosses just north of Hook Mountain on the west and Croton Point on the east. At the western edge of the channel the depth changes from full channel to about 10 feet quite abruptly.
The sudden change in depth acts almost like a breakwater, and it is possible to spend a comfortable night anchored off Upper Nyack, north of Peterson's yard. I suppose it annoys the residents of the grand mansions to see our scruffy old sailboat there, but they usually aren't home anyway. You need to set two anchors here, because of the tide.
If you don't feel like anchoring, Nyack Boat Club has a couple of guest moorings at the southeast corner of their mooring field. A disadvantage is the noise from the constant traffic on the bridge. You can also anchor south of the NBC, but then it is really noisy.
There are marinas
in Tarrytown, just north of the bridge to the east. We haven't stayed there
but school J30s (5-ft draft) have stayed there.
North of Croton Point you can anchor with a single anchor off the public park.We
went there to see Comet Hale-Bopp. It will be crowded during the day but few
stay overnight.
Across the bay
is Haverstraw Marina, which has fuel, slips, and a restaurant. The marina is
pleasant, and pricy. It is several years since we have stopped there, and the
restaurant could have changed chefs many times since then, so we can't comment
on it. It has a view of the river.
North of Stony Point and just across from Indian Point is a cove with a wrecked
lighter or fishboat. You can get enough out of the tide here to use a single
anchor. Freight trains come by frequently. Usually you will have no company
overnight, and the point itself seems to be uninhabited. This is as far as you
are likely to get under sail in one day, but with a little motoring you can
see some truly spectacular scenery in the next 15 miles.
Continuing north,
Peekskill bay on the east looks tempting, but it is mostly one to two feet deep.
Then you enter the Highlands, where the Appalachian range crosses the river.
The river gets narrow and deep.
On the left just before Bear Mountain Bridge is Iona Island. The outer part
is a nature preserve, and bald eagles nest there, although we have never seen
them there in the summer. Just north of the island is a green can. You can get
out of the channel and anchor carefully with the depth sounder.
North of the bridge you will encounter Conn Hook on the left, marked with a buoy and light. When tows pass here, the are careful to pronounce it "Conn . . . Hook," so it doesn't sound at all like "Conhook," which refers to the Constable Hook range at Kill van Kull.
West Point comes into view. There are moorings here and at Garrison, across the river. I don't know if they can be used by transients. The river pinches down between West Point and Constitution Island. The water next to Constitution, the point on the eastern side, is the deepest in the river, about 140 feet. You can see why it may be necessary to call on 13 to a tow approaching this blind corner.
A couple of miles
more and Storm King marks the end of the Highlands on the western side.On the
East is Polopel Island, which has a romantic ruin that looks like a medieval
castle. It actually was a private armory that burned. It is said to be dangerously
unstable and landing is discouraged.
It is possible to anchor in a little channel east of Polopel. If your draft
is 6 or 7 feet you must enter from the south, near a little stone building that
marks an access point to a New York City aquaduct. Don't try it at dead low
tide if you draw seven feet.
As you near the island the channel deepens to nine or ten feet. As at Upper Nyack, you must set two anchors here. You will be close to the Metro North tracks. The commuter trains are not ferociously noisy but they may whistle. There is a whistle stop for hikers going to Breakneck ridge. It is a visible steel bridge, where hikers can wave to the train to get it to stop. One freight will pass late at night, after the passenger trains are done.