Yesterday evening at dusk, I glanced out the kitchen window and noticed a forceful surge of water and ice chunks swirling out of the cove and rushing under the ramp between the dock and the lighthouse. Normally, the movements of river ice are more languid. What could cause such a sudden tumult? Most likely, a large ship speeding past. I stepped outside and walked around the lighthouse to have a look, and sure enough, a bulk cargo vessel was cruising by on its way downstream. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same one I saw a few days ago on its way upriver. Dock saw it too from his riverside home in Glasco and noticed that it plowed a bow-wave of several feet. He hailed the captain on marine radio to tell him to SLOW DOWN! Dock was worried that the wake from the vessel could send ice careening into his dock pilings. The hull suction of such a large vessel can move a large volume of water and wreak havoc at the shoreline as I witnessed at the lighthouse yesterday. I phoned Dock to warn him of the approaching vessel, but he wasn’t home.
Historic Landmark on the Hudson River