Barn Island with SNEP paddlers

• You must have your PFD on and fully fastened to participate in this event.
• Event start time is in your boat, in the water, and ready to paddle!

This will be a 3-4 hour paddle at a moderate pace. We might explore adjacent small bays and marshes, or visit Sandy Point, and will probably stop at Napatree for a picnic & swim (if you like), so be sure to bring a lunch and plenty of drinking water.
This is a busy launch. Please ARRIVE EARLY. Double-up (triple if possible) to park. Please drop kayaks off near the designated kayak launch area to the right of concrete ramp & quay so as not to interfere with the power boaters. Portapotties available.

Required equipment: PFD, 10-foot length of rope, whistle, headlamp/flashlight (for evening paddles). Be prepared to give your emergency contact number to the host if he or she asks for it.
Please be considerate: be on time (in the water and ready to depart!) and cancel if you aren't able to come.
Little Narragansett Bay is a fun and easy location for a day's paddling.
From Barn Island, it is an easy 1 - 1.5 mi. paddle to Sandy Point, a narrow island that is a wildlife refuge. Sandy Point is private, but beaching is allowed with the caveat that if you happen to run into one of the roaming stewards, you will be asked to pay a $5 fee (or you can join for an annual fee). The island has many gulls and other seabirds, many of which nest there. At the right time of year, you will see gull chicks running around with their parents - quite an entertaining site! You might also find horseshoe crabs mating on the northern beach.
On the northern (seaward) side of Sandy Point there is a sandbar. The surf breaks over this bar and it can be fun to surf the waves there. From Sandy Point, you can travel eastward into Little Narragansett Bay and beach on the calm north side of Napatree Point, or round Napatree Point, R.I. and beach on the south, or sea, side if you like. Note that the waters can be rough rounding Napatree Point and beaching in waves, so use caution. Traveling westward, you can round Stonington Point and enter Stonington Harbor, home of the last commercial fishing fleet in Connecticut.