“Meigs Raid” : Connecticut to Sag Harbor - Paddle, Portage, Paddle, Run
Hammonasset Pt, Conneticut to Sag Harbor, NY. Paddle, Portage, Paddle, Run.
Athletes : Jeremy Grosvenor, Nick Stevens, Peter Schaefer, Cheyne Bluhm, Tucker Drimal, Drew Harvey.
START POINT : Hammonasset Pt (Connecticut)
END POINT : Sag Harbor (New York)
Mode of Travel : Paddle, Portage, Paddle, Run.
Distance: 26 miles (23 mile paddle + 3 mile Run)
Date of Completion: 7/24/2026
Trip Report: Departed from Ship Ashore Marina in Sag Harbor at 6:15 AM on Dawgpatch transport boat. Rounded Orient Point via Plumb Gut at 7:00 AM……
Reached Hammonasset Pt in Connecticut by 8:00 AM to unload paddlers and boards for the start. Paddlers went in to beach for a true start off Hammonasset Pt. at 8:25 AM. Let the games begin. Paddle off Hammonasset Pt to begin the first leg of the “Meigs Raid Line” across the Long Island Sound.
Made way across the sound in ideal conditions. 3kts winds out of the NW. Tide was ebbing. The crew made quick work of the first 6 miles across the LI Sound while being guided by the DPB vessel. The line goes on a South Easterly diagonal to Hashamomuck Beach on the North Fork so a heading was made SSE knowing we’d get set further East with the outgoing current across The Sound.
We hit SIXMILE REEF AT 9:45 AM, and stopped for water and a snack at the large Red Buoy Marker “8C.” The sun was intense. Winds stayed light. Boat traffic was minimal. Had a large Black Fish sighting and Shark sighting, but Shark kept its distance and we kept ours. Hold the line. The depths in the LI Sound south of SIXMILE REEF are consistently over 100 ft deep. Water is cool and clean.
At approximately 12:30 PM had made it to the North Fork of Long Island. We took lunch and refilled waters before making landfall. Our guide boat would be leaving us on our own from this point on. On any normal day a Long Island Sound crossing would be a “good day out,” but this is the Meigs Raid Line, and as our Captain said before departing, “you’ve till got a ways to go.” We then landed at Hashamomuck Beach directly in line with Hashamomuck Pond, portaged our boards across the North RD, and down Carole Rd. Then we hopped off the retaining wall at the end of the road and dropped our boards in Hashamomuck Pond at 1:05 PM to begin Phase (2).
The tide was running out of the pond and made for swift cruising in these unfamiliar waters. Follow the current out under the train tracks and then under Route 25. Exit into Mill Creek and out the channel into Southold Bay / Shelter Island Sound.
Boat traffic was heavy in the Shelter Island Sound so paddlers stuck together as a tight crew around the “Great Hog Neck” and across the mouth of Little Peconic Bay to Jessups Neck. Entering in to Noyac Bay for the finish, paddlers we able to finish at their own clip for the last 2.5 miles. The final landing was made exactly where Colonial Meigs Landed his crew 249 years ago on the West end of Long Beach at 3:30 PM.
After 20 NM ~ 23 miles of paddling the crew took their final water break, and ate what little snacks we had left on the beach. Boards were stashed under a tree on the beach. At 4:10 PM we paid respect to the “Meigs Expedition” historical marker located in the middle of the circle Noyack-Long Beach Rd, and then took off on foot down Noyac Road for the final (3 mi) run in to the Village of Sag Harbor.
We reached the end of Long Wharf in Sag Harbor at 4:40 PM to complete the line with a few stunned onlookers wondering if we were planning to burn all of the ships docked in the Harbor at the finish. What a sight that would have been.
Levels of Support : DPB Boat “Point to Point” was used to transport paddlers and boards to start location. Captained by Dave H support vessel guided paddlers across Long Island Sound to the North Fork. North Fork portage, second paddle leg and run were unsupported.
