Island-hopping by kayak off Norwalk
Ahh, nothing more soothing than waves lapping on a sandy beach, leaves rustling in the breeze, a gentle patter of raindrops and distant rumble of thunder — unless you’re hunkered in a tent, two miles offshore on a tiny island in Long Island Sound, with a violent storm bearing down.
“Coming down harder,” I needlessly called out to Declan Nowak, whose tent was pitched a few feet to my left, and Robin Francis, huddled in her tent just to my right.
“Gonna get worse until 10 p.m. before it eases up,” Declan, who had been tracking the squall on his smartphone, reported.
As the wind howled, lightning flashed and thunder roared, a burst of expletives erupted from Robin’s tent.
“It’s leaking!” she cried. “I’m getting soaked!”
All things considered, our three-day kayaking excursion to the Norwalk Islands could have gotten off to a better start. Happily, though, outdoor adventures sometimes turn out like Broadway musicals — the sun does come out tomorrow.
Well, maybe not sunshine at first, but by morning, the rain had diminished to dense fog. While waiting for the mist to burn off, we wrung out soggy clothes and gear, hung them on lines strung between trees, and strolled along the shore of 45-acre Shea Island, one of more than 25 in a chain off the coast of Norwalk and Westport.
At the same time, we stared south toward Long Island, hidden in haze. Initially, the three of us considered paddling seven miles across the sound to the island in New York waters and seven miles back, but fog put a damper on this plan.
Not to worry — there are plenty of wonderful places to explore around the Norwalk Islands. Ospreys cried and dived, egrets and great blue herons stalked tidal pools, cormorants perched on rocks, the mournful call of a loon pierced the air. It was hard to imagine we were only a couple miles away from one of the busiest shorelines in the Northeast, some 35 miles from midtown Manhattan.
Native Americans inhabited the mainland and visited the Norwalk Islands before Dutch explorer Adriaen Block mapped them during a 1614 voyage. Colonists who arrived later in the 17th century called Shea Island Ram Island; a century later, a Mormon community that conducted baptismal ceremonies there used the name Nauvoo Island, meaning “new beach.”
Records show that the Sheffield family bought the island in the 19th century and operated a fish oil factory until neighbors who complained about the stench forced it to close. The Sheffield Corporation, which bought the island and several others in 1959, hoped to create a country club, but when those plans fell through a year later, the city of Norwalk bought the island and opened it to the public.
City officials changed the name to Shea Island in 1971 in honor of Daniel Shea, a Norwalk native and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient who died in the Vietnam War.
Shallow channels, shoals, sandbars, reefs, rocks and hummocks that surround the Norwalk Islands make for tricky navigation via powerboat, but popular among paddlers.
Just before the fog finally lifted, we chatted with three other kayakers from a group called Connecticut Coastal Ad
venturers; by the end of the day, a dozen other kayaks arrived.
Declan, Robin and I climbed aboard our boats about 1:30, and began paddling east toward 59-acre Chimon Island, which, like 67-acre Sheffield Island west of Shea, is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.
Most of the other islands in the chain are privately held, except for 27-acre Cockenoe Island, which the town of Westport bought for $200,000 in the 1960s to block its proposed use as the site of a nuclear power plant.
Many of the other Norwalk Islands have colorful histories — rumors abound about Captain Kidd’s buried treasure, a rampaging bull and rum-runners.
Although we did not encounter any pirates, we soon met up with Helen O’Neill and Jody Novin, paddling from Westport to greet us. Helen, who has kayaked with our group in the past and knew we were in the neighborhood, had called Robin the night before and offered to put us up at her home.
“No way I’m getting in my boat during this storm!” Robin replied.
Helen and Jody gave us a nine-mile guided tour of the islands and shoreline, including a secluded, serene sojourn into Bermuda Lagoon, where they departed.
The sun was shining brightly when Declan, Robin and I returned to our campsite on Shea in late afternoon. All our clothes and gear had dried out nicely.
A dazzling sunset that night was followed by an equally spectacular sunrise the next morning, when we folded tents, rolled up sleeping bags, stuffed everything into drybags, loaded boats and paddled back to a launch site at the end of Second Street in Norwalk.
I’m already thinking about another trip there — but will double-check the forecast first.
The city of Norwalk offers 16 seasonal campsites on Shea Island and four on Grassy Island; Westport offers four campsites on Cockenoe Island.
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