Harbor Safety & Trip Planning
New York Harbor is a challenging place for human-powered boaters, with powerful tides and currents, fast-moving commercial traffic, and many other navigational hazards. The New York Harbor Kayakers Guide, compiled by Graeme Birchall of the Downtown Boathouse, is a good roundup of the many factors involved in safe paddling. There is, however, no substitute for on-water experience. If you are new to paddling in the harbor, think twice before heading to the nearest launch. Instead, seek out experienced paddling partners, or sign up for training with a community boathouse or professional guide.
Launch Guidelines and Permit Info
Use of Water Trail launches in NYC parks requires a $15 permit that can be obtained by mail or in person at any of the Parks Department’s borough headquarters. More info here: https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/kayak/rules.
Rules at non-NYC Parks launches vary; please check with the site manager listed on the Water Trail map before paddling.
Weather, Wind and Water Temperature
Quick links:
NOAA Marine Forecast for New York Harbor
Wind speed at Robins Reef (central location in the Upper Harbor)
Water Temperature at the Battery
Weather forecasting today is better than it’s ever been, and with all those amazing apps, real time radar, and so on, it’s hard to believe that serious mariners still get caught by surprise. But of course it happens–the wind comes up much faster than predicted, a squall line blows up out of nowhere, and what felt like a pleasant outing suddenly turns into an epic.
Careful planning and constant vigilance while underway can help you avoid those scenarios. If, for instance, the tide is ebbing and the wind is predicted to shift to the south, you should be prepared for a wind-against-tide situation with some potentially serious chop. (In general, the wind is a much bigger factor in harbor paddling than most people think; going out when it’s blowing more than 15 mph can be very challenging even for the most experienced paddlers, and overwhelming for beginners).
Another often-overlooked factor is water temperature, which in the spring lags well behind warming air temperatures. There is an instructive graph and table in the Kayakers Guide (page 5) documenting average monthly water temperatures in the harbor as well as expected survival times.
In general, the best overall strategy is to be ‘mishap ready’–in other words, to always have a plan of action in case things go wrong. Among other things, that means sticking close to shore when possible, knowing the closest landing spots and emergency haulouts, and having the skills to assist or rescue others if they need it.
Tides and Tidal Currents
Quick links:
Stevens Institute Urban Ocean Observatory surface current forecaster
Tidally speaking, New York Harbor is a complicated place–a three-way connection between the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, and a 150-mile-long fjord known as the Hudson River. The result is an abundance of ‘active water’ that can sometimes move very quickly–up to three knots or so at certain places on the Hudson side of Manhattan, and up to five knots at Hell Gate on the East River. The currents can be intimidating to newcomers, but to experienced human-powered boaters they are one of the most appealing features of the harbor. Beyond creating exciting paddling conditions, they constitute a set of liquid conveyor belts that can speed you to distant points, and back, much faster than you would otherwise be able to go.
In most other places, tidal currents push in, or flood, until high water and then flow out, or ebb, until low water. But in New York Harbor, there can be a tidal current lag–a gap between high or low water the beginning of the ebb or flood–of up to two hours and 45 minutes on the Hudson and up to an hour and 45 minutes on the East River. Exactly why this happens can be a little difficult to understand–it may help to think of bathwater sloshing back and forth in the tub. In any case, websites like the ones linked above, as well as many navigational apps, offer current predictions for a number of sites around the harbor. There are also some elegantly simple traditional tools–including pilot charts and the New York Harbor Tide Wheel–that can help with trip planning.
Caveat: be aware that tide and tidal current predictions are just that–predictions. Big storms, days of strong wind from one direction, and heavy upstream runoff can all have a powerful influence on, or even nullify, the effects of the tide. And even if the currents are running as predicted, other factors–especially contrary winds–can conspire to make trips much longer and harder than expected. Always have a bailout plan ready.
Commercial traffic
Quick links:
TheSafeHarbor.us (educational website created in 2011, featuring a five-part video, ‘The Mariner’s Guide to the Port of New York and New Jersey,’ with graphic depictions of what can happen when things go wrong).
NYC Ferry contact form (ask questions/report incidents).
Education Subcommittee (harboropseducation@gmail.com) of the Harbor Safety, Navigation and Operations Committee (good place for incident reports and any other ‘shared waters’ questions).
In terms of shipping traffic, the Port of New York & New Jersey is the biggest on the East Coast, handling the equivalent of almost 10 million 20-foot shipping containers in 2022. Most of the ships carrying those containers go through the Kill van Kull to offload on the New Jersey side of the harbor, but there is a significant amount of commercial traffic on the New York side too, including tugs and barges and, especially, passenger ferries. And with all the new offshore wind developments, there will soon be more. In short, while the harbor is an entirely public space–our biggest Commons–and a critical part of an environmentally sensitive estuary, it’s also a busy–and sometimes very busy–marine highway.
How should human-powered boaters operate in such an environment? Basically, the same way experienced cyclists do when traveling on or near a busy highway–by keeping close to the sides of the road and constantly monitoring what’s going on around them. It also pays to make yourself as visible as possible, especially in low light situations or–at the opposite end of the spectrum– particularly bright mornings and afternoons when glare can be a factor. Glare was one of the main contributors to the notorious 2016 kayaking accident, when a ferry going more than 20 knots ran down a fleet of eight kayaks on the Hudson (there was one serious injury but, miraculously, no fatalities).
