The Hudson River is tidal and flows 2-3 knots at its most. This means that every six hours we are placed SW of our mooring and then NE. The current is often so strong that even though we have had strong winds, it’s rarely enough to push the boats around.

Hudson River is named after the British navigator and explorer Henry Hudson, who in the beginning of the 17th Century, who later named the river after Hudson. The Mohicans had earlier called the river Muh-
he-kun-ne-tuk: The river that flows two ways. And hadn't it been an impossible name to pronounce, it would have been an obvious name for the river.

The other day in the dinghy we overtook a sailboat under full sail going backwards! You need quite a bit of speed to get somewhere against the current.

When the current changes in slack water the river is most calm, but turning around the mooring can be quite noisy, when the buoy hits the boat. Often it sounds like someone is banging a hammer against the hull. Unfortunately the current changes in the middle of the night, which drives me mad sometimes, but luckily it rarely lasts for too long.

Since the boats are floating according to the current (parallel with the river) and not the wind, all waves from wind and traffic often hits the boat mid ships, which results in some wild rides.

In the attempt to minimise this, Henrik has installed flopper stoppers; stabilizers to prevent the boat from rolling too much. Every rolling stabilizer consists of four plastic cones (Davis Instruments Rocker Stoppers) that are tied upon a robe with a mushroom anchor in the end,
and they are hanging on either side of the boat from the boom and a spinnaker pole. It looks quite ridiculous, but it really makes a world’s difference!

The worst part about the strong current in the Hudson is the dinghy ride back and to the boat from the marina. Sometimes we are dressed from head to toe in yellow rain suits to prevent getting sprayed with the disgusting water from the Hudson, but in sunshine and 30 degrees Celsius, we’re often more wet on the inside than the outside. So at the moment, we’re risking the spray, unless we're wearing nice clothes. We’re though looking enviously at the other’s hard bottom dinghies, and I often suggest to Henrik to buy a new one to replace our slow, soft bottom, red Plastimo. However, I always take it back, when he reminds me that my birthday is coming up, so this far we’ll manage with the raincoats and sprays from the Hudson!

Signe Storr Freelance journalist and friend of Boatshed