GUILTY NY - Vincent Viafore, 46, Newburgh, 19 April 2015 - #2

[JerseyGirl]

"The currents aren't moving too swiftly in this case," said Judge Robert Freehill, during the conference on Monday. :waitasec: was that a pun?

She is due back in court January 28.

Her murder trial is tentatively set for next spring.


http://westchester.news12.com/news/...-slaying-of-fiance-vincent-viafore-1.11250498

 

[RWright]

You have experience, the victim did not. You have been lucky, the victim evidently not. People do stupid things like standing up in kayaks all the time. Ya never know.....

Greetings RickshawFan,
I have to disagree with your post.

Vinny Viafore grew up on The Hudson,
Angelika did not, she apparently would be the person without much experience, I'd betcha.

Vinny Viafore also owned a boat prior to Angelika moving in with him, it was a Stingray.
Here's the kinda boat Vinny owned:
http://www.stingrayboats.com/

Vinny would have some skill out on his local waters, like I do in mine.
He also, from what I recall, played around in kayaks over the years,
so he was not without experience.

If Vinny was a dude with no water experience,
he should have capsized and been tossed into The Hudson waaaay before 10, 15 or 20 minutes of dealing with wind, wind choppy waves, and a little current before he went into the water. Especially if he was drunk.

* * *

You have made mention of folks standing up in a kayak all the time.
Not my personal experience when paddling in winds and waves.

But here's a short video of a gal with a kayak like Angelika's,
paddlin' a bit, and standing up in it, but in calm, glassy conditions:
[video=youtube;AvViiRYpsc0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvViiRYpsc0[/video]


But on the afternoon +evening of April 19th, it was not calm + glassy on The Hudson.
The wind was blowing. Hard at times. And it was the fact that Angelika had removed his drain-age plug, located at the end of the stern of his kayak, plus the wind that created the chop, the white-caps, err wind waves, that caused Vinny Viafore to have problems.

You do know that there is a weather station right adjacent to Bannerman Island, right?
Some local Hudson Valley windsurfers, called The River Rats,
got some $$$ together and had a wind gauge installed on this tower,
so as to know when to go out and ride their windsurfboards,
this tower is located to the right of The Island in this photograph:

So we can see the wind report from that day, and other days too.
Here is a copy of the wind report from that weather station,
right near from where Angelika + Vinny departed from:

The winds were blowing in the upper 20 to 30 miles an hour, pretty hard, I'd say,
as I've been out in a kayak, in winds over 40 miles an hour that I have personally measured
from the waters of Los Angeles while doing research...

* * *

Any kayaker will feel the water when they 1st start to paddle,
for you always get your feet wet. And the water temp was what, 46° or 48° degrees?
Pretty chilly.

No way that Vinny is going to stand up in a kayak out in the middle of The Hudson as winds blowing up into the 20 miles plus per hour range buffet his + Angelika's kayaks around. It would be too dangerous, in my humble opinion, as any dude with experience would know...

My 2¢ only,
RW

 

[RWright]

Greetings again, WebSleuths!

In my post above,
I shared a wind report from Bannerman Island on the day that Vinny Viafore lost his life.

In this post,
here is the wind report from the next day, and a short video from The River,
allowing a person to see the wind and big(?)wave conditions in relation to the weather report:

And here's the video clip where you can see the wind + wave conditions,
as The Police search for Vinny's body out on The River:
[video=youtube;wSFWva9NTVA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSFWva9NTVA[/video]

 

[RWright]

Exactly right. That kayak model does not have sealed bulkheads, which means any water coming in through the drain hole can swamp the entire cockpit. In that case, the whole boat goes under. The victim didn't even need to be tossed. He could have floated right out.

Greetings RickshawFan,
As I have the same model of kayak as Vinny Viafore did when his "accident" occurred,

I totally agree with this I bolded above.

That the open drain-age hole will indeed eventually, inevitably sink the kayak Vinny Viafore was using, sooner if the wind is causing the white caps/wind waves to come over the stern so that water is coming in thru that open hole every few seconds...

None of us where out there paddling on The Hudson that afternoon.
Just Angelika and Vinny.

This quote below, by Angelika, from ABC News tells me a lot.
BUT it seems most folks do not agree with what she is telling us.
Odd, since we were not there:

During the interrogation, Graswald told investigators that she had removed the drain plug from Viafore’s kayak days before they went out, and didn’t realize she hadn’t put it back until they were already out on the Hudson. When asked why she hadn’t brought the plug with her, she said, “I thought he had it,” and then later she said, “He didn't have it because I guess I had it.”

