Amagansett Surfer Evelyn O’Doherty To Brave the Waves in Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis

The world of surfing has laid claim to the expression “go big or go home.” Amagansett surfer and standup paddler Evelyn O’Doherty embraced that mantra and has signed up for the Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis, a long-distance endurance paddle, a grueling challenge, that starts in Bimini in the Bahamas and finishes in Florida. She will be sharing the 80 miles with a relay team during the Crossing, which takes place in June.

The water-based event was inspired by the known health benefits of the ocean for those living with cystic fibrosis, a terminal lung disease.

O’Doherty, 54, learned about the event after meeting Travis Suit, who created the event in honor of his daughter, Piper, who has cystic fibrosis, at a surf expo in Orlando. Moved by the Suit family’s story, she helped to promote the Crossing, in her role as editor of “Session Magazine,” a watersports magazine.

“I met Piper and she is such a great kid, super resilient, smart and grateful and I was blown away by her courage. One of the tag lines for the Crossing is ‘Bold in the Face of Fear’ and I took that to heart after seeing it in action with the Suit family,” said O’Doherty.

The magazine has run a live feed of the Crossing for a few years and each time O’Doherty was moved to tears as the first paddlers made landfall in Florida.

“They had to put forth such superhuman effort to power across the ocean from Bimini to the Lake Worth beach in Florida. It’s amazing to watch. I have so much respect for these people who are putting all their efforts toward such an amazing cause.”

As if that were not enough to inspire O’Doherty, she wrote a story about a man named Scott Johnson from North Carolina. Johnson has cystic fibrosis.

“In a nutshell,” said O’Doherty, “he was on his last breaths, literally, in New York City when he received news that two new lungs were available for him in another part of the country. He was 48 hours away from getting a transplant when 9/11 happened and the lungs were delayed. Eventually, he was able to get his double lung transplant, which gives most people a life expectancy of another five to 10 years. After the lung replacement, Scott decided to start training for ironman competitions. I mean, come on! Long story short, he’s paddled the Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis as part of a relay team, has completed three ironman events and is still crushing it almost 20 years later. A modern miracle.”

Participating in the event had been a goal but a pandemic and other life events got in the way, said O’Doherty. But during COVID, she started paddling year ’round in New York with friends.

“They are crazy winter paddlers, and all of them are fast. It’s upped my game big time, and it got me thinking, what if I could really participate in the Crossing for CF, as an actual paddler?”

Knowing her limitations, so far, she started a relay team. “I asked two of my favorite, badass endurance, female paddler friends if they wanted to relay it. Josette Latta and Claire Condie both came raging with a huge ‘yes!’”

“I know their skill level because we’ve all paddled in the SEA Paddle NYC together, where you paddle 24 miles around Manhattan island from the Brooklyn Bridge on the East River to Chelsea Piers on the Hudson side. Those are some crazy conditions. So, with these two epic women on my team, I feel confident that we can each paddle 25 to 30 miles each to complete the distance together.”

To prepare for the challenge, O’Doherty has been training all winter in Sag Harbor with Edmonds Bafford of Bridgehampton, Billy Baldwin of Sag Harbor, Tom Kempner of Southampton and Manhattan and Nehal Hakim of East Hampton. They meet almost every weekend at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The weather has to be pretty miserable for these intrepid paddlers to cancel. Of course, they wear a full drysuit, including boots, gloves and headwear, plus safety gear.

Everyone brings something to the table. “Billy shows us special out-of-the-way places to paddle that are spectacular and gorgeous. Ed usually sets a crushing pace and the rest of us just try to keep up. Tom keeps us on time and committed because he is not affected by the cold. We’ve paddled together in 15 degree temps when the water on the bay was skim ice. That was nuts. And Nehal brings her good energy and passion for paddlesports and all things nutrition to the mix. All together, we are pretty committed,” said O’Doherty.

The training crew has run courses from Haven’s Beach to the Cedar Point Lighthouse and back along the shore; Long Beach out to Jessup’s Neck or over to Shelter Island and back.

“We have a lot of fun creating these paddles and get to really explore our local waters when we do it. One of my favorite places to paddle is Gardiner’s Bay, near where I live. I’ll often launch from Louse Point and paddle down to Devon Yacht Club or the Fish Farm and back.”

Just beautiful coastline and incredible water,” she said.

As the event gets closer, O’Doherty is stepping up her training, putting in time and the miles — not at race pace, but she’s gotten to be comfortable standing and paddling for upwards of four hours.

Paddlers in the Crossing launch around midnight on June 24 and paddle through the night and arrive on Lake Worth beach midday on June 25. Relay paddlers have a support boat and will be switching out who is on the water every few hours.

“It will be hard. It will be amazing,” said O’Doherty. “And, most importantly, it will help kids like Piper and their families to receive the emergency assistance, medicines and support they need.”

A live feed of the 2023 finish in Lake Worth may be viewed on event day at crossingforcysticfibrosis.com. In the meantime, watch the 2022 finish at the same link.

Those who wish to support O’Doherty may donate to her page at classy.org/fundraiser/4068341.