Odalisque - August 7, 2005 Log

Log 2005 - August 7th

Sunday August 7, 2005
Down to the Palisades and back.

Crew: Caleb, Jessie, Jean M.
Mileage: approx 20.
Depart: 1400 Return: 1945

The forecast wind was typically mild for summer with S SW winds at 5 –10 knots. We experienced some mild whitecaps on the surface so the wind might have approached the 12 –15 range by cocktail hour. With the wind blowing up the Hudson and the canyon created by the towering Palisades we tacked SE towards Tarrytown and the Tappan Zee bridge channel where the current was flowing up river we intended to sail down. We got up close and personal with the abutments of the bridge, identifying cormorants and other waterfowl taking a rest on the pilings a hundred feet or so below the busy, roaring roadway above us.
It is one thing to pass over a bridge; it is quite another to pass under on a sailboat or any boat for that matter. Below the bridge there is wind and water, currents to be reckoned with; above there is only the gas pedal, brake, clutch, tires, transmission and exhaust sounds and smells of people scurrying about trying to get from point A to point B before their fellow travelers. How silly we might look to those above; we were only planning on going from point A (the mooring) back to point A again (and we were not racing anyone either). Our journey was about being there, seeing the sights, enjoying the sun and breeze: not about getting anywhere except to a state of mental relaxation and concentration on the boat and its proximity to the non moving land.
Further south, below the bridge is a marsh on the west side with some shoaling but you will see Piermont Pier sticking out into the Hudson like a finger. As we neared the Palisades we came in close to the western shore to look at a cute riverfront house and came about in irons; not realizing that the centerboard was dragging on the muddy river bottom. I pulled up the slack centerboard line and turned on the engine to head us back towards the channel. I could see the mud being kicked up by our keel and prop. I can only hope that this encounter with the river bottom only cleaned some of the growth off our keel. We kept the centerboard up after that although high tide was coming. We got as far south as Hastings (just north of Yonkers) before we tacked downwind and tried our luck going upriver.
We did wing on wing for a time and then some broad reaching and were making good way upriver. The river seems to get bottled up at some points that is to say that when it narrows, such as under a bridge and it’s abutments, the current seems to pick up and you must be careful. The extra current from the bridge abutments and the wake from a passing motor yacht caused us to accidentally jibe. Both Jean and I should have known better.
The main sheet caught Jessie on the neck as we had let her sit too far aft in the cockpit for the point of sail we were on. I saw that she had some rope burn on her neck but the boom did not hit her and her sunglasses protected her face. We were all ok but the confusion of the water was a warning that an accidental jibe could happen, but we ignored it. We had rescue remedy and an ice pack aboard which were deployed to fortunately minor wounds as we grew more silent towards the end of our sail. The sky and gills were a subdued study of the Hudson Valley School; very evocative, very beautiful. What is most pleasant about sailing on the Hudson, I find, is the relative lack of other boats. There is an occasional barge and tug to avoid but there is plenty of width to the river here so escape is possible.
Pyngyp, Little Tor and Big Tor greeted us like old friends as we made our way back to Nyack as the noise from the bridge’s overhead roadway finally abated. We were able to pin point our mooring from a way off because there were 2 boats with either tattered or slightly unfurled jibs nearby. I used the iron spinnaker for the last 10 feet before Jean grabbed the stick. We were one step closer to going ashore.
Steering our boat downwind is less easy than steering on an upwind tack or even across the wind. In an upwind tack the T27 will steer itself If you adjust the centerboard to change the center of force on the boat. Sailing downwind is another matter where one must constantly survey the wind and the waves for the forces that will impact the vessel. Whether it is wave, wind, or skippers action that causes an accidental jibe it should be planned for as best it can. No one should be standing in the cockpit. No one should be in the path of the main sheet should it suddenly jibe.

— Caleb Davison