Our crew of six consisting of Sally, Dave Clayton, Lissa Wolfe, Rene, Margaret, & Karl Schuman, set out on the first leg of the voyage from Pier 40 at 8:00 Am on Thursday, 6/16 bound for Alpine, NJ. The river was smooth and quiet with little wind and we arrived in Alpine in flat water under a blazing sun. After a siesta, the crew took a hike along the old Alpine trail used by the British troops under Lord Cornwallis in 1776 in pursuit of General Washington. Although the weatherman predicted thunderstorms and hail, we decided to leave Alpine at 5:00 AM Friday morning. We sailed into Croton Point Park at 11:00 AM and never felt a drop of rain-or hail.
We set up our table and helped Harbor school with waivering for public rowing on the Working Waterfront of the Clearwater Festival. We lost Karl and Lissa but picked up two new volunteers- Andre Knights from City-as-School and his friend Aboul, who joined the crew for the return voyage along with Fabian, a passing cyclist recruited by Margaret. Over the two days we were working the Clearwater waterfront, 125 people signed waivers and went out in our gigs.
We departed Croton at 4:00 PM, arriving back at Alpine just before dark at 8:00. We feasted on beans and veggies in the dark and set off at 4:00 AM for Pier 40. We caught the ebb, arriving at 9:30 AM, 76 miles and five days later.