Reviews: Pollepel Island

Review for Pollepel Island

Reviewed by: Capt. Mac Rubel on Jun 11, 2023
LOA: 48'
Draft: 5.0'

Enter the anchorage from the south at an old water intake building one mile below the anchorage icon with about 7 feet MLW at the bar. Depth quickly increases to as much as 15 feet as you carefully move up the narrow unmarked channel. Depth at the icon is about 15 feet MLW and the channel width at that point is about 250 feet. In most circumstances you will align with the current flow but, with 90 feet of chain out, slack tide, and winds not aligned with the current flow, there will be times that you will wander and it is important that you place your boat nearly in the center of the channel to handle this. There is room for four or more boats, aligned in the center of the channel to safely anchor and swing. The sailboat already anchored just above the icon was resting on bow and stern anchors and was not swinging. We were not comfortable with the situation so we spun and headed back down the channel to the entry where, towards the river side, at the end of the island tail, we dropped our anchor in 9 feet MLW with the anchor immediately setting itself. There was plenty of space between us and the channel for anyone who wanted in or out. We felt more comfortable in this location even though it looked like it was more exposed.

Ebb current at Pollepel Island is about 1.5 mph and we swung into the ebb tide and then back into the flood tides easily with no anchor drag. We found ourselves further away from the east shore train whistles as well. The weather started quietly but we had a period of 10-15 mph winds during the night and we were glad that we had chosen to anchor with extra swing room. We slept well. Yes, there were wakes, but not bad. Yes there were trains on both sides of the river but you kind of get used to them. In the morning we waited for the flood tide, pulled a clean anchor, and started up the river with a favorable current after a good stay.

Pollepel Island is the home of the remains of Bannerman Castle, a private arsenal that blew up and then caught fire. There are supervised tours of the island but boaters are not encouraged to land there. Cell service was very good for the three major carriers. There is a small beach about a mile below the water intake that you can take Fido to if needed.

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer

Review for Pollepel Island

Reviewed by: Skipper Bob on Jun 1, 2016
Draft: 0.0'

View location on the Waterway Guide Explorer