PADDLING: Montauk To Block Island

According to Ed Cashin, one of its founders, the idea for an 18-mile Miracle Paddle from Montauk to Block Island to raise money for charity started like an oft-repeated joke: a man walked into a bar . . .

"Like all good ideas, it came at a bar," he said on Saturday at a fund-raising party at Susan Kirshenbaum's house in Amagansett. The event raised money for Miracle House, which provides a place to stay for relatives of people receiving medical care in New York City.

Sometime between Saturday and Aug. 20, Cashin, David Lys, a co-founder of Miracle Paddle, and 17 other paddlers will head out from North Bar off Montauk on paddle boards and in kayaks toward Block Island. They hope to raise $100,000 for Miracle House, and have already lined up $60,000 in pledges.

The idea stemmed from a convergence of two factors. Cashin and Lys, who run Weekend Warrior Tours in East Hampton, had been helping to raise money for Miracle House, of which Cashin has been a board member since May. They sponsored a family weekend of outdoor adventures last year.

"But there was a lot of overhead, and a lot of waste. We had to throw out 50 lobsters," said Cashin. The pair wanted a more efficient way of finding donations.

The second factor was Cashin's individual Montauk-to-Block-Island paddle, completed last year with his father following in the support boat. "He caught 19 bluefish that day," Cashin said.

"When we got there," to Block Island, Cashin said, "we had some beers with a few guys, and I thought, if we could get some local guys who would paddle from Montauk to Block Island, that would be a good way of raising money, and raising the awareness of Miracle House."

He sat down and wrote a list of goals: eight paddlers, $20,000, and one support boat. Those numbers have almost tripled since then, with 19 paddlers and over $60,000. But Cashin had a secondary figure in mind.

"My goal was to support Miracle House for one month. That is about $80,000. If we could support one-twelfth of its costs, we could get some pressure off of it."

Miracle House provided shelter and at least one good meal for 947 families last year at $40 a day. But the organization had to turn away 165 for lack of funding and facilities. The hope is that, with another three-bedroom apartment, it won't have to turn anyone away. The apartment and its maintenance would cost $147,200.

In the spring, Cashin and Lys, who are no strangers to the East End bays, called upon fellow paddlers to join in the trip.

"So many endurance athletes have type-A personalities and can be very selfish, and these guys have just joined in. You couldn't ask for a better bunch," Cashin said. "These guys would paddle to China if they could to raise money for Miracle House."

One of the paddlers, Mike Asselin, has even built his own paddle board to inaugurate the event. He applied fiberglass to it on Tuesday.

Marilyn Suder, the only female paddler planning to take part, who divides her time between Manhattan and Amagansett, got a call from Cashin in the spring.

"I've been kayaking for a few summers with Ed Cashin. He called me up and asked me if I wanted to do the paddle," she said. "Then he said I have to raise $5,000."

Each of the paddlers has been asked to find sponsors. They have been training together since the spring to prepare for the trip, which is the longest paddle and the first in ocean waters for many of them. The journey is expected to last over seven hours.

The paddlers also have to be prepared to leave at any time between Saturday and Aug. 20. They are all watching the weather and listening to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration radio to find the most opportune time to leave. Perfect conditions, Cashin said, would be a southwest wind of 5 to 10 knots. They will shove off at 7 a.m. to take advantage of an outgoing tide.

Jim Arnold, the paddler pictured on the posters and fliers publicizing the event, said that he can arrange his work schedule at Corcoran, where he is a real estate agent, to participate in the paddle. Arnold, a paddle-boarder who had raised $1,000 as of Saturday, has competed in long-distance paddles in the ocean.

"It is still going to be a challenge," he said. "We're all going to finish together; we're going to be safe and go at a steady pace. Usually we would try to beat each other."

The support for the paddle grew slowly, but Cashin said that a buzz has been growing locally and nationally. As of Saturday, Cashin said he had turned down 47 paddlers, from all over the East Coast, who wanted to participate. It wasn't logistically possible for the group to expand due to insurance and liability issues.

However, it bodes well for next year's Miracle Paddle, which Cashin said he will begin planning as soon as he returns from Block Island.