“We were already in the water. I’m like, ‘Yo, where’s your plug. Are you kidding me? I was mad at him,” she told investigators. “His boat starting to get lower in the water… because of the waves, because of the plug not being in there… [The kayak] started to fill up, and I knew that the plug wasn’t in there. I was like ‘oh this is not good.’”

Link:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-kayak...ation-video-reveals-details/story?id=33696436

* * *

No where have I ever read that Angelika said the waves were soooo big, so crazy
that they were cresting, breaking + coming in over the sides and into the kayak thru the open *advertiser censored*-pit.

Just that Angelika herself saw Vinny's boat was starting to get lower in the water,
because of the waves, and the open drain-age hole.
And she had the plug!

She also says that she knew drain-age plug was not in there???
Didn't Vinny not know?

Weren't they conversing out there?
Figuring out a plan to deal with the problem?

How come Angelika gets mad at Vinny,
no, not concerned nor worried, but mad because he does not have the drain-age plug screwed in?
Which she had???

Gosh,
if you have a chance, watch the linked ABC News story,
don't you too luv it as Angelika nods her head yes as she talks of being Euphoric?

See ya folks later,
RW

 

[RickshawFan]

Greetings RickshawFan,
I have to disagree with your post.

Vinny Viafore grew up on The Hudson,
Angelika did not, she apparently would be the person without much experience, I'd betcha.

Vinny Viafore also owned a boat prior to Angelika moving in with him, it was a Stingray.
Here's the kinda boat Vinny owned:
http://www.stingrayboats.com/

Vinny would have some skill out on his local waters, like I do in mine.
He also, from what I recall, played around in kayaks over the years,
so he was not without experience.

If Vinny was a dude with no water experience,
he should have capsized and been tossed into The Hudson waaaay before 10, 15 or 20 minutes of dealing with wind, wind choppy waves, and a little current before he went into the water. Especially if he was drunk.

* * *

You have made mention of folks standing up in a kayak all the time.
Not my personal experience when paddling in winds and waves.

But here's a short video of a gal with a kayak like Angelika's,
paddlin' a bit, and standing up in it, but in calm, glassy conditions:
[video=youtube;AvViiRYpsc0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvViiRYpsc0[/video]


But on the afternoon +evening of April 19th, it was not calm + glassy on The Hudson.
The wind was blowing. Hard at times. And it was the fact that Angelika had removed his drain-age plug, located at the end of the stern of his kayak, plus the wind that created the chop, the white-caps, err wind waves, that caused Vinny Viafore to have problems.

You do know that there is a weather station right adjacent to Bannerman Island, right?
Some local Hudson Valley windsurfers, called The River Rats,
got some $$$ together and had a wind gauge installed on this tower,
so as to know when to go out and ride their windsurfboards,
this tower is located to the right of The Island in this photograph:

So we can see the wind report from that day, and other days too.
Here is a copy of the wind report from that weather station,
right near from where Angelika + Vinny departed from:

The winds were blowing in the upper 20 to 30 miles an hour, pretty hard, I'd say,
as I've been out in a kayak, in winds over 40 miles an hour that I have personally measured
from the waters of Los Angeles while doing research...

* * *

Any kayaker will feel the water when they 1st start to paddle,
for you always get your feet wet. And the water temp was what, 46° or 48° degrees?
Pretty chilly.

No way that Vinny is going to stand up in a kayak out in the middle of The Hudson as winds blowing up into the 20 miles plus per hour range buffet his + Angelika's kayaks around. It would be too dangerous, in my humble opinion, as any dude with experience would know...

My 2¢ only,
RW

I am a kayaker and I work in a kayak business....And I certainly am knowledgeable enough to know that water gets into the cockpit from dripping off the paddle, not to mention when hopping in.

I'm not arguing about weather. I'm not arguing about criminal intent and removing the drainage plug on the victim's kayak, though that's certainly what this case is about.

I'm arguing about behavior and poor choices.

Operating a motorboat is not at all the same thing as paddling a kayak. And yes, people do do stupid things like standing up in kayaks, or leaning over the edge to pick up a water bottle, going after a drifting paddle because they don't have a spare, just like they do stupid things with motorboats, when it's too dangerous to do so.

