On the Waterfront. Observations of a Hoboken Paddler.: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and Sad

I'll start with the good.... This past weekend was beautiful - warm temps, low humidity, and calm waters. It was perfect for paddling. I spent hours paddling up and down the waterfront.

The bad... As I was paddling out (at low tide which I rarely do), I was able to get some pictures of the old wooden pylons that are getting eaten away by shipworms. If you are wondering why our piers are collapsing, take a close look at the picture below. The image was taken east of the Tea Building in northern Hoboken. That's 100+ year old wood supporting 6+ feet of concrete.

The Ugly... I noticed that the ships that are collecting in Weehawken Cove are looking even more worse-for-ware than last year. It doesn't seem there is any over site to who moors ships in the cove. Below is a picture of a sunken ship that was floating around the cove last summer.

And finally, the sad... I was really excited to learn that a new boat ramp had been placed on the walkway between Hoboken and Weehawken. I was really hoping to start using it as a launch point. However, once I got there, I realized that no kayak will ever launch there. The rocks that were used for the "beach" are enormous and would do serious damage to most boats (especially composite boats - mine is plastic and I would never put-in there). I'm not sure if the beach was intended for kayak use or not, but if it was, it was very poorly designed. The smaller pebbles at the top would be fine, but only if boaters launch and return at high tide - unlikely. See below.