Montreal to NYC
What follows is a remarkable story submitted to HRWA via the NYC Kayaker email list. Part of it was printed in the late summer/winter edition of the HRWA Newsletter. It is reprinted here in its entirety. Any questions regarding this story should be directed to the author. - Ed
Note: this story is now several years old. The author’s email address is no longer valid, and Terry seems to have dropped out of sight. Be that as it may, we feel it is still relevant.
From: Terry B Alford talford@juno.com
Reply-To: talford@juno.com
All, Just sending a quick e-mail upon returning home confirming completion of my Montreal to NYC kayak trip. I hope to put together a more detailed and insightful trip report within the next week, but here is a brief recap, focusing on my arrival in NYC, and a partial synopsis of a few other items that might be of interest:
After departing Montreal on Sept 5th (actually embarking from Longueuil, on the opposite shore of the St. Lawrence from Montreal, since I could not find a good spot to assemble, load, and launch boat in Montreal itself, I paddled down the St. Lawrence, then up the Richilieu (going through a total of 10 locks) to Lake Champlain, reaching Fort Montgomery, about 1/2 mile north of Rouses Point in 5 1.2 days (approximately 117 nautical miles). Then after two days and three nights camping in the ruins of Fort Montgomery, waiting for strong southerly winds to moderate, I paddled the length of Lake Champlain, exploring various islands, and historical sites (including a morning touring Fort Ticongaroga), then into the Champlain Canal (12 locks), which includes stretches of the Hudson, then from Troy, NY down the Hudson, coordinating paddling hours with the ebb tidal currents, spending Thursday night, Sept 27, at the very nice Hudson River Watertrail Association campsite at Croton State Par–and enjoying a 20 minute hot shower, just a few hundred meters away at the park’s cabin area, then arriving at the Downtown Boathouse at Pier 26 on Manhattan Island on Friday evening, Sept 28th. Received permission from Pier 25 to put my kayak on their floating dock, behind a fence and to sleep on the dock that evening. Walked through Greenwich Village, which reminded me a bit of Montreal, and to Penn Station to check Amtrak schedules for a return train to Boston, where I live. Then Saturday morning I departed just before high tide and paddled to Liberty Landing Marina, past Ellis Island to the Statue of Liberty, and after circling Liberty Island, taking advantage of the continuing ebb tide to go out to Fort Wadsworth at the western end of Verazano Bridge to picnic. After the picnic on the breakwater there, and since the tidal current was still flowing out, I decided to paddle out Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island. Landed at Swinburne (best spot is the small cove on the NW side) and secured the Klepper to some old pilings, clambering over the rock barrier to check out the three building ruins, which apparently were once quarantine barracks (one for men, one for women?) and a kitchen/dinning building. Lots of vegetation, and not much in the way of trails, but I decided to camp out in one of the old dormitory building and had a very nice night there (free of train and traffic noises for nearly the only time since leaving Lake Champlain!) Next morning my Klepper was hanging suspended on the rocks from the outgoing tide. I departed at around 7:30 AM, after a visit by some fishermen who were concerned that I might have been stranded there! Paddled back under Verazano Bridge and then to Governor’s Island and up the East River under the first two Bridges (one of which I assume was the Brooklyn Bridge), going past Pier 17 and the docked four masted tall ship (not sure now of the name, but I think it might have been “Orient”) from Hamburg, Germany and some other classic sailing vessels. Then fighting a surprisingly strong current (possibly 4+ knots?) I returned down the East River, then up the Hudson back to Pier 26, where I observed a group of kayakers. Docked, said hello, letting the Klepper and various gear dry out. Then packed everything up with some kind assistance and wheeled my bags of boat and gear over to Hudson street where I flagged a cab to Penn Station and took the 4:55 Amtrak to Boston. Somewhere in Connecticut, our train broke down and lost all electrical power, except for emergency backup, due to another train (a Diesel), knocking down the overhead power line. We were stuck for 5 hours, but finally a repair crew, along with another Diesel engine sent out to help us, got us underway, arriving in Boston around 1:30 AM. Finally got a cab there, and home after 2 AM. Misc.
info: When I take the time to do a more comprehensive trip report, I’ll update the following estimates and off-the-cuff information with improved accuracy and detail.
Total official mileage is for this trip (Montreal to Verazano Bridge) is approximately 450 statute miles. I probably paddled over 500, including the various short side trips to paddle around various islands, or explore coves, or to reach marinas a short distance up rivers/creeks, etc. The maximum distance made good that I did in any one day was about 30 nautical miles, taking advantage of currents (St. Lawrence and Hudson. But I think I also came close to that (with more hours of actual paddling) once or twice on Lake Champlain. Generally I would depart came around 9 AM and then camp again at dusk. Somedays almost all of the time in-between was spent in the boat, but on other days I might explore some site of interest for half the day. My preliminary estimate is that I averaged about 22 miles of progress per day, including the three days that I did no paddling at all, and I think 20-25 statute miles would likely be a pretty typical paddling day, subject to wind, current conditions and amount of time spent paddling versus on shore. I would usually start the day paddling with low effort for several hours, then put more power into my efforts later in the day after I was warmed up and feeling the Tao of the paddling experience.
