Kill Van Kull ( What a name hey?)

It was a pretty windy day, but I had a meeting down in Staten Island, so I took the chance to get out on the water.
As it turned out it was a very short paddle. I knew there was shipping potential (check the map out in sat view and you'll see why) , and I was right. A tug went shooting by just before I launched, which  gave me the heads up that I should not dilly dally across the river. My plan was to go from Carteret NJ , across the river to Fresh Kills Park in Staten Island,  and paddle up the creek there.

As it tuned out, I turned around before reaching the creek. The wind was picking up and the current was very fast . I was just about to head across the river from behind the Isle of Meadows, when  tugs came  from both directions. The stirred up a huge wake, so I  beat a retreat back towards Staten Island. I tried a second time and the river being clear of traffic, I dashed across. The waves were about a foot (not too bad) , but with the wind direction, the paddle across was pretty wet, with spray  coming over the bow and into the kayak (again, not a problem)- but in this cold weather somewhat less than ideal.
The scenery was super industrial, and I have discovered where the recycling garbage goes for at least part of it's journey . There were barges full of recycling , but it was amazingly clean and hardly a seagull was to be seen (the testament to cleanliness) .
I forgot to take my camera, but got a few shots on my phone.

Flushing Bay NYC Nov 29th 2013

Here we are, Thanksgiving was yesterday , so I have the day off work. I've been wanting to paddle out in Flushing Bay for ages, but conditions have not coincided with my spare time (there being very little of that). Even today was far from perfect, as the low tide (very low right now)  was in the middle of the day, so I didn't get to paddle up Flushing creek I'll have to save that for another day.

It was cold (wind chill of -3 C (27 F)), but one i was properly dressed this was no problem. I took the chance to drop in to Willet's Point in Queens, a place I had only been to once before. I read that it is about to be cleared, so I wanted to get some photos before it disappeared. I am posting some of these here, even though it bears no connection with kayaking beyond being very close to the boat ramp from which I launched. It is pretty amazing that it has survived so long. Goodness know what the people who make their meager livelihood here are going to do when they raze it (starting tomorrow).

The World's Fair Marina was closed and I thought I would not be able to launch, but a friendly Parks Officer pointed me in the right direction.
The only remnants of the Worlds Fair (1964) evident  in that location was these shelters.

This barge, moored at The Rikers Island Prison, houses 800 prison cells....and I thought the British were the only ones to put their prisoners on boats ( and that was 250 years ago!)

New York Harbor Sept 16th 2013

I have been waiting for the perfect conditions for this paddle and I was finally rewarded yesterday. I  put in on the Jersey side, at the Liberty State Park and paddled up to the Statue of Liberty . There is a 150 yard exclusion zone, but its close enough for a good look. The swell was strong on the outer side of the island due to significant shipping and boat traffic, so I turned back and paddled north along the coastline.  I paddled under a bridge that lead to Ellis Island only to find out later that it is a  restricted area.It was just great paddling so close to the City.

The paddle was punctuated by a large boat heading towards me. I was surprised that they did not appear to be slowing down, when I noticed their insignia ( Police) and the flashing blue light - Yes, it was the police pulling me over- Turns out you cannot take photos within 150 yards of a passenger boat, and I was snapping near the Statue Ferry Cruises.
The officer was very nice and then proceeded to inform me that I was also  not allowed to paddle under the Ellis Island Bridge(which I had just done)  and would have to return around the outside of Ellis Island and then between it and Liberty Island to get back to the boat ramp- This I did, and the ride was a doozy - such a swell, but the kayak was fine-, but I did not hang around out in the open harbor. You can get a general idea from the video below.

A great day out.