There are many ways to get from Westport to Cockenoe Island.
You can sail. You can paddle. You can JetSki.
Or — if you are particularly adventurous — you can walk.
Alert — and creative — “06880” reader Jeff Manchester reports:
“With a super low tide at 8:09 this morning, some intrepid souls took their soles and walked from Saugatuck Island to Cockenoe Island.
From left: Jeff Manchester, Eric Sugerman, 9th graders Jake Coykendall and Tucker Peters, and 8th grader Max Manchester, with their “support vehicle”: a mega-kayak.
“It was a brisk morning in the high 40’s when we started, and only in the 50’s when we returned. However, the water was warmer than the air, so it made for a much more enjoyable journey.
“This is a bucket list item for sure, when the tides and weather cooperate.
En route. (Photo/Mary Sugerman)
“And of course, we have the Einsels, Greens, Jo Fox Brosious and many more to thank for their herculean efforts, saving Cockenoe for future generations from an attempted nuclear power plant over 50 years ago.”
Indeed. Although if that Chernobyl-style structure had actually been built there, today’s water would be a lot warmer.
Love that adventure. What a fun thing to do!
Little-known fact: With a permit, camping is allowed on Cockenoe. Have spent many summer nights taking my kids & their pod of friends to the island by boat. Everyone disconnects from cellphones, laptops, TVs, etc., & reconnects w/ nature, sleeping (or talking all night) in tents, making hot dogs, burgers, & s’mores over a nice campfire, & then waking up crazy early the next morning to the chatter of hundreds of birds that make the island their sanctuary. (p.s. We always made sure to bring home more garbage than we came with).
The best clams on the east coast come from exactly where these kids are walking.
According to what I was told as a Jennings Trail docent, the colonists used to walk their cattle out to the island for grazing in the summer.
And as Jo Fox recently said– More Westporters were involved in the action to Save Cockenoe than any town effort before, or since. She deserves a statue in her honor for her leadership that saved our town from becoming “Ground Zero”!
Please be careful. Incoming tides and currents are no joke. I think hundreds have been rescued this summer alone in Bridgeport trying to attempt something similar.