Experience is not at all the same as "not stupid". Many people take risks and then call themselves "experienced" simply because they've not had a bad outcome. Taking out a boat without sealed bulkheads in that weather, as he did, is a sign of inexperience, stupidity, or extreme risk taking unwarranted by the situation. He certainly seems clueless enough to have stood up to answer a nature call. He could have been answering the other kind of nature call as well...probably did this all the time in his motorboat, since he was an experienced drinker. He may well have been used to drinking and driving the motorboat as well: many people do that who regard themselves as "experienced" boaters, when in fact their behavior can be lethal to others.

Taking out a boat in "weather" even with a plug appropriately installed reflects a poor choice. This kind of boat is designed for recreational flatwater. It is not designed for a large river; it is not designed for the sea; it is not designed for any other conditions or locations because it swamps, no plug, plug in place, all of it. It is an invitation for disaster. It just took someone with an evil mind to take advantage of the situation and make disaster happen.

Non whitewater kayaks that are designed for use in the ocean or for rivers like the Hudson have sealed bulkheads. The sealed bulkheads keep the kayak afloat when it tips. They do not have plugs, because, surprise surprise, you can lose your plug. Water can go in and not out! And without sealed bulkheads, water can fill the cockpit and sink the boat. Sea kayakers use spray skirts unless it's very calm.

People who go out improperly outfitted are counting on a rescue from someone else like the coastguard or a passing fishing boat. This is extremely selfish and puts others at serious risk.

Someone with experience would have a life jacket and would be able to self-rescue. There would be a spare paddle. There would be emergency equipment. There would be a plan to get back to shore. None of this was happening.

Plus, if Anjelika's boat was like the one in the video, it should never have been anywhere except in quiet water. That boat does not have sealed bulkheads either. It doesn't even have adequate-quality bungees to stow a lunch! The ones in the photo are cosmetic....

If Anjelika's boat was so inadequate and Viafiore was so experienced, why in heck would he have agreed to go on this trip?

 

[OldSteve]

Greetings again Webslueths,
As I wrote earlier today,
I surf, kayak, and sometimes look for sharks here in the water of Los Angeles.
A few more pix to show you that I kinda know a little bit about what I will discuss with you, ok, for my life revolves around waves, swell, wind, water, + I am very comfortable in it.

1 is of a Great White Shark swimming toward me as I do observation:

I sometimes get lucky and video or photograph breaching sharks near me,
from my kayak.

This photo shows me out past Santa Monica Pier:

Using the same kayak a Vinny Viafore.
It is stable, paddles well, in surf, swell, + wind.


The photo below is from today.
The surf was small, but higher than any photo's or video's that I have ever seen of waves around Bannerman Island. So I went out for a little while and rode some waves using the same kayak model as what Vinny Viafore was using.

See the stern of my kayak as I paddle into a little wave starting to swell up behind me?

See the handle and where the drain-age plug is? Water is all over that area.

Like I've said, you do not get much water in thru the *advertiser censored*-pit when paddling or dealing with these little waves. But if water is continuously coming over the stern, and in thru that small open drain-age hole, well 15 minute sounds about the time I'd imagine it took for Vinny Viafore to have an "accident" happen, and he was tossed into the cold waters of The Hudson. For some reason, I've read that it took Angelika quite awhile to call 911 for help...

My opinions only.
See ya,
RW

Chiming in with my thanks for your excellent commentary and photos! I noticed your paddle has a tether on it - I don't think Vinny's had one...

 

[RWright]

Hi OldSteve, and everyone else.
Thanks for the note, and Thanks to You too whom have welcomed me.
I joined years ago, mainly as I was deeply interested in The Meredith Kercher murder and The Trials of Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollectio and [SIZE=-2]Rudy Guede[/SIZE]. In the years it took to figure out that case, I learned much about the online debating thingy, researchin' + chattin' with others, etc.

Cool,
as it is helping me discuss other topics I might be interested in, such as this particularly odd case.
A case were everyone at 1st believed it was an "accident" that cost Vinny Viafore his life, but upon closer examination, it appears, well at least to this surfer/kayaker/ photographer, that Angelika helped cause Vinny's "accident". New York Police seem to believe this too.

In this "accident" Angelika would have earned $250,000.00.
Even though she + Vinny had no children together, nor a house in their name,
since Vinny was renting, and Angelika was staying there, I'd speculate, rent free,
as she had no job at the time.

Yep, OldSteve, you are pretty observant,
that is a 6t surf leash attached to my Vinny kayak.
I learned years ago that a dude, or dude-ette, can not paddle a kayak anywhere,
without a paddle, as your hand will not suffice. Heck, I had to paddle out 1 day, a few years ago, my own kayak paddle offshore to a fisherman who had lost his un-teathered paddle while fighin' a fish here in the waters off Los Angeles. I was checkin' on him, usin' binoc's, saw him trying to paddle with 1 swim fin in his hand, laughed, grabbed my surfboard + kayak paddle, got to him, helped get a dude get back to the beach. He lost his crappy paddle, but reeled in a nice halibut!

