On Friday, Aug 30, 8:19 am, I was swimming across the Hudson River. I started from Riverside Park, level 75. street, swam across to New Jersey, touched the ground and went back to Manhattan where I landed at the boundary between Hudson River Park and Riverside Park South (level 60. street). Thus the current took me down 15 streets, ie 0.75 miles (1.2 km). For half of the time (approx. 30 minutes) I was exposed to a current with an estimated speed of 1.2 Knots resulting in the aforementioned downdrift of 0.75 Miles. In all I swam a distance of 2 × 0.75 miles = 1.5 Miles (2 × 1.2 km = 2.4 km).
The 2 crossings took me 58 minutes out of which I spent at least 5 minutes watching out for motorboats. Because of the early hour of the day I had only 2 motorboats crossing my way, each at least at a distance of 150 yards. I was very relieved about that knowing that motorboats are the greatest danger to unattended open water swimming.
For those that live close to Manhattan it may not be something extraordinary to swim in the Hudson River, were it not for the fact that I am from Austria visiting the U.S. on a 24 day vacation with my family. We arrived on Monday, Aug 26 in N.Y.C. and our schedule was sooo tight that I didn’t even think about any swim, let alone crossing the Hudson. By Friday morning we had slowed down a little bit from all the sightseeing and shopping so I grabbed the opportunity. Knowing that the most reputable swim races of the world are regularly organized in the Hudson River I felt honored and privileged to immerse myself into it. According to my divng computer the water temperature was 23°C/73°F. The salinity was surprisingly low, but may have been normal for an ebb tide.
After reading all the blogs about the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (M.I.M.S) I had familiarized myself with the treacherous waters I was about to enter, especially the tidal currents. I looked up tide tables from the area: high water was at 5:15 am, low water was due at 11:30 am and my entry time was right in between at 8:19 am. Besides it was halfmoon with neap tides causing somewhat slower currents. All that information helped me a little bit, however I still didn’t know exactly when the current would shift to downstream and how strong it would be.
As I swam towards New Jersey I passed by a huge cargo boat that was anchored right in the middle of the River. Until then there was no current at all but as soon as I approached the boat I noticed a downstream current that made it difficult to pass in front of the bow. Once I passed the ship the current started to take me down swiftly. At this point I wasn’t sure if the current would “stay” on the New Jersey side of the river or if it just started all the way from bank to bank.
Luckily halfway back, as soon as I was again on level with the cargo boat mentioned above, the current slowed down again. By this time I had already drifted 600 yards below the stern of the boat and had a magnificient view at Riverside Park South. I just made it back to shore slightly above Pier 99 (the first Pier downriver on the lefthand side) and landed exactly at a gangway. I didn’t even have to climb over the fence that would normally curtail visitors from the waterfront. I was very relieved that the thing I feared the most didn’t happen: to be arrested by the Police:). A few people observed my “arrival” and responded positively. Now I had to run back up to my starting place at Riverside Park/Level 75. Street, where I left my clothes on a pontoon (with a sign offering free Kayak rentals on weekends). When I squeezed myself between two bars to reach the pontoon a park security officer watched me from his car and asked me why I didn’t simply climb over the top bar. His nice touch rounded up my unforgettable memories of my swim across the Hudson River. Ten minutes later I was back at the Hotel and another 15 Minutes later I was off to Central Park with my son taking pictures.
After spending stressful days in major cities on the West Coast I didn’t even look forward to New York City but I was unexpectedly and surprisingly overwhelmed by it’s charm.
Cheers, Gerald
Gerald,
You’re an idiot for swimming anywhere around Manhattan without an escort.
The thing you should have feared the most was not being arrested, but ending up as an unidentified dismembered corpse.
I'm a lurker, but I registered just to reply to this. I don't find anything even remotely idiotic about what Gerald did. While his actions are clearly very different from what you (along with, I assume, the vast majority of Americans) view as safe or appropriate, they were not idiotic. Our culture has become so fixated on this idea of safety, that we're now apparently banning ball throwing during recess (newyork.cbslocal.com/.../). But some people are wired to take risks; to accomplish courageous, bold or even outrageous feats, even at the risk of death or serious bodily injury. Ironically, Henry Hudson was such a man. A man who pushed the envelope of safety to such extremes that his own crew killed him! By today’s standards, we’d call Hudson stark raving mad. But back then, we named major waterways after men like that.
