David’s Voyage Blog

Publish Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Location:  New York, New York

When we first contemplated visiting New York City (specifically, Manhattan) on our boat, the first question that popped into my mind was, “Are there even any marinas in Manhattan?” We discovered that the answer is “yes”, but it’s not an ideal boating destination, so you have to put up with some inconveniences in order to visit this amazing city on your boat.

One of the things that make this a difficult destination is the Hudson River. This river is equally characterized by it’s natural current (towards the ocean) and the tidal flow of the ocean. As a result, the current switches direction four times daily, and when the tidal current is ebbing it combines with the natural river current to produce a very strong flow. In addition to the strong and switching current, the tides themselves can be 4-5 feet, which makes mooring to anything other than a floating dock very difficult. Finally, there is constant traffic of ferryboats, tugs & barges, and freighters up and down the river, which keeps the river stirred up (although it does tend to moderate at night). And of course, the river is full of debris, both visible and partially submerged (see my Snag in the Plan blog).

There are three marinas in Manhattan. The North Cove is a well-protected megayacht marina near Battery Park, but it’s very expensive, so we did not stay there. Surfside 3 at Chelsea Piers is a nice location, but it has absolutely no protection from the river’s constant action, and it’s also pretty expensive, so we didn’t stay there either. The 79th Street Boat Basin is operated by the City of New York Parks Department, which makes it very reasonably priced, and the location is wonderful. Unfortunately, the boat basin is very shallow (3-4 feet at low tide), so our only option was to moor on the outside of the wave wall. This was not a floating dock, so we had to deal with 5-foot tides, and it was exposed to all the wave action of the Hudson. After one night we realized this was not a situation we could live with.

The 79th Street Boat Basin also runs a large field of mooring balls, so after one night on the wave wall we decided to move out to a mooring ball. It was inexpensive (where else can you stay in Manhattan for $30/night?), and we had a beautiful view of the city behind Morningside Park. Although we were exposed to the wave action on the Hudson, we deployed our flopper-stopper to deal with that, and it calmed down significantly at night. We could take our dingy into the Boat Basin and catch a subway a couple blocks away to tour Manhattan. We really liked this solution for awhile.

Our only concern was whether the mooring ball was sturdy enough to keep our boat safe with the switching current. When we first attached to the ball, Kathryn and I both noticed that the 5/8-inch three-strand line was a bit frayed in one spot. I wasn’t happy with a 5/8-inch line to begin with (we use 3/4-inch for our secondary anchor rode), and the fact that it was frayed had me a little nervous. We decided to attach our own “safety line” to the mooring ball so we didn’t have to worry about it. Two nights later, the tide was ebbing and the wind was blowing about 20 knots downstream, and when we woke up the following morning the 5/8-inch line had frayed down to a single strand, and it probably would have broken sometime later that day. We would have been secure because of our safety line, but it wasn’t how we wanted to stay. We talked with the dockmaster, and he immediately brought a newly configured line and shackle out to us on the ball, and Kathryn and I deployed it without much problem. It was a brand new 3/4-inch line, and we felt quite secure thereafter.

We probably would have stayed on the mooring ball for the rest of our New York visit, but unfortunately the weather changed significantly. The wind was blowing stronger, the temperature dropped, and it was raining. Not only did these conditions make it inconvenient to be on a mooring ball (envision trying to get to shore in the dingy dressed for a Broadway show), but they actually made it dangerous getting in and out of the dingy. The waves had increased in size, and the wind was blowing our dingy around quite a bit, and we were genuinly concerned about falling in the Hudson. With these conditions as a backdrop, we decided to move to a marina in New Jersey for a couple days.

There are several marinas in New Jersey that are pretty convenient to Manhattan. We chose the Newport Marina in Jersey City because it had a PATH train station right outside its gates. Our main concern about being moored in New Jersey was the inconvenience of getting over to Manhattan, so a nearby PATH station was an important feature to us. This marina was a good solution for us while it was rainy, windy, and cold, as it allowed us to continue our New York visit in safety. However, the wave action inside this marina was significant from morning to night, so it was not very comfortable. I think all the marinas along the Hudson have this problem, so it’s just something you have to live with if you visit Manhattan on our boat.

In summary, Manhattan is not an ideal cruising destination, but it can be done if you are willing to put up with some inconveniences. Our first choice in settled weather would be the mooring ball at 79th Street Boat Basin, and our second choice in unsettled weather would be one of the New Jersey marinas.