I'm off-topic,
let me get back on track.
I'd like to talk about kayaks + waves,
as Angelika said it waves and that open drain-age hole that apparently caused Vinny to get tossed from his kayak into The Hudson River.

I've noticed that on The Hudson River near Bannerman Island,
most folks who paddle there, privately or in paid lessons, seem to paddle sit-inside kayaks.
Like in this photograph:

Or here,
as folks enjoy an evening paddle:

In Rickshawfan's excellent post above,
he mentions that Vinny + Angelika's sit-inside kayaks do not have bulkheads, and the dangers that might cause. But yet I'd betcha that most, if not almost all of the sit-inside kayaks seen near Bannerman Island also do not have bulkheads in them. Odd how more people are not dying out there on The Hudson River, year in, year out, from paddling these kind of kayaks...

I'm an old surfer,
all I do nowadays is surf, shoot surfpix, kayak, sometimes look for sharks from a kayak.
I watched hundreds of waves today, shot some surfpix too. Here is my gallery, it might give some folks a clue to some of my experience with waves, here in Los Angeles:
http://www.lasurfpix.exposuremanager.com/

The waves on The Hudson are caused by local winds, if they blow hard enough, long enough, wind waves/wind swells, white caps will develop and form. These kind of waves are short lived, choppy, consistant, often in close proximity to each other.

Here's a photo of a dude paddling to Bannerman Island,
shot by his gal, posted on Yelp, titled Crazy Waves:

The waves can and will go over his stern, without going into the *advertiser censored*-pit seating area.
Most do not believe this so...

Have any of you watched the recent ABC 20/20 show on this case we discuss?
If so, did you see the video showing the 2 screen grab pix I am posting?(*)

Elizabeth Vargas is conversing with a dude whose last name I kinda dig, a dude named Wright.

As they converse,
a lil' wave has come over Wright's stern, carrying handle, and drain-age hole, which is plugged I hope!

See the 2nd lil' wave swelling behind Vargas's kayak paddle?

Let's see what it is going to do:

The 2nd wave has come up + over the stern, the carrying handle, the drain-age plug.
And Wright apparently does not even notice this...

When I kayak paddle,
I deal with waves, wind swell, white water, wind chops bigger than these waves.
Bigger than any waves that I have ever seen photographed or video's near Bannerman Island.
I hardly ever get much water in the *advertiser censored*-pit seating area. Even on my last good paddle in The Vinny's kayak, which took me about 10 hours as I covered over 28 miles roundtrip here in the waters off Los Angeles.

I try to keep an open mind in this case we discuss,
but when I look at this video clip that Angelika shot from the dock at Bannerman Island,
which she posted online + tagged as #alittlechoppy, amongst over tags,
https://www.instagram.com/p/pZbuHIKIs2/
well I just do not see these kinda choppy, white-capping wind waves,
possibly crashing into the side of Vinny's yak and coming up over and into the *advertiser censored*-pit
of Vinny's kayak as being the cause of his sinking.

It was the waves coming over his stern, as Angelika stated, that did it:
“We were already in the water. I’m like, ‘Yo, where’s your plug. Are you kidding me? I was mad at him,” she told investigators. “His boat starting to get lower in the water… because of the waves, because of the plug not being in there… [The kayak] started to fill up, and I knew that the plug wasn’t in there. I was like ‘oh this is not good.’"

My 2¢ only,
RW

(*) - http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-kayak-murder-case-timeline-events-mysterious-death/story?id=34973210

 

[RWright]

Greetings everyone,
when I correspond with folks about this case we discuss,
I mention that in such windy choppy conditions, Vinny Viafore had to have had some skill
in dealing with The Hudson River.

For the "accident" happened about 15 minutes or so into the paddle home.

If Vinny was in-experienced,
I'd speculate that he shoulda capsized a lot closer to shore, closer to Bannerman Island.
And he could have possibly swam or even waded back to shore.

The "accident" happened after water was slowly coming over the stern, and into that open drain-age hole. As more water came in, the stern of Vinny's kayak got lower. More water can get in. At some point, the stern would have been submerged deeper, and water would have been continuously coming into that open drain-age hole, just like it can rush out too. Like in that screen grab photo I posted previously...