I have (bad?) habits like Gerald. I fly 100,000 miles a year and never travel without my goggles and suit. If there’s a body of water and I have the time, I’m swimming. I just pick a destination point (if I don’t have a map) and go. I get yelled at and lectured by boaters and paternalistic park rangers and cops all the time (more than one tried to argue that shouldn’t swim without a life jacket!!). For 35 the past years I’ve logged hundreds of open water miles in unfamiliar waters and I have never once had an escort.
I’m not disagreeing with your assessment of risk. I’m just saying that some of the most epic hours of my life occurred on these adventures, alone and afraid, and I wouldn’t trade them in for five minutes of safety or security. I acknowledge (as does my wife) that one day I may die at the hands of a drunken boater, but I’ll die doing what I love; a source of great peace and catharsis. To me, there are few things more exhilarating than than standing on a bank of an unfamiliar body of water, terrified and shivering in the darkness before sunrise, knowing that for the next several hours, its sink or swim baby. Pass/fail. And then diving in, overcoming my fear one stroke at a time…
I know that most in our culture (maybe even many on this board) will always label me an idiot. But I am not an idiot, and neither is Gerald. I know what I do is dangerous. I just value different things that you. I asses the risk, and make choices. Choices that many would likely disagree with. Based upon the survival rate of space shuttle astronauts, every one of them are unmitigated lunatics, and yet thousands would take their place in an instant (including me) if given the chance. We need to celebrate our differences; they are what make us great.
Gerald, I salute you brother…
Gerald,
You’re an idiot for swimming anywhere around Manhattan without an escort.
The thing you should have feared the most was not being arrested, but ending up as an unidentified dismembered corpse.
I'm a lurker, but I registered just to reply to this. I don't find anything even remotely idiotic about what Gerald did. While his actions are clearly very different from what you (along with, I assume, the vast majority of Americans) view as safe or appropriate, they were not idiotic. Our culture has become so fixated on this idea of safety, that we're now apparently banning ball throwing during recess (newyork.cbslocal.com/.../). But some people are wired to take risks; to accomplish courageous, bold or even outrageous feats, even at the risk of death or serious bodily injury. Ironically, Henry Hudson was such a man. A man who pushed the envelope of safety to such extremes that his own crew killed him! By today’s standards, we’d call Hudson stark raving mad. But back then, we named major waterways after men like that.
I have (bad?) habits like Gerald. I fly 100,000 miles a year and never travel without my goggles and suit. If there’s a body of water and I have the time, I’m swimming. I just pick a destination point (if I don’t have a map) and go. I get yelled at and lectured by boaters and paternalistic park rangers and cops all the time (more than one tried to argue that shouldn’t swim without a life jacket!!). For 35 the past years I’ve logged hundreds of open water miles in unfamiliar waters and I have never once had an escort.
I’m not disagreeing with your assessment of risk. I’m just saying that some of the most epic hours of my life occurred on these adventures, alone and afraid, and I wouldn’t trade them in for five minutes of safety or security. I acknowledge (as does my wife) that one day I may die at the hands of a drunken boater, but I’ll die doing what I love; a source of great peace and catharsis. To me, there are few things more exhilarating than than standing on a bank of an unfamiliar body of water, terrified and shivering in the darkness before sunrise, knowing that for the next several hours, its sink or swim baby. Pass/fail. And then diving in, overcoming my fear one stroke at a time…
I know that most in our culture (maybe even many on this board) will always label me an idiot. But I am not an idiot, and neither is Gerald. I know what I do is dangerous. I just value different things that you. I asses the risk, and make choices. Choices that many would likely disagree with. Based upon the survival rate of space shuttle astronauts, every one of them are unmitigated lunatics, and yet thousands would take their place in an instant (including me) if given the chance. We need to celebrate our differences; they are what make us great.
Gerald, I salute you brother…
