Napeague Bay Swim
On Monday July 15th the allusive Napeague Bay Swim was completed. This swim has been 3 years in the making (twice being called off due to weather), and marks the final swim of the Dawgpatch East End Swim Series. Three swimmers took on this Point to Point Challenge from Gardiners Island —> across Napeague Bay —> to the West Side of Rocky Point in Hither Hills (Montauk). All three swimmers successfully completed this 5+ mile swim despite the cold water temperatures (mid to high 60s), and unsuspecting side chop throughout the entire middle portion of the swim. Swimmers included Jeremy Grosvenor, Drew Harvey and Tayler Diepold.
Date of Completion: 07/15/2024
Mode of Travel: SWIM
Distance: 5.2 miles
Moving Time: 2 hrs 45 min
Levels of Support: 2 Dawgpatch Guide Boats, 2 captains, 3 crew members. Open water swimming rules applied.
Trip Report: The crew pushed off the docks of Sag Harbor’s Ship Ashore Marina at 5:50 AM. Captains boated out to the start location on the Southeast side of Gardiners Island with crew and swimmers. Swimmers touched the beach at 7:00 AM on Gardiners Island to begin the swim. Swim heading kept was 97 degrees east across Napeague Bay with Montauk’s radio towers as the main visual cue in the distance. This swim quickly gets into 20+ feet of water with depths consistently ranging from 29-48 feet throughout the bulk of the swim. Solid depths mixed with the strong outgoing current made the water temperature for this swim cold. Hypothermia was a risk and swimmers were taking few to no breaks in order to keep moving and stay warm. The swim finished as planned on the West Side of Rocky Point in Hither Hills of Montauk marking the line between Napeague Bay and Fort Pond Bay (a swim previously completed by the Dawgpatch in 2023).
Additional Notes: Lead Boat Captain: Dave Harvey. Trail Boat Captain: Jennifer Harvey. Crew Members: Spencer Schneider (who swam 2+ miles of the swim), Dawn Harvey. Photographer: Daniel Schlaegel.
Winds: 6-8 mph
Tide: Ebb
