Bugging Out 41.15.500N 73.58.000W

Suzie Too - Western Caribbean
David & Suzanne Chappell
Thu 25 Aug 2011 22:52
On Wednesday evening we went through the charts and options as Irene was upgraded to a Cat 4, it will ride the Gulf Stream and take on more heat and moisture energy, which makes it the first Major Hurricane of the season. We spent time looking for suitable anchorages up the Hudson, but there are not many and often the river is very wide with a lot of fetch (meaning a lot of wobbly water). We need to move as it will still be a Cat 2 in New York, with winds over 100 mph and a storm surge of 3 – 4 metres which can take pontoons off the piles, as we saw in the tsunami. Suzanne got a useful note on Facebook from Terry the Ship, who has been surveying cargo vessels up and down the Hudson and knows the area well.
 
Anyway at 0900 we said goodbye to Michelle, Tomas and Kirtsie and Aussie (who was more worried about his Ford Mustang convertible than his motor yacht) and sailed out at around 1100 to motor up the Hudson in the pouring rain with visibility less than 1/4 mile, it really rains in this place, never let an American tell you it rains in England – we just get drizzle compared with their stuff.
 
Tonight we are anchored in the middle of the river near Verplank, over 30 miles up, just 8 miles south of West Point Naval Academy, and will take a look at the projected path of Irene overnight and decide if we need to move further up th river or find a better anchorage somewhere nearby. Our plan is to find a safe anchorage, not a marina so we don’t rock and roll on piles and pontoons, and not to be near any houses or stuff where we may get whacked by the odd roof, tree or sheet of corrugated iron.
 
Tomas and Kirstie have stripped everything off their boat to reduce windage and will stay at Liberty Landings and Aussie may well follow our example once he has parked his Mustang safely more than 4 meters above sea level, but most of the marinas up here are fully booked now, so no where left to run.