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July - August 2018
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Disponible en línea en español.
From Karlyn Knaust Elia
On Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 3:30 PM a northbound Articulated Tug
Barge (ABT) sailed past our property on the Hudson River at Coxsackie,
N.Y. while my family and I were enjoying the lovely spring afternoon
fishing and picnicking on the shore. Shortly after the vessel passed by,
our peaceful outing became frightening and dangerous. When I saw the
water receding dramatically I alerted the family to move away from the
shore but within moments we were awash in tsunami-like walls of cold
water. The ferocity with which the water hit us was stunning. Multiple
wakes approximately five feet tall knocked us down and pulled us under.
We were tossed around and hit with debris. We were underwater for 10 to
15 seconds and unable to help one another.
My partner, a skilled mariner and former Saugerties Lighthouse Keeper,
and I were both underwater as waves continued to tumble us around. My
pregnant daughter swooped up her 3-year-old daughter and grabbed onto
her husband to maintain footing. They were in water up their necks.
The wakes created by the ATB were the largest and most dangerous I
have ever experienced on the Hudson. All of our picnic items and fishing
gear were swept off the beach and into the river. Some of it was recovered
that day and some of it was permanently lost. A heavy wooden folding
chair was totally destroyed. I have a badly bruised right leg and my
partner is still limping due to a severely twisted knee.
The wake was enormous apparently due to the fact that this large vessel
was traveling too fast where the river is narrow.
Our property is located at the south end of River Road in Coxsackie. It
was formerly the site of an icehouse where barges tied up at the dock to
load their product. It has been in our family since 1925. The icehouse is no
longer there and we use the property recreationally.
the tide had been slowly coming in. We watched a particularly large
barge and tug go by (I recall that it had maroon and black on part of
it) and soon after it passed, the water swiftly receded. I had never seen
water go so far out into the river so quickly. We were so surprised about
it. I held Anna’s hand and we chased after it going out into the river.
My mom screamed at us to come back. She said that the water would
come back “in a wave like a tsunami”. At that moment, she couldn’t
have predicted what had happened only seconds later. The sound of the
incoming wake grew louder coming up from the south as the barge had
been traveling north. We saw it toward the south end of the beach and
quickly ran inland expecting to be splashed a little bit and maybe get
our feet wet. But the water came faster than expected and suddenly it
was at our ankles. Yoshiki, my husband, was behind us and told me
to hold on tight to Anna. At this time, I was four months pregnant. I
hadn’t picked her up since I became pregnant back in January. Without
thinking, I swept her in my arms and ran toward the embankment less
than 20 feet away — there was only so far that we could go up to the
ledge to this wall of land. Before reaching the embankment, the wake
had caught us and we were up to our necks in water. If Anna hadn’t been
next to me within these moments, she surely would’ve been helplessly
underwater. The water came in hard and my husband grabbed onto my
arm. I glanced over to my mother and her boyfriend Dick, concerned
about their well being. I watched Dick stand up, or perhaps was pushed
up by the force of the water, faced the north and was knocked over
face first into the water with his arms stretched out. My mother was
just south of him trying to grab hold of something and move inland but was
also knocked over and engulfed into the water. The water then receded and
left our bodies completely soaked. The water came in again hard. I watched
as all of our belongings on the beach were swept into the river. Everything.
Mortified, we checked on one another to make sure everyone was ok. Anna
was crying. My mother and Dick were both on their hands and knees in shock
and drenched. My husband checked on them and then ran into the river to
try and retrieve our belongings. All I wanted to do was get off of the beach as
quickly as possible with Anna. I didn’t care about our belongings. Still holding
onto her, with her cold, wet legs wrapped around my body, I ran north of the
beach, climbed up the bank, and back across a field to our car. I didn’t put her
down until I got to the car. She was soaking wet and afraid. I took all of her
clothes off so she wouldn’t get cold. Fortunately it was a warm day, in the 80s.
The others returned to the car. Yoshiki had to help mom as she was having a
hard time walking and she was bleeding. Dick was limping. Their keys went
missing with the wake and we all had to squeeze into our car. When we got
back to Saugerties we drove to the Coast Guard Station on the Esopus Creek
and reported the incident. I kept thinking about Anna though and that if
she had not been next to an adult when this ferocious wake hit, the water
would’ve just grabbed her and sucked her small body into the River. What
if her young cousins had joined us that day running along the beach out of
arm’s length from an adult? They would have been sucked into the river by
the monster man-made wake only because the barge was going too fast! This
was not an act of nature, it should never have happened, and it could have
been prevented with basic safety precautions.
To my readership
:
There are two sides to every story and
there certainly is in this regard. There is a very fine line between
operating a tug and barge or even a ship under the conditions
that occur in the close quarters of the Hudson River. I have many
friends that are 100 ton or higher captains. One or two have
given up their jobs as captains as the responsibility of operating
these ships rests on their shoulders and theirs alone. In many
cases, what happens to them while operating a ship cannot
be controlled by the captain. Engine failure, or breakdown of a
mechanical part for instance or in the case of operating the ship
or tug under extreme or even mild conditions.
What the general public is completely unaware of is the forces
of nature such as tides, currents, wind an weather that play a
significant part in the daily operation of the vessel.
So before conclusions are drawn these types of situations must
be studied in great detail. I regret having to bring this situation
to the attention of the general public as there is far too much
negativity published regarding the Hudson River.
The author of this letter has the coordinates’ the AIS report including
time speed an destination of the barge an tug involved in this incident.
It is her wish that one of many authorities or government agencies do
something about these incidents!