It felt a little crazy to load up the boat after midnight, lower it down the bank next to a moving train,
and paddle by moonlight out to Bannerman Castle.
The tide carried us north, along with something bioluminescent from the sea.
We scouted along the bank and set up our tents in the dark.
All night I could hear creatures moving through the grass by my tent,
and water lapping at the side of the boat.
The tide had come in so high, it almost carried off our supplies.
Constance made breakfast,
and we set off to explore the ruins.
Bannerman Castle was built at the turn of the century by a surplus ammunition dealer.
The strange anachronistic facade of the armory was like a billboard for his business, meant to be seen from the train.
The island is owned by New York State Parks and the Bannerman’s Castle Trust recently renovated the grounds for guided tours.
The new park is great, with plenty of trails and overlooks so that you can properly contemplate the architectural folly.
We were not part of an official tour, “so no pirouettes on top of the castle,” I had said the night before.
“What about a grand jeté fouetté?” asked Faye.
The island is surrounded by a decorative breakwater and turrets that make the castle look much larger, and half underwater.
Constance came here in 2008 when she piloted one of the Swimming Cities barges on their 3 week journey down the Hudson River.
I like hearing her stories from that trip and many others, of being a female captain, and much younger than her crew.
Connie grew up in South Texas with a marine biologist dad, and the Floating Neutrinos, who landed in her town and took teenage Connie under their wing.
Her artwork takes place in the intertidal, interstitial, riparian zone, and each project seems to show how having fun in those spaces can give people agency.
Enjoyment seems almost contradictory to most relational work, but with Connie’s projects, it’s how we restructure value around urban waterways.
My favorite place in the Hudson is a beach just north of Bannerman Island. I camped here alone on my trip down the Erie Canal in 2016.
“I should bring some friends back here some day.” I thought.
“Our boyband,” said Constance.
Connie and Faye invented some new swimming moves.
It was nice to be out in the boat with Faye, an accomplished choreographer, director, and dancer. I spend a lot of time thinking about the way the boat moves through the city, but with Faye we payed attention to the way our bodies moved in the boat.
Even when it was uncomfortable,
it was important.
↑ Return to Top of Page ↑