Each night of the entire trip, most frequently on small, uninhabited islands, I camped. I carried approximately two gallons of water, and never was with less than 3/4 gallon during the entire trip. I started with about 7 days worth of freeze dried dinners and snacks, and ended the trip with 1 days supply, having supplemented these original food supplies periodically by stopping at marinas and shore side towns to refresh water and supplement foodstuffs throughout the trip. Several times people at marinas offered rides to grocery stores and nearly everyone was generally quite friendly, interested in hearing about the trip, and generally helpful. No portages are REQUIRED for this route, but I did portage around the final lock on the Chambly Canal in France because it closes down at 4 PM and I did not arrive until 5:30 PM. Fortunately it was one of the few locks were it was easy to get the boat out of the water. I carried a Klepper boat cart, so I just pulled it out, put the boat on it (which probably weighed close to 200 pounds with all my gear in it) and wheeled it around to the other side of the lock and back into the Richilieu River. BTW, the Chambly Canal and St. Ours lock charge a passage fee, based on boat length — costing a total of about $20. The Champlain Canal apparently no longer charges at all — at least they did not charge me.
I measured water and air temp usually every day. All my water temp readings were between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit for all rivers (and Lake Champlain) throughout the trip. Mid-day air temp was usually in the mid-60s to low 70s — I think it was got up close to 80 on only one day. Lowest nighttime temp of 45 degrees occurred on the second night in Canada and the night of Sept 28th in NYC. Most other nights temp was in 50’s. I found these temperatures to be ideal…preferring air temp to be cooler than water temp. I went swimming several times, and on the warmer days, would dip my hands into the water when paddling if I needed to cool off a bit. I wore the same set of nylon shorts and long sleeve capilene “t-shirt” each day, washing them by swimming or stripping down after camping and letting them hand out overnight. On cooler days and in rough wind/water conditions, I wore a Gore-Tex paddling jacket, twice supplemented by a neoprene shirt underneath (on the coldest days when I was on Lake Champlain several miles from shore with 3-foot waves and strong winds). Mostly I also wore neoprene booties, very good for landings, but my feet developed some superficial sores from being wet all day and friction points, especially when going for long shore walks.
At EVERY camp, I made a point to leave the campsite with at least a bit cleaner than when I arrived by carrying out more trash than I had carried in. Almost every day I could deposit my accumulated trash at a marina or town along the way, so my stock of accumulated trash never got burdensome. If I could not completely clean up a camp site, I focused on picking up at least some of the glass and plastic, which can be dangerous to both humans (glass) and animals (who might ingest plastic or become entangled in it). I’ll have more to say about this in a detailed account of the trip, but the philosophical question for me is: Do I, as an individual, care if I leave the path taken better off, the same, or worse off, for having passed and utilized it?
A quick/partial synopsis of my gear is:
Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight tent
20 degree rated synthetic fill sleeping bag
Self inflating mattress (which I also used to replace the stock Klepper seat)
Black Canyon dry bags for all gear (mix of sizes 15, 20, 30, and 25 L) plus some clear vinyl Seal-Line bags (size 5 and 10) for sensitive stuff to be packed inside the Black Canyon bags for double protection — my experience is that any normal dry bag is likely to leak small amounts of water with prolonged submersion, etc.)
3 Long Haul boat gear bags and a collapsible Klepper boat cart (which were packed inside the dry bags and substituted for floatation bags and were sufficient to pack and carry boat plus all gear for return taxi and train trips).
Two dry bags of freeze dried camping meals plus Power Bars, Cliff Bars, dried fruit, etc. which were down to nearly empty at trip end.
1 bag of shore clothes (polartex pants and shirt, poly long underwear and socks), rarely used during this trip due to mild temperatures in addition to the shorts, shirt, Gore-Tex padding jacket, and neoprene shirt.
Two waterproof mariner charts for Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal, Lake Champlain Committee’s Paddlers Guide, Hudson River Watertrail Association guide (actually photocopies of the original photocopies that I could throw away when no longer needed), and a waterproof log book (apparently lost on my arrival at the Downtown Boathouse)
PFD, rarely worn, but lashed on foredeck where it could be put on while in boat if desired
Klepper spray deck, very useful on perhaps five days, when strong winds/waves splayed water over cockpit
Fresh water filter (never used)
1-time use instant 35 mm cameras, 27-exposures each (5 of which purchased during the trip at various towns along the way, as needed)
Various lights, thermometer/compass, multi- function knifes
Mask and snorkel (no fins) — used only once when recreationally swimming
Some reading material
Misc. safety gear (flares, strobe, smoke, whistle, pump, paddle leash)
Warner carbon fiber 240 cm paddle (usually used in the 60 degree feather position) — very pleased with it
Leather boating gloves (no finger tips) — which I used every day and credit with no hand blister problems at all in spite of averaging over 10,000 double paddle strokes every day of the trip
A few other items, which I can detail in more comprehensive trip and lessons learned report I had no gear / equipment failures during the trip.
My gear did NOT include: Stove (all camping dinners were rehydrated with cold water and eaten cold, except at Croton Point park, when hot water from tap at restrooms was available) Any electronics, other than lights (i.e., no GPS, no radio of any kind, no Walkman or other electronic entertainment, etc)
Several times during the course of the trip, I called family from pay phones at marinas or towns to report my progress, and in Burlington I was able to use a computer at the public library to access the Internet and e-mail. Well, I’ll have a more extensive and hopefully insightful report later.
Regards to all, Terry
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