"Six hour windows"

One of the unique aspects of this expedition is that we’ll be rowing down a “tidal river”. The Hudson is so low to the earth that it becomes flooded when the tide rises. This means that the river literally flows backwards at times, with the tidal influence being felt as far as Troy, which is upriver from where we will start. According to The Hudson River water Trail Guide by Ian H. Giddy, “The Mohican tribe called it Muhheakunnuk, which means the river that flows two ways”. Not surprisingly, some call the Hudson a “drowned river”. The tide cycle changes once every six hours. On our first day we’ll have “slack before ebb” at 8:15am – that means the tide will change then and begin to move in our direction. At that point we'll have six hours to row down river before things change and we find ourselves "walking down an up escalator". Our itinerary calls for about 25 miles of rowing per day. If we don't cover that much water in the first six hours...well let's just say that someone is going to be working the night shift.