Cedar Point Light to Sag Harbor SWIM
Cedar Point to Sag Harbor
On August 9th, 2023 a fleet of 9 swimmers swam from Cedar Point Lighthouse to Sag Harbor against the tide and against the wind.
Distance: 3.5 miles
Mode of Travel: Swim
Swimmers: Caite Kappel, Spencer Schneider, Jeremy Grosvenor, Taylor Diepold, Nico McMahon, Drew Harvey, Mike Mata, Nick Stevens and Eric Dantes.
Level of Support: 2 Guide Boats (21’) captained by Dave Harvey and Jennifer Ferry. Crewed by Dawn Harvey, Joe Viv, and Daniel Schlaegel. Open water swimming rules applied. Not allowed to touch the boat during the swim.
Trip Report:
The original plan was to swim across Napeague Bay from Cartwright Island to Rocky Point in Montauk. Heavy winds out of the West - Northwest, and waves across Gardiner’s Bay caused the support boats to take refuge in Three Mile Harbor while transporting swimmers on the way out to Cartwright Island, and reassess the day’s plan. The decision was made to turn back towards Cedar Point. With a full crew mobilized, “Plan B” was hatched and executed.
“Plan B” was a charted Dawgpatch Swim designed and completed in 2019 by Drew Harvey and Kyle Sturmann on July 26, 2019. But as the saying goes, “No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man,” the conditions on August 9th, 2023 were far from the ideal conditions seen back in 2019. Because this swim was not the intended course for the day, the swimmers did not have the tide nor the wind with them, conditions a crew typically plans open water swims around. No matter. This crew was up at 4:30 AM and wanted to get IN THE WATER. So the swimmers got ready, and jumped off the boats to touch the beach at Cedar Point Light to begin their “Plan B” swim.
The allusion of safety soon faded after swimming off the beach at Cedar Point. Heading towards Buoy 7 off of Barcelona Point swimmers scattered into 3 pods and guide boats struggled to stay in position and keep smaller swim groups together. A small boat advisory was ON, the EBB was increasing in intensity, and the winds never tapered. Essentially following the channel, swimmers dog legged from Buoy 7 into Sag Harbor through the east opening of the breakwater. The first and second pod of swimmers finished at “Windmill Beach” past Sag Harbor’s Long Wharf, while the third pod of swimmers climbed triumphantly on to the end of the Sag Harbor Breakwater. Tenders transporting supplies to yachts moored outside of the harbor passed by in awe. All 9 swimmers completed the swim in under 2.5 hours.