One key to co-existing with larger vessels is understanding what their operational limits are. If you are hanging out in the middle of the channel, you need to understand that an approaching tug or ship may not be able to change course, because the water on either side of the channel is too shallow, and will almost certainly not be able to stop, because that’s how the inertia works when large objects are moving through a liquid medium.
It also helps to know what commercial vessels are doing and where they’re headed. A radio can be handy for this–see the “Communication” section below–but so can a general familiarity with the harbor and how it works. To that end, the Water Trail Association put out a ‘Shared Waters’ map in 2018 showing the locations of all the ferry terminals, community boathouses, and launches for human-powered boats in the waters around Manhattan.
Other Navigational Hazards
Recreational vessels: the harbor is public water and we are delighted to share it with our fellow rec boaters (yes, even those on jet skis!). That said, there are plenty of untrained and inexperienced skippers throttling up out there. It pays to keep a close eye on surrounding traffic and, as with commercial mariners, make yourself as visible as possible and make your intentions clear by avoiding mid-channel encounters or sudden course changes.
Fixed objects: experienced paddlers love the harbor for its ‘active water’, and many are equally charmed by the waterfront’s industrial heritage–eg, its abundance of dilapidated piers, piling fields, and mysterious discarded junk. But the combination of the two mean that there are a lot of potentially dangerous obstacles out there, some seen and some not. It’s important to take particular care around pierheads, buoys and moored vessels, where high current speeds, wind and wakes can sometimes conspire to pin, capsize, or even crush a small boat.
Fishing piers: nothing annoys fishermen more than paddlers who come to close to their lines. Remember: they are our allies and fellow activists when it comes to seeking more public access to the waterfront, so whenever possible give them a wide berth.
Security zones: The harbor’s biggest permanent security zones are around Liberty and Ellis Islands (150 yards, marked by white buoys), its cruise line terminals (100 yards), the United Nations (180 yards), and of course the airports. In theory, you are also supposed to stay 25 yards from bridge abutments, though in practice that can sometimes be impossible. A full list of port security zones (with chartlets) can be found on pages 22-25 of the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service New York User’s Manual.
One notable exception to the above is the Ellis Island Bridge, which links the island to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. In 2018, after years of advocacy, a coalition of recreational and commercial mariners won a partial victory: human-powered boaters may now cross under the bridge, on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day Weekend through October 1.
The Coast Guard issues occasional Advisory Notices (which, when germane, we try to post on the Water Trail Google Group) along with a weekly Local Notice to Mariners to announce temporary safety and security zone closures in the harbor as well as special events like naval and tall ship parades, on-water fireworks shows, and sailing regattas, openwater swim races and other large-scale recreational events like the Gerry Blackstone Manhattan Kayak Circumnavigation
Communication
Float plan: At many community boathouses, filing a formal float plan is a requirement for outside-the-embayment paddling. Even if it’s not, though, or if you are paddling independently, it’s important to let someone–‘a designated worried’–know where you are headed and when you expect to be back. This April 2020 news story, about a kayaker who wound up stranded on an island in Jamaica Bay, had a happy ending because he told his parents where he was going.
Marine radios: Although cellphones are rapidly replacing marine radios (along with every other traditional navigational tool), we strongly recommend that human-powered boaters carry one when paddling in the open harbor. Keep it on and tuned to Channel 13, the one that commercial mariners use for vessel-to-vessel hailing. You’ll gather lots of useful information that way–when ferries are about to back out, where a tug and barge might be planning to dock–and in general be more aware of and connected to commercial activity in the port.
Also, while not required, it’s a good idea to make a ‘security call‘–basically just a general “Keep an eye out for us, we’re right around the corner”–when approaching particularly busy points in the harbor like the Battery or the ferry terminal at Fulton Landing, under the Brooklyn Bridge. And of course if you are in a situation of real uncertainty–whether or not to pass behind a ferry idling at a terminal, for instance–a radio call can often clear things up immediately. Keep in mind though that because you are right at water level and without a real antenna, your radio signal can be very weak and larger vessels may not always hear you calling.
Calling for help: Channel 16 is the traditional channel for emergency calls, whether it’s a full-on ‘mayday’ or a ‘panpan’ (an urgent situation but not an immediate threat to the vessel or the people on board–for example, your paddle broke and you’re drifting into a navigational channel). But really, the key is to call for help by whatever means–channel 13, 911 on your cellphone, a whistle or horn, or even just your voice–as soon as you sense the situation slipping out of control. The marine units of both the Fire Department and the Police Department are well-trained and amazingly fast to respond–they can get just about anywhere in the harbor in minutes–and seldom judgmental if the emergency turns out not to have been so serious after all.
Other Resources
New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Paddling Guide–comprehensive map of New York and New Jersey kayak launch and programming sites
Hudson River Access Map from Defend the Valley/Scenic Hudson (launches and landings north of NYC)