Loading...
September 22, 1983 - A Night on the BaySECOND SECTION The *Uffoth Timeo September 22, 1983 A Night on the Bay By PAULSTOUTENBURGH Once again we snuck off in our boat to spend a night on the water. It was late as we slid out of the cove under a nice breeze. In no time we had to flip on the running lights and visibility became a memory of landmarks. Sailing at night has a special adventure built into it. Our world becomes unfamiliar, distances are almost impossible to calculate. The dotted shoreline of lights is a maze of confusion. Yet in your own waters one can usually decipher the hodge podge of silhouettes, beacon lights, buoys, etc. so that the journey is usually secure. Adding all these up a night sail becomes something special. Thinking back to when I was in the service many, many years ago, I can remember night watches aboard ship. With youthful enthusiasm we searched the dark horizons. How our eyes were anxious to see. Night vision takes time to acquire and white lights would always put you back to another period of waiting. When we were on watch everything was lost in blackness until our eyes became familiar with the night. Then the eerie outline of the ship became visible. The phosphorescent wake of the boat glowed astern. And if a shoreline was nearby it became a dark silhouette along with the nearby ships that always ran "in total darkness ". All this became partly visible when your eyes were accustomed to the dark. mn,3 So it was last night when we sailed for our destination, for we could make out the shoreline, a tall radio beacon and other guarded silhouettes. Nothing is positive at night. We sailed on, tacked, and sailed again for what we hoped would be a black buoy at the end of a long sand spit. One of the nice things that makes sailing a bit more comfortable in our bays here on Long Island is the lack of any quantity of rocks. Should you run aground, nine times out of 10 you're on a sandy bottom and merely have to back off. Of course, there are those occasions that doesn't work and the tide's going out. We all have those embarrassing moments when we have to sit and wait until the tide comes up and floats us off. Right on Course Our night sailing brought us right on course, for soon Barbara called out, "There's a buoy ahead!" Her eyes are like a cat's in the dark. Sure enough not too far away was the unlit black buoy we'd been looking for. One more short t� a 85 EAST MAIN STREET, RIVERHEAD • 727 -9824 OPEN: Monday - Saturday 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM SPECIALS MONDAY THURSDAY Sauerbraten Corned Beef w /Dumplings & Red Cabbage & Cabbage $ A 75 $425 25 TUESDAY Broiled Flounder $405 WEDNESDAY Roast Loin of Pork w /Sauerkraut $475 FRIDAY Beef Goulash $425 SATURDAY 1/2 Baked Chicken w /Stuffing $400 All above served with POTATO, VEGETABLE and ROLL or BREAD ALL DESSERTS ARE HOMEMADE — Cheesecake, Pies & Puddings YELLOWLEGS- -White rump, long legs and nodding head mark this shore bird that stops off here on Long Island for food and rest on its migration south. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh tack to the port then a short sail and the anchor was dropped. Here we'd stop for the night. I was awakened by a shift of wind at two in the morning but knowing the plow anchor had fetched up hard we had nothing to worry about. We left our faith to its holding. hovers. Let that killie or minnow come out from under the seaweed and down the kingfisher will go, wings folded back, body like a bullet plummeting into the water. Up he'll come flying away and with a quick flip to. turn the fish around head first, its down and he's off to a nearby limb chattering about his success. The yellow of an early sun movit There are two other birds that hover back and forth on the bulkhead of tl like the kingfisher over their prey. The cabin silently aroused me. This with ti beautiful big osprey that fishes in a like scream of a gull as it glided over tt manner and has all but left our area for stern of the boat and I was up. On deck warmer hunting grounds down south and bright new world greeted me. It would t the smaller robin -size kestrel. This hawk a perfect time to write. hovers over our field at home where he There are a multitude of littl hunts insects and mice. Once called a adventures going on about me an sparrow hawk, he too goes south but like probably an untold number that I am nc the kingfisher a few will winter over. The even aware of. A yellowlegs, a shore bir weather is the key to their survival. If we whose head seems to be connected to hi have a lot of ice for long periods of time long yellow legs as he half struts and hal and all the open water is frozen, the runs along the beach, searches out , kingfisher cannot find any food. If we meal at the high tide mark. Now he stop have too much snow and the cover lasts and the momentum of his walk keeps hi the little kestrel cannot find his moving head bobbing up and down. He flies dowi moles or mice for they now scurry hidden the beach and I can see the white ruml beneath the snow cover. Nature deals a that marks him. harsh game for those who don't play by the rules. Further along a seagull has captured an old sand crab. I can tell by looking through my binoculars its color is dark, a All morning the swallows have been moss brown coating covers the shell. flying along the beach edges on their way This fellow would soon die for when these south. They surely have no choice but to crabs become old and slow they fall prey head where there is always a plentiful to predators or the cold weather. The gull supply of flying insects. Our first frost dances about the crab, circling it and and most of the flying insects are gone so fiercely jabbing away. The crab on its you can see the reason for their hurrying back with open claws is no defense for south. the gull's darting bill. On one of the signposts along the beach a flicker, a large woodpecker alights. His long swooping up and down flight tells us who he is. After checking the pole, he drops on the sandy ground below. Here he'll search for ants. He's one of a group that have flown into the area to feed during the day. Most will fly south, but a few rugged individuals stay up north and eke out a living of dormant grubs, worms and insect eggs on the trees in our woods. Kingfisher Hovers Way off in a distance I can see a kingfisher seemingly hanging in the sky. His rapid wings hold him in position as he Now two crows fly along the beach looking for leftovers or some tid bit that has washed up. All summer long we've seen crow families of four, five or six in a group. Now the families have been broken up and they are all on their own. It's every crow for himself from now on. There are endless natural adventures going on in the world around us — each with its own purpose in mind, each depending on the other. Let us not forget we, too, are part of this cycle and likewise just as dependent. From down below I smell sausage and eggs cooking. Barbara's up. Time to eat.