November 18, 1982 - November 18, 1982 - Lingering Memories of Earlier DayPage 10A Xbt &Uff olk 19itnto November 18, 1982
L ingering Memories of Earlier Days
If you really wanted to see someone
doing their laundry today, you should have
been around to see what we did.
It's the largest load of wash anyone has
done around here in a long time. We were
washing the sails from our boat. By
throwing a line over a high limb of a tree in
the front yard and hoisting them up, we
were able to rinse them off thoroughly and
then let them dry. There was a nip in the
wind and our hands became numb just
from being continually wet. It reminded
me of many years ago when we were kids
and made snowballs to throw about.
Remember how our hands used to tingle
and then actually hurt? Gee, that was a
long time ago.
The washing of sails is just one of the
jobs that we have been doing this week
before we haul out. Our boat was the last in
the cove to go and, of course, to mark the
event the wind and rain had to blow from
the north. A cold front was moving in.
As we rowed out in our dinghy, we bailed
all the way for the rain had filled the
bottom during the night. In no time we
were aboard and with the heavy thumping
of the diesel, we started across the bay
without sails. Often the gust of winds
would heel the boat 15 -20 degrees with
nothing but our bare mast.
All this bad weather couldn't discourage
some hardy baymen who were working
their boats in the lee of the land for some
scallops. Rain and wind, wind and rain
were the order of the day. Anyone who
begrudges the baymen his due reward
should have been out on the bay that day.
Ducks Move in Wild Weather
Wild stormy days seem to stimulate
ducks on the bay. We saw mallards and
black ducks milling over the marsh as they
came in looking for a place to bed down
and feed. Back and forth they worked,
making sure all was clear before they
settled in. On a warmer sunnier day,
there'd be no sign of them about but now
they were on the move.
Oldsquaws -- those rugged black and
white sea ducks that visit us all winter long
in our bays -- frolicked in the wild water to
the south. Being diving ducks, I'm sure the
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weather didn't bother them a bit, for down
below where they'd be feeding was a world
of calm and quiet. Yet they, too, have been
on the move. It was a day made for ducks.
At one time it rained so hard the water was
literally flattened out. Across the bay we
putted, the diesel never missing a stroke.
In my younger days when the world
seemed so much simpler and less
complicated, duck hunting was a passion a
young boy couldn't resist. It was here he
could show his strength against the
elements and it was on days like this that
he'd be out. I remember one day when the
wind and rain came down so hard and the
tide rose so high that the duck blind I was
sitting in filled up with water and I had to
get out.
In those early days I had an old
converted 17 -foot Great South Bay cat -
boat. I bought it from an old timer who
dearly loved boats, but his wife didn't. I
paid $25 for it and it had a one cylinder
Gray Marine gas engine. It was one of
those make and break type ignition
systems where you had to set the spark
just so, otherwise it would fire too soon and
backfire on you -- which it did! I still carry
the scar to this day where the crank
flipped off and hit me. How it bled!
This was the boat that I headed for after
the duck blind was flooded. I had difficulty
getting back because of the extreme high
OLp BOAT - -Boats like this old converted catboat were common bay boats
years ago. Today they are considered classics.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
tide. Where once there was meadow now
there was nothing but a sea of waves and
windblown rain. Luckily I'd put the anchor
on a low berm by an old cedar tree and was
able to pull in the boat from there.
That tree is still standing, by the way,
and reminds me each time I see it of those
exciting days when I was young. Those
were the days when most things were
makeshift and modern foul weather gear
was unaffordable.
The Bare Essentials
A pair of old black hip boots that always
leaked where they folded and a black
rubber raincoat were all I had to keep the
weather out. I'd gotten a real hunting hat
for Christmas, I remember, but without a
brim it always seemed to funnel all the
rain right down my back. Getting into the
boat with the waves bouncing it up and
down was a real problem. I was lucky that
catboats of that vintage had big rudders
off the stern, for it was on this I climbed
and tumbled into the cockpit. The
elements had won and so I called it a day.
No ducks. Wet through and through. And
one of. those rare experiences that I'll
always remember.
Today was so different. The ducks were
still here but the fever of hunting has long
since past. We were out in just as wild a
day but this time my boat was one made of
fiberglass and powered by a sturdy self -
starting diesel. I even had the typical rain
gear on that was such a comfort. As we
moved into Schoolhouse Creek over in New
Suffolk, my mind played with those
memories of long ago. They were
important to me and those youthful days
helped introduce me into the world of the
outdoors that I've never left. Instead of a
gun, I substituted a camera.
Now we were in the lee of the land and a
small flock of bufflehead dove in the
shallows off to the right. The rain still
came down, but the wind was high
overhead. Out on the bay, through the haze
of wind and rain, I could still see the
scallopers weaving back and forth with
their dredges behind. They knew the world
I spoke of and I wondered how days like
this would affect their future. Perhaps it is
days like this far from the warmth of the
hearth and the comfort of home that the
real building blocks of man are borne.
Only time will tell.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH