Putzin' the Hudson [rowing]

[rebeccmeister]

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of coming up with various different ways to spend time out on the Hudson River. One of the ongoing daydreams has been to obtain one of those swan pedal boats to take up the river to Troy. It would be even more fun with slydevil aboard playing music for us. But he's more likely to acquire a Surrey well before we ever actually get a swan boat.

More realistically, our next move will probably be outfitting the O'Day for rowing, and getting the O'Day's trailer road-legal. Tasks that we can't really tackle until it's a little warmer out. In the meantime, S has suggested bringing some hot chocolate and rum down to the Corning Preserve to just hang out and watch the icebergs float by.

The other day, reading about the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and more specifically about historical Black mariners of the Hudson Valley got me wondering: when the river was the major highway for moving people and goods, what methods did vessels use to travel? Our limited sailing experience along our stretch of the river suggests that it wasn't sail power, and yet the Clearwater and fact that this blog post is about a sloop suggests sail. Anyone know, or have ideas about where to find out more?

I have to figure that by the time people got to the canal section, they were using towpaths and towing animals. Did the towing extend to the Hudson River? Is there really enough wind between Albany and NYC to sail up and down?

Comments

[twoeleven]

Anyone know, or have ideas about where to find out more?
Given the number of hits I get for "sailing on the hudson river" it would appear that many people know. :)

[rebeccmeister]

HA - what I get is all contemporary, though, not historic. :-P

[twoeleven]

If people are still sailing -- "still" since we know at least one boat was -- it suggests sail was a strong historical propulsion system, because people are unlikely to switch away from engines if that's all they were used to. (That is, towing leads "naturally" to engine power, because it has roughly the same characteristics.)

Buuut, a few of the sailing clubs seem to have been around for a while, so they may either themselves date back that far, or have club history buffs who study the period. Email is cheap. :)

[twoeleven]

FWIW, I found a few unsourced claims that say:

a) The Hudson is sailable up to Albany, which is why the city is there.

b) But construction of tall buildings in Albany and NYC has made sailing around those cities tricky. Perhaps your neck of the river is in a modern wind shadow?

[cmcmck]

River traffic here was often by specially rigged sailing barges.

The river where I grew up, the Medway in Kent,had a specific style of sailing barge. Beautiful things. This is the Cambria:

[graydon]

If you're interested in being reminded that the past is indeed another country, look up "naphtha launch".

[bluepapercup]

Steamboats!!! Among other things.