Carolina Miranda and Jennifer Hsu wanted to make a video about going out in the Tide and Current Taxi.
I wasn’t sure how using the camera would effect our trip,
so we decided to paddle into the Dutch Kills, where I knew the water would be calm and quiet with no other boat traffic.
In fact, there wouldn’t be any boats at all; the dutch Kills is a shallow waterway that separates Randall’s Island from the Bronx, only navigable by tiny boats like mine, and then only at the very highest tide.
I had been there once before, in 2005, and I always wanted to go back.
When we got into the Kills, I realized something very unexpected.
The current was rushing so fast against us that I had to get out of the boat and drag it along the bank.
With Carolina and Jennifer alone in the boat, it became unbalanced, and I had to let go of the rope so that they would not capsize.
Even on such a calm day and in shallow water, we had barely avoided a dangerous situation. My heart raced as I watched them float away by themselves.
We emptied out the boat and walked over the rocks, past the rapids.
This is the area that many trains and highways pass over as they leave New York.
I always love to peer over the side and look down at this world that seems so unlike anyplace in the city.
We rounded the Northern tip of Randall’s Island and looked South toward Hell Gate.
After losing the boat once with Jennifer and Carolina aboard, I decided that we should turn back instead of trying to paddle through Hell gate.
The morning was perfectly still and quiet and we had the entire bay to ourselves.
Off to the West we could see the planes landing at Laquardia Airport and the low, ominous buildings of Rikers Island.
It was strange to be video taped and asked questions as we paddled along. Usually I feel completely unaware of myself in the boat, as I float around and look at the city.
On the way back through the Kills we saw a few families of geese with their newly hatched chicks.
Here is Carolina’s picture of the tiny goslings.
We paddled back under the BQE,
and found the car again on Randall’s Island.
I showed them a map of where we had been, and the charts that I use to tell which way the tide is going. Here is a link to the story that Carolina wrote about our trip:
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