See ya,
RW

 

[RickshawFan]

Posting error.

 

[RickshawFan]

Greetings again, WebSleuths!

In my post above,
I shared a wind report from Bannerman Island on the day that Vinny Viafore lost his life.

In this post,
here is the wind report from the next day, and a short video from The River,
allowing a person to see the wind and big(?)wave conditions in relation to the weather report:

And here's the video clip where you can see the wind + wave conditions,
as The Police search for Vinny's body out on The River:
[video=youtube;wSFWva9NTVA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSFWva9NTVA[/video]

That weather is hideous! Who, with any experience, would go out in that stuff?
Without the New York State law-required PFD? New York requires the PFD to be worn by kayakers between November 1 and May 1. For other months, it's required to be in the kayak and accessible (this rule is common to many states).

http://parks.ny.gov/recreation/boating/safe-boating/life-jackets.aspx

This kayak couple were flagrantly disregarding the regulations for PFD's.

This whole situation is just all wrong. I don't believe anything this woman says....

 

[BunnyHop]

Greetings everyone,
when I correspond with folks about this case we discuss,
I mention that in such windy choppy conditions, Vinny Viafore had to have had some skill
in dealing with The Hudson River.

For the "accident" happened about 15 minutes or so into the paddle home.

If Vinny was in-experienced,
I'd speculate that he shoulda capsized a lot closer to shore, closer to Bannerman Island.
And he could have possibly swam or even waded back to shore.

The "accident" happened after water was slowly coming over the stern, and into that open drain-age hole. As more water came in, the stern of Vinny's kayak got lower. More water can get in. At some point, the stern would have been submerged deeper, and water would have been continuously coming into that open drain-age hole, just like it can rush out too. Like in that screen grab photo I posted previously...

See ya,
RW

:welcome:

above BBM.
I live in the area, and have paddled Bannerman's with a friend in "sea kayaks", in the summer. I have seen large white caps as the river narrows through the highlands. The current and wind can be very strong.

When I first heard it on the news, my first reaction was surprise that anyone would be out there so early in the season. There was ice on the river a few weeks prior. There would be very few boats at that time-maybe a few rugged fishermen.

My common sense also questioned why they would go out of their way to cross the bridge to launch on the west coast and make a dangerous crossing. There are many safe places close to Bannerman's on the east side of the river. Bannerman's is close to shore and would have been much safer. Also, Bannerman's was off limits, she knew it, yet they went anyway.

They also decided to start out late in the afternoon and return at sunset.
So many bad decisions were made that day IMO.

 

[RWright]

:welcome:

above BBM.
I live in the area, and have paddled Bannerman's with a friend in "sea kayaks", in the summer. I have seen large white caps as the river narrows through the highlands. The current and wind can be very strong.

<snip>

Greetings Bunnyhop,
Thanks for posting this, good personal info!

Angelika did volunteer work on Bannerman Island every Wednesday.
Going thru her Facebook and Instagram pix and video's, I found this below awhile back,
which gave me a look at what The Hudson can be like. She apparently shot it and posted it online on Wed. June 18, 2014.

This is a screengrab photo from her short video that I will also link again,
Angelika shot it from the dock at Bannerman Island.
Would you consider this average or large white caps?

If you have a moment,
can you watch Angelika's video?
Just place your mouse cursor in the middle of this Instagram link:
https://www.instagram.com/p/pZbuHIKIs2/


I have been using the Bannerman Island weather station tower to better understand this case.
Here is the weather station:

Below is the wind report from that day Angelika shot + posted her video.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014:

 

[RWright]

This is the Bannerman Island weather station wind report from the day Vinny died.
Sunday, April 19, 2015

Here are the graph details:

 

[RWright]

Lastly,
this is the correct wind report from the next day as the search for Vinny was under way.
Monday, April 20, 2015:

 

[RWright]

Greetings WebSleuths!
I've been doing some tests using The Vinny kayak, while dealing with waves.
You will like them, they are informative, as I have done some tests with the drain-age plug removed.
That's why I'm extremely curious about those Hudson River waves, white caps, wind chop.

Astute observers will have noticed that in the screen grab photo's I posted the other day of that Wright dude conversing with Elizabeth Vargas on ABC's 20/20 show that a little wave was washing over the stern of The Vinny kayak he was sitting in, and he did not apparently even know this.

The 2nd little wave washed over his stern just 2 seconds later,
with more lil waves on the way.

10 to 15 minutes of lil' waves washing over the stern,
and the drain-age plug has been removed?
Uh oh! Trouble...

