GREAT ISLAND kayaking, Old Lyme, CT.

GREAT ISLAND area kayaking, Old Lyme, Ct.  Paddled thru break in Griswold Point & into LONG ISLAND SOUND (waves up to 1.5'), turned E for a bit then returned to lunch on the beach point with views across the sound & mouth of the Connecticut River at high tide.  Up the BLACKHALL RIVER (light home development) for over 2 miles, returned with outgoing tide.  Cut across Great Island's saltwater marsh to CONNECTICUT RIVER (some waves from motorboats), Lieutenant River & back on protected E side of island.  Cormorants, ospreys, snowy & great egrets, gbh, mute swans, marsh hawk.  Very interesting area.  

GREAT ISLAND, Old Lyme, CT from boat launch at end of Smith Neck Rd.    Started ~3 hours before low tide.  Great Island undeveloped, mainland lightly developed.  After exploring the shallow bay behind  Griswold Point we went around the point & into Long Island Sound, played in moderate 1'+ waves.  S wind was picking up so back (small standing waves created by wind opposing the current were interesting) & up a creek into the heart of Great Island.  Back out & N up Judges Creek to Watch Rock, landing a bit rough but nice spot for a break.  Poked into Duck River before heading back S.  Just had to go back & look at Griswold Point at low tide - Sound now white-capped.  Up the Black Hall River before calling it a day.  Mute swans, lots of osprey, great & snowy egrets, gulls, terns, sandpipers, plovers, willet, crabs.  My favorite place to paddle in CT - great variety, wildlife.  4 hours. 

July 24 - GREAT ISLAND, LONG ISLAND SOUND, CONNECTICUT RIVER. Put-in 2.5 hrs. before high tide at end of Smith Neck Rd in Old Lyme - lots of kayaks, some canoes & motorcraft. Started out around Griswold Point (a Parrothead gathering on the beach) & into the Sound. Waves mostly 1'-2' breaking in the shallows. Headed E to White Sand Beach & turned back. We all had a hard time catching a good surf in these waves - something weird about these waves. Saw some other kayakers out here - some not wearing PFDs, some on sit-on-tops, some in touring kayaks. Ducked thru gap in point into a back bay with clouds of shorebirds - most of land on point is owned by The Nature Conservancy & is fenced off to protect nesting piping plovers. Rounding S side of Great Island (mostly grasses), Hiwayman capsized (it was relatively calm here!) & Enjnir did an assisted T rescue. Continued on up W side of island now on E side of Connecticut River which is 0.5 to 1 mile wide here. Motorcraft stay in the deep water channel to the W side of river. Highest concentration of ospreys I've ever seen - each nest usually had 1 to 3 on it. Turned E into Lieutenant River - outgoing tide opposed by wind waves/ boat wakes made for the best surfing of the day. We pass a couple of adult swans with 4 good-size grey chicks. A channel leads into a bay on E side of island - several cormorants here. 10 miles, 5.5 hrs. Highly recommended for variety & natural setting - the only negative is the constant hum of motors on river & sound. Ref: Sea Kayaking along the New England Coast. Swift Saranac 14, 14' touring kayak with skeg, did quite fine as usual. Brunton removable deck compass, SealLine Taper dry bag, Werner Kalliste bent shaft primary paddle, Werner Cascadia straight shaft spare paddle.

Nov. 1, 2001 - Great Island, Old Lyme, Ct. Connecticut River & Long Island Sound kayaking. I-95, Old Lyme exit, RT. 156 south, R on Smith's Neck Rd to end. Compared with rest of Connecticut shore, this area not too developed. Put in near high tide, SW wind 10-15 knots (use weather radio for marine forecast). Paddled south & took R into channel in Great Isl. marsh then come back out. Most osprey platforms occupied by seagulls. S then W to Griswold Pt. Get out on beach for view across the sound to Long Island. Bit choppy here due to full exposure to the wind. Paddled out on the Sound a bit & played in the small waves - this would be a great practice spot for summer surfing - at this time of year (water 57 degrees) I paddle conservatively. Stopped at Nature Conservancy area (piping plover nesting) on this mile-long spit. Lunched with the seagulls on the beach. Poked into the Black Hall River then up Back River into the Connecticut River. Grasses rise 10' above my head. E before the RR bridge into the Lieutenant River under a couple bridges & almost to I-95. Return on E side of Great Isl. via a large cove full of swans & cormorants. Good description can be found in Tamsin Venn's Sea Kayaking along the New England Coast. Could smell that wonderful salt air on me all the way home. Dagger Tybee. 8 mi., 5 hrs.