Mike Hein and I met at Grand Street, but the current looked too strong to put the boat in the water there,
so we scouted out a new spot down at the end of North 3rd Street in Williamsburg.
It was an easy hop over a low fence,
and we were out in the water in no time.
My plan was to float north for a few hours, then when the tide turned south, float back and pick up his wife Saira from work. She would get off work at 6pm, 30 minutes after the current turned south.
“Go with the flow,” said Mike, “I like it. It’s the exact opposite of life in the modern world.”
But just like life in the modern world, we had a major obstacle;
the East River Ferry.
We watched its movements carefully and timed our paddling to avoid its treacherous wake.
“What’s that?” Mike asked.
“I’m not sure what it’s called,” I said. “But it is cool up there.”
We pulled into a small inlet just north of the Newtown Creek, and tied the boat.
Right on shore, there was one of Mike’s favorite kinds of sea trash. He calls it the philosophers foam, and he has been incorporating it into his sculptures and photographs.
We walked up a little trail,
to a makeshift park
that overlooked the East River.
From up there, we could see the ferry leaving port, so we figured we had a short window to pass the terminal to the north.
We jumped back in the boat with the foam,
and headed north again.
We passed by Matthew Barney’s studio,
and admired his boats and cars.
We noticed a large construction crane swinging overhead. I wondered if they saw us down below.
We stopped to talk to Matt Ryle, the head fabricator at Matthew Barney’s studio. He told us the latest news about the shop and asked about the boat and our trip.
We had another hour to wait for the tide,
so we pulled up to Roosevelt Island,
and waited for the tide to turn.
At 5:30, I figured the water could be heading our way,
but I had one more stop I wanted to make.
I have been curious about the new monument on the southern end of Roosevelt Island.
I thought it looked weird from the water, and I was expecting to dislike it,
But it is quite beautiful when you are inside the viewing platform.
It is a public park, but not open yet,
and there is a security camera positioned right over where FDR’s head will be. (I sort of hope they keep the alcove just like it is.)
The rock barrier that surrounds the new construction seems to be collecting lots of nice driftwood.
I would say it is the best place in the city to find small interesting pieces of driftwood,
in case you are looking.
Mike got a call from Saira,
and we headed to Java street to meet her.
It was perfect timing,
but Saira had to jump into the boat in a hurry before the wake of the ferry made it impossible.
It was her first time out in a little boat like this,
but the plan went off without a hitch,
and soon we were leaving Greenpoint behind.
It was a great time of day to be out.
The city was almost in silhouette,
and the Brooklyn side was glowing in the late afternoon sun.
Even the ‘Williamsburg Edge’ looked handsome in the golden light.
We landed back on North 3rd,
and hopped back over our wall.
Thanks Saira and Mike!
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