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H2O info you can and should use


A Plea for Boater Caution

Winter boating? Here are some cold water survival tips if you fall in or if you pull someone else out of the water

Boating in NYC can be a fantastic way to "get away" just minutes from our crowded shores.  However, you need to know what you are doing. 

In NYS, you don't need a license to engage in recreational boating, but we recommend taking boating classes. 

If nothing else, we encourage you to remember some safety concepts and share them with your friends:
  • Barges are often out of sight behind tugs while being towed on long cables. Do not cut close behind a tug, especially if you do not know how to read the towing lights that indicate if, and how, the tug is towing another vessel. 
  • Do not anchor in the channel; do not tie up to navigational aids.
  • Get out of the way of larger vessels (they generally have right of way since they can't move out of narrow channels).
  • Carry a VHF marine radio and wear a PFD.
  • Know the rules of the road (no, sailboats do not always have right of way).
  • Special request from Linda Fagan, Commander of Coast Guard Sector New York: Hand-powered boaters, please tie up your boat when it is on the beach or dock and label your boat with your name and phone number. The Coast Guard spends a lot of time chasing down drifting, small, empty unmarked boats because there is no easy way to tell if they are cases of "man overboard" or "boat on the loose." This takes time away from important missions. PortSide adds that this also wastes your tax dollars, so please tie-up and label!

 

Safe Boating Info

Safe Boating near commercial traffic, info from the Tug+Barge industry

I Boat NY Harbor, created by Ed Bacon, an NYC sailboat charter captain, has info on safe Boat Handling, Tides + Currents, planning your route, + more.

Boating safety quiz

NYS Boating Regulations (note the "zero tolerance" for alcohol)

Fall 2010, Coast Guard "Proceedings" Magazine, Recreational Boating Issue

Boating Safety Resource Center, Coast Guard

VHF marine radio tips from the Coast Guard

 

 

Marine Weather, Tides, Tips  

 

Waterfront Access points

The Department of City Planning has assembled a great interactive database of access points to the waterfront with photos, descriptions of what you can do there, directions etc. Get it here.

Note that many "parks' are not run by the Parks Department, and many waterfront public spaces are on private property. In Red Hook, the most well-known example of the latter is the IKEA esplanade.

 

Beaches

 

Fishing Advisory

Though local waters are much cleaner, often clean enough to swim, many fish accumulate poisons in their system and are not good to eat on a regular basis.  There are ways to protect yourself in terms of you clean and cook the fish, and knowing which fish to avoid eating.

Image courtesy NYS DEC fish safety brochure

PortSide reporting + testimony page


Web recommendations
 All illustrations this section courtesy Christina Sun/Bowsprite

Historical Resources

Old Streets guide to lost street names in Manhattan.  Includes info on how maritime industries shaped that island at Canals, Wharves, Piers, Slips, Ropewalks

NY Food Museum: seafood 100 years ago

vintage harbor video with old-time narration

NOAA vintage charts + maps "over 21,000 Maps and Charts ranging from 1747 to 2001"

 

Working Waterfront

 

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hook%2C_Brooklyn