Colin Davis, one of the South Fork’s free spirits, and his surfing partner, Pat Schmidt, a professional “free surfer” sponsored by Vans who largely eschews surfing contests, are to prone-paddleboard across Long Island Sound from Montauk’s Culloden Point to Point Judith, R.I., over the July 4 weekend — a 31-mile span that calls to mind, Davis said recently, the annual Molokai 2 Oahu paddleboard race in Hawaii that has been contested since 1997.
“A free surfer,” Davis said by way of explanation, “is one who doesn’t surf in contests, a surfer who doesn’t want to be obligated to sponsors. He can enter contests if he wants, but contests are not his forte. . . . Vans is sending Pat to Chile soon. There are good waves everywhere there.”
He, a native Montauker, and Schmidt, who grew up in Manasquan, N.J., have surfed and paddled together for six years. Last summer, they paddled from Fort Pond Bay to Lazy Point in Amagansett and back, a distance of 14 miles, and from Gosman’s restaurant on Lake Montauk to Sag Harbor’s Long Wharf, a distance of 21. They practice regularly at the entrance to Fort Pond Bay, paddling back and forth between Rocky Point and Culloden Point — 4.5 miles round trip.
“This one we’re about to do across Long Island Sound is a big leap, but we’re pretty confident,” said Davis, whose cousin, Quincy Davis, a pro free surfer herself, is to marry Schmidt on Sept. 23, “at the end of a very long dock on Lake Montauk . . . hopefully there won’t be waves that day,” he said with a smile.
As for the planned crossing, “It’ll be a fun adventure — into a little bit of the unknown. We won’t see Rhode Island until we’re about halfway there.”
Cheyne DeSousa, a Delta Airlines pilot, would be accompanying them, Davis said, in a 22-foot sailboat, which was reassuring insofar as navigation and safety were concerned.
And why, again, were they doing it? “That’s a good question,” Davis said with a laugh. “It’s a challenge, for one — it will push us physically . . . it will be empowering. It will make us stronger and better surfers.”
Also, he said, it might inspire Montauk’s younger surfers to become stronger paddlers.
At the mention of some of them, Chase Lieder and Chloe and Tucker Coleman, a trio with professional aspirations whom this writer interviewed last winter, Davis said, “Those three are wise beyond their years when it comes to surfing. Chase does it all, longboard, shortboard . . . he’ll surf on a picnic table.”
As far as paddleboarding went, “We’re probably in the minority. Most who do it stand up. We prefer to have our chests on the board.”
And with water and a lot of food, such as power bars, nuts, and sandwiches, on their backs. Davis said that before setting out, in order to be sufficiently hydrated and to avoid cramping, he often drained “at least a gallon of water, sometimes two.” Schmidt, he said, was the bigger eater, and positively ravenous at the end of their long paddles.
Their Lazy Point and Sag Harbor paddles had been blessed with favorable winds and tides. Davis said he hoped they’d have such conditions when they set off for Point Judith next month.
And when they get there what will they do? “Pat will go get some food and I’ll sit down.”
It would be “a battle royal,” he said, requiring strength, stamina, and will.