Thwarted In The River

Marlborough Boat Club, Hudson River

41 36.641 N 073 57.544 W

 

Our mast is up, and we are a sailboat once again. Hooray.

 

It was our intention to move downriver to NYC today and put out to sea tomorrow. We were also going to have company on board today to traverse the prettiest part of the river with us.

 

Well, we cancelled the company, and now we've cancelled the travel plans for this morning. What went wrong? We planned our departure to catch the outgoing tide. But today there is a very stron wind from the south, opposing the current. That builds up waves, just like at an ocean inlet. Smashing into those waves bounced us violently and slowed us to 3 knots with a 2 knot current pushing us! Knowing that the current would reverse in an hour or so, our progress would have been terrible.

 

We decided to grab a nearby mooring until this afternoon, then continue is the winds subside. I tries calling the yacht club for permission. I called by VHF and by phone, but there was no answer.

 

A Westsail 32 can take us around the world, but it can not get us down the Hudson River this morning.