creek present there during high tides may allow you to get close enough to get a good view of the modest but historic residence.
Head back out onto the main body of the harbor, and you’ll see Wood Tick Island to the east. If you look beyond the island as you pass its northern tip, the harbor’s inlet should come into view. Paddling out the inlet will bring you into Napeague Bay, with Gardiners Island and its smaller sibling, Cartwright, off in the distance. On calm days, the crossing to Cartwright can be a pleasant side trip, though it seems a shame to head out onto the bay from here without first exploring Accabonac Harbor’s relatively unspoiled northern reaches.
Looking north from the Merrill Lake Sanctuary, the scattering of houses along the narrow causeway to the east will be visible, as will what appears to be a long, unbroken stretch of salt marsh to the west. Study the area using Google Earth, though, and the vast network of mosquito ditches that break up the marsh will also be evident. These ditches were dug, like those in 90 percent of the marshes along the East Coast, to promote a greater flow of water into and out of the marsh areas. The thought behind this was that mosquitoes rely on standing water to lay eggs and produce larvae. Thus, if water could be kept from standing, the insects could be kept from laying eggs, effectively stopping the spread of these nuisance critters and the sicknesses they carry.
TWO OF ACCABONAC’S BIRDS
Although the effectiveness of the ditches is arguable, their detrimental effects on ecosystems have become widely known—they’ve been found to increased the flow of both pollutants into marsh areas and desirable nutrients out of them. For these reasons, many conservation groups, The Nature Conservancy included, have recently begun taking steps to remedy this problem.
Look up the ditches you’ll pass while paddling north along Accabonac’s western shore, and you’ll see one such effort. Small dams made of sandbags and branches have been erected at the ends of many ditches, slowing down the flow of water and allowing it to remain in the marsh during low tide. This may allow more mosquito larvae to survive in the area, but it also gives predatory fish greater access to the juvenile insects. Unfortunately, these makeshift dams require constant upkeep if expected to continue functioning. Witnessing the breakdown of some of the dams makes it obvious that the conservation groups have a long road ahead of them.
You can paddle more than 1 mile north along this marsh before you reach the harbor’s northern tip. Only a few houses, set back a bit from the water, can be seen along the way, allowing you to focus instead on the large groups of diving terns, swimming cormorants, and wading bitterns and egrets that are quite common here in the spring and summer. Once you’ve reached the harbor’s end, turn around and head south; just 0.5 mile ahead, a narrow bridge provides another access point to Napeague Bay and Gardiners Island, 2 miles distant.
All of Gardiners Island is private property and, as such, is off-limits for boaters. That said, it still makes for an excellent paddling destination, especially the last little piece of land along its southward-stretching archipelago known as Cartwright Island. With an isolated location, a lack of predators, and an abundant supply of food, Cartwright has become home to an astonishing assortment of birds ranging from oystercatchers to terns and black skimmers. Binoculars and cameras are a must for anyone making the crossing. The 2-mile trip should be attempted only during optimal weather conditions, however, as the wind, waves, and tidal currents here can all combine to make the crossing quite dangerous. Remember, too, that landing on the island is prohibited. It is a great spot to observe nature, but not to stop and have a quick bite to eat.
Heading almost due west from Cartwright will bring you back to the mainland and Accabonac Harbor’s inlet. This opening can be quite shallow, especially during low tides, and can be crowded with swimmers during hot summer days. Stick to its right (north) side, though, and you should be able to slip through with little trouble. Once you’re back in the harbor, Wood Tick Island will lie directly ahead, with the beach on Landing Lane just beyond that. You may opt to turn left (south) here rather than head back to your car, though, as long as the tide is high enough to allow passage. While nothing more than a mudflat at low tide, this section of the harbor, known as East Harbor, is completely undeveloped and provides another 1.5 miles of shoreline to explore. Just pass around Louse Point, on the inlet’s southern shore, head beyond the small flotilla of working boats floating at their moorings, and the area’s serenity will be yours.
Just as it will be easy to lose yourself in your surroundings, it may be easy to lose your way back to your put-in. Should this happen, heading back to Wood Tick Island is the best way to find an open route to the beach. Skirt around the island to the left and you should see the beach at Landing Lane a few paddle strokes later.
GPS COORDINATES
Put-in/take-out
N41° 01.115′ W72° 08.738′
Tide station
Promised Land, Napeague Bay, NY
N40° 59.898′ W72° 04.902′
2 CAPTREE STATE PARK
While most people come here to fish for fluke, flounder, blackfish, and bass, some come to scuba-dive or take a sightseeing cruise. Still others come to make use of the park’s beautiful picnic areas, playground, snack bar, and seasonal restaurant. While kayakers do enjoy a good meal, we also take pleasure in paddling through areas with plentiful wildlife. Thankfully, Captree has this to share as well.
Again because of its location, Captree and its surrounding waters are home to many species of birds, including common terns, black skimmers, egrets, herons, bitterns, and even an errant pelican or two. Black ducks are quite common, while loons, long-tailed ducks, and mergansers frequent the area during fall and winter months. Blue and horseshoe crabs live here in large numbers, as do many species of bivalves, including clams and mussels. With Captree’s proximity to the ocean and its northeast-flowing Gulf Stream current, a few random species of tropical fish can even be found in its waters whenever the current moves close enough to the eastern coast to carry these species far from home.
Although its scenery and wildlife are nothing short of amazing, Captree State Park may not be the best paddling location for everyone. Its waters can be quite busy with boat traffic, its tidal currents can be tricky to navigate, and its fishermen can be hard to avoid. Although such conditions may prove to be little more than nuisances to experienced
