May 15, 1980 - Binding While Sailing on Long Island's Inland BaysMay 15, 1980
Page 13A
Binding While Sailing on Long Island's Inland Bays
My wife and I have just returned after
bringing a boat from Freeport, Long
Island, here to the North Fork. Sunday was
blowing a gale, so we took the inland
waterway along the south shore. I never
realized how fortunate we are here to have
big, deep bays for boating. Unfamiliar
with the area, not five minutes out of the
marina we ran hard aground. We weren't
used to this kind of close navigation and
soon we appreciated what they meant by
saying, "Stay right in the center of the
channel ".
Fortunately a good boating Samaritan
came along and pulled us off. We did the
same thing later in the day and once again
a power boat operator helped us out. My
hat's off to those who care, especially to
those who help sailboats that get stranded
on mud flats.
Ninety percent of our trip was sailing
along in narrow channels from buoy to
buoy. The wind really blew and the rain
came down on and off all day, keeping a lot
of people off the water. Therefore we had
little traffic to contend with.
All along the way we saw the shorebirds
that were heading north to nest. Wherever
there was a bit of mud or sand these little
fellows would be probing for food to build
up their energy block so they could go on
their next leg of their journey. Least
sandpipers, yellowlegs, sanderlings, semi-
palmated plovers, and colorful oyster-
catchers. The list could go on and on. We
passed Tobay Bay to the south and the
great open areas of Jones Beach, which
i, harbor many snowy egrets, night herons
and glossy ibis. These glossy ibis stood out
above all the others because of their odd
silhouette when flying. They have a long
turned -down bill which makes them very
conspicuous. Once you recognize this
silhouette you'll never forget it. Groups
seemed to be flying back and forth looking
for new feeding areas all day long as we
traveled along the channel. Brant seemed
to be everywhere and it is good to see them
coming back, for they were hard put but a
few years ago. These are small -sized geese
with black heads and a light ring of white
around the neck. They were feeding in the
shallow waters of the bays and creeks all
along the south shore, but they eventually
will head north like most of the other birds
to do their nesting.
Many Bridges To Go Under
One of the difficulties of a sailboat is that
high masts (ours is 32 feet) don't go under
bridges unless they open and so we had to
make arrangements ahead of time to
make sure each bridge master knew we
were coming through. I think we must
have gone through eight drawbridges, or
bascule bridges as they call them on the
charts, and one huge fixed bridge with a
60 -foot clearance that spanned the Robert
Moses Causeway. I must say it dwarfed us,
as we raced under it with a strong west
wind behind us. I remember as we went
under the bascule bridges that pigeons
were always flying about as they opened. I
wondered as the bridge went up if they had
nests there and how their eggs were
making out.
In the Great South Bay the rain and wind
really blew. There was not a boat to be
seen as we picked up buoy after buoy from
our now soggy chart. Without these buoys
we would have been hard aground in much
of the area. We sailed with a double reef
down the bay until darkness threatened
and we headed into Watch Hill on the Fire
Island National Seashore. I had worked at
the seashore six summers and knew we
would be welcome here by the Singlers,
who work and live year round on the
island. We were a sorry looking pair as we
knocked on their door, dripping wet in our
rain gear, but were met with a warm and
enthusiastic welcome. In no time Phyllis
fixed hot drinks and some leftover kielbasi
and hot bread which warmed us up and
made us feel like new. We talked into the
night till our eyes started closing then
begged "good night" and headed for the
boat, promising next morning to have
breakfast with them before Steve had to go
to work and the kids had to go to school.
Sure enough bright and early found us
with fresh eggs from home and a pound of
bacon to add to a splendid breakfast. When
it was time for the kids to go to school I
walked them to the bus. Mind you, this is
on Fire Island ... over the dunes and down
to the beach we went ... and in no time at all
I could see a little yellow spot getting
bigger and bigger. The familiar yellow
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school bus, smaller in size, and with
four -wheel drive, picked them up and took
them to Ocean Beach School 12 miles down
the beach. It was something to see Holly,
John and Chris all dressed up heading for
school on a desolate barrier beach.
Soon after we were off in our boat again,
heading east down the bay. Again it was
overcast and sprinkling rain, but we were
on the last leg now. The tiny least terns
from the protected colony at Watch Hill
dipped over the water in a farewell salute
to us. I knew they'd have a good nesting
season, for they were under the protective
eye of the Rangers on the beach and
surrounded by a double layer of snowfence
to keep out intruders.
An Old, Familiar Friend
Later, down in Moriches Bay, we saw
the common terns working over the water.
They came from the islands in back of
Moriches Inlet. They nest there by the
thousands, and as I watched these birds I
saw an old familiar friend -- a black tern.
These are as small as the least terns and
almost jet black. I got to know them years
ago when I was in college up by the Great
Lakes. They nest in freshwater marshes
and I remember wading out up to my waist
in ooze to photograph them on their
floating nesting sites. It's unusual to see
them here.
After Moriches Bay, with its gaping hole
in the barrier beach where the sea came
through, we headed up through the West-
hampton Quogue Canal that brought us to
our last drawbridge at Ponquogue. A short
run down Shinnecock Bay found us in the
canal. Not having any drawbridges here,
my wife and I were forced to lower the
mast, which is no easy job, and go through
the locks with the mast down —once
through we reversed the process ... and put
the mast up ... tuned the rigging ... set the
sails and glided out into Peconic Bay.
GLOSSY IBIS -- Although we see more of these birds down around
Jamaica Bay and the south shore, they occasionally pass through here
to nest on Plum and Gardiners Islands. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Clear, Clean, Deep Peconic Bay
"How sweet it was ". Clear, clean, deep
water. It was like coming home. Across
the bay we sailed. Beautiful Robins Island
off the starboard bow. Then through the
North Race where the tide tried to hold us
back, but couldn't because we were
homeward bound. I could pick up the
osprey on the platform we had built two
years ago. That nest looked good. A short
run down bay and into the cove where our
mooring awaited us.
We covered about 60 miles through all
kinds of weather and through all kinds of
areas, but this looked the best to us.
There's no place like home, particularly
when it comes to our beautiful bays here
on the North Fork.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
How long can you run all
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0
worth of electricity?
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But, when you and your family take a close look at
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When used wisely, electricity helps improve
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Long Island people serving the people of Long Island.Al
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