It’s not everyday that you walk on the beach and get a cryptic sign from far away, but that’s what happened to Chris Makepeace last fall.

The Marion resident was on his annual fishing trip at Great Point on Nantucket when he found a portion of a sign run ashore.

“Being kind of a beachcomber nut I always keep my eyes to the high water mark to see what’s washed up,” said Makepeace.

The white sign Makepeace spotted was lodged in some beach grass and read “Saturday and Sunday @ Hyytinen Hollow.”

“I threw it in the back of the truck. Being inquisitive, I wondered what it was,” said Makepeace. “I thought it was some spiritual group from Nantucket.”

When the treasure hunter got home, he typed Hyytinen Hollow into Google and found that it was a family-owned tube rental shop for floating down Deerfield River in Charlemont. He also found a photo of the sign with the upper half still intact, which read “D&D’s Hot Dogs.”

Makepeace gave owner Marie Hyytinen a call.

“When I first talked to her, I said ‘Marie, this is going to be a really strange conversation so bear with me,’” he explained.

After convincing Hyytinen that he wasn’t a prank caller, Makepeace emailed her a photo of the sign. Hyytinen said it was one of three signs that had been ripped off their posts during Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

Located near the border of Vermont, Charlemont is over 200 miles from Great Point by car and ferry. The route Makepeace believes the sign took, is at least double that.

Makepeace reconstructed the sign’s probable journey as going down the Deerfield River into the Connecticut River, south through Springfield, Connecticut, Hartford, and out into Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook.

The sign then went east through Block Island Sound, Rhode Island Sound, and Vineyard Sound to Nantucket Sound, finally blown onto Great Point in a storm. If his route is accurate, the sign traversed at least 400 miles in the past two years.

The whereabouts of the top of half of the sign are anyone’s guess, but Makepeace is satisfied with what he’s found.

“My partner and I are going to take it back to Mrs. Hyytinen next summer and surprise her with it,” said Makepeace.

To see the complete sign at Hyytinen's website, click here.