 

[RWright]

Greetings again WebSleuth's!
The surf is still small here in Los Angeles, so I'm about to start getting ready to paddle The Vinny kayak out onto the waters of the Pacific Ocean again, to try out a different camera angle...

Before I do so,
I wanted to point out something that is intriguing me.
See the wind graphs from Sunday, April 19, 2015?

Angelika and Vinny left Plum Point around 4:00pm.
The wind, after calming down earlier that afternoon, has started blowing already, it has changed direction, it is now blowing from up the South, as the River flows against it, heading seaward for the next 50 or so odd miles.

If Vinny's kayak did not have his drain-age plug screwed in,
his kayak should have taken on water in thru that open drain-age hole on their 1st paddle.
As they paddled towards Bannerman Island.

He should have some water in the stern area of his kayak already when he landed on Bannerman.
He likely would have noticed this if any significant amount came in, as it will slosh forward as a dude paddles in wind chop or thru + over wind created swells. But maybe it was not enough to notice yet.

I would really like to see an enhanced CCTV image as Vinny drove on the highways towards Plum Point. Is it possible to see if the drain-age plug is still there? Or is the drain-age hole open?

The reason I ask,
is that I find it a little hard to believe that Vinny had no clue his drain-age plug was missing.

How come he did not notice it as he took his kayak out from behind his living room couch?
Placed it down next to his car? Picked it up to load onto his car?
Un-loaded it? carried it to the waters edge? Launced it. Arrived at Bannerman, pulled his kayak up to shore? Opened the storage hatch to get a Modelo beer for Angelika and himself? Vinny should have seen any water inside his kayak then. Or noticed that his drain-age plug was missing as he closed the cargo hatch? Unless Angelika did all of this...

From what I recall, Vinny worked as a manager,
so he is not some clue-less clod type-a dude, right?

Surely he should have noticed the open hole on his stern.
Did he do anything to close it? Might Graswald not want to discuss this in her public interviews? Heck, I've even wondered if Angelika might have removed the drain-age plug while out at Bannerman before heading back or even removed it while out on the water?
Weird case, 1 that, as you can tell, I am intrigued about!
See ya next time!
RW
:seeya:

 

[BunnyHop]

Angelika and Vinny left Plum Point around 4:00pm.
The wind, after calming down earlier that afternoon, has started blowing already, it has changed direction, it is now blowing from up the South, as the River flows against it, heading seaward for the next 50 or so odd miles.

That's troubling to me, the time of their departure. It would make more sense to depart at say 11:00AM with more sun, less wind than to make the crossing under those conditions at sunset. I would have called a friend to pick me up and drive me to my car.

But maybe it was not enough to notice yet.

How could you not notice freezing water? I'd like to know how they were dressed.

Did he do anything to close it? Might Graswald not want to discuss this in her public interviews? Heck, I've even wondered if Angelika might have removed the drain-age plug while out at Bannerman before heading back

Again, if it was me, I would have plugged up that hole with a rolled up plastic bag or something. Just saying.....

Angelika did volunteer work on Bannerman Island every Wednesday.
Going thru her Facebook and Instagram pix and video's, I found this below awhile back,
which gave me a look at what The Hudson can be like. She apparently shot it and posted it online on Wed. June 18, 2014.

Thanks for the pic. (I can't get the video to play)
The white caps I've seen are much larger than that.

That pic shows leaves on the trees. In April-NO LEAVES, cold and dreary.

Bannerman's is between Beacon and Cold Spring. The river narrows dramatically as you approach Cold Spring. Think of it as a funnel.

All that water funneling through the narrows as tides change. So currents get very strong. The water there is "choppy".

The wind picked up about 4PM. That's just terrible conditions.

 

[BunnyHop]

Angelika did volunteer work on Bannerman Island every Wednesday.

I realize that. It is off limits pre season and only at specified times.
She was not on "work detail" that fateful day.

 

[BunnyHop]

This is the Bannerman Island weather station wind report from the day Vinny died.
Sunday, April 19, 2015

Here are the graph details:

I was curious about wind direction. According to the graph, they were paddling directly into 30mph wind. I wonder about the tide?

That wind would have made it that much harder for them.

 

[BunnyHop]

Found this:

2015-04-19 Sun 12:47 PM EDT 3.3 feet High Tide
2015-04-19 Sun 7:23 PM EDT -0.5 feet Low Tide
2015-04-19 Sun 7:40 PM EDT Sunset

http://tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/6932.html?y=2015&m=4&d=19