The Long Island Blog

I caught this sunset from a dock on the Connetquot River. It’s January so ice near the shore is not unusual. If we get a good cold snap the river will freeze from shore to shore. I’ll post some pictures if that happens.

In spite of it’s width, the river is only about 6 miles long. The water is brackish becoming fresher towards the headwaters on it’s northern end and salty on the southern end where it empties into the Great South Bay.

But more importantly the Connetquot River is beautiful, and another reason why I love Long Island so much.

One of my favorite things to do on Long Island’s cold winter days is get in my car, grab a cup of coffee, and sit by the water. The colder the weather, the better. Snow and ice, better still. Some of you will think I’m crazy, but a good many will understand exactly where I’m coming from. An old pair of binoculars that I keep in the car makes it all the more interesting.

There’s not a lot going on on the water in the winter. You’ll see gulls and other wildlife and the occasional commercial fishing boat dredging crabs or bay scallops. I just like to sit there and enjoy the scenery.

On the south shore of Long Island where I live, there are plenty of places to do this. Today I went to a tiny park on the southern end of the Connetquot River. Located on the edge of the Timber Point Country Club, this is one of countless, nameless parks in Nassau and Suffolk counties that we are blessed with.

Here are some pictures…

At best Labor Day is a holiday of mixed emotions. Although mothers are glad to have the kids back in school I think most, if not all of us feel a little down after the Labor Day weekend. We look forward to a break from the kids and a change in season, but it’s not long after Labor Day passes that we begin to miss the summer.

I’m usually very active during the summer and most years post Labor Day September is a welcome respite from intensive summer fun—a vacation from my vacation if you will. But this year, not so much. I didn’t spend as much time on my boat as I would have liked and I wanted to spend more time sitting on the beach in Southold.

Well, there’s always (hopefully) next year…

A few years ago while vacationing in Atlantique on Fire Island I picked up a music CD called Great Balls of Fire Island.

All but one of the songs are humorous tributes to various aspects of the Fire Island life style. The exception is the stunningly beautiful and melancholy Sunday.

This song describes the classic Fire Island dilemma: you’ve had a great week and don’t want it to end. You’re in a melancholy mood and just wish you had more time. Sunday gives you permission to stay longer by taking a later boat. Ahhh.

Sunday the weekday is a Fire Island vacationer’s Labor Day and Sunday the song inspired me to make the following video. I’ve only used the instrumental portion of the song (it sets the post Labor Day mood). If you want the whole song with the lyrics you’ll have to buy the CD. Well worth owning if you like the Fire Island lifestyle.

I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed making it…

Lately, I’ve noticed the crickets. Louder and louder they’ve become as if to say, “autumn is coming, autumn is coming, autumn is coming.”

Well, they’re right. So, I’ve been trying to pack as much into what’s left of summer as possible which, for me, means sailing.

Here are some pictures and a short video I made from the last few times I’ve been out on my boat. Enjoy!

The corner of my genoa and the Robert Moses Causeway Bridge on the Great South Bay. This shot was taken on August 19. It was very cold that and I had to change into long pants and a sweatshirt.

My good deed for the day… I found this purse floating just under the waves off Ocean Bay Park. After a few tries I managed to snag the strap with my boat hook. I sent a letter to the owner and returned the purse and all its contents intact albeit a little salty.

A beautiful sunrise (it does look like a sunset, but it really is a sunrise) at Atlantique.

Okay, no more tricks, this is a sunset over East Islip.

A couple canoeing near Fire Island. West Fire Island and the Robert Moses Causeway bridge are behind them. They told me they had come all the way from behind West Fire Island.  That’s quite a ways for a canoe and you can’t really tell from the picture, but that’s a very busy channel they’re crossing.

Here’s a short video I made showing the sights and sounds of a typical day sailing on the Great South Bay. The bay is bounded by Long Island on its northern side and Fire Island to the south. Most of this video was shot near Fire Island.

I packed in a lot this weekend. Now it’s Tuesday morning and I’m almost happy to be back at work. Almost, but not quite. I could use a few more days off. Who couldn’t?

This Memorial Day weekend kicked my butt. Here’s what I did…

Well, I started off by missing the air show at Jones Beach. I miss it every year and every year I promise myself I’ll make a point of seeing it next year. Hasn’t happened yet.

I managed to get my boat in the water, but not until Monday afternoon, so I missed my summer kick-off trip to Fire Island.

I worked on my son’s “yacht.” Always a pleasure. I can’t get him to mow the lawn, but when something needs to be done on Cap’t Joe’s boat it’s, “Hey Dad, I have a question…”

Dropped of my girlfriend’s daughter, Seaweed (I call her Weed for short) at her annual retreat at Peconic Dunes campground then had dinner at BBQ Bill’s in Greenport. The smoked chicken wings were fabulous, but I had to work a little too hard to get the ribs off the bones. I still love the place though.

Celebrated my daughter’s birthday, then later that day celebrated my Girlfriend’s Father’s birthday.

On the way to Peconic we stopped off at Sang Lee Farms for something to snack on. $40 later we were all set. And that was money well spent.

Karen and Fred Lee grow more than 250 different products naturally using organic growing methods and their 16 greenhouses allow them to offer produce very early in the season. Everything at their farm stand is fresh, natural and tastes great.

Look at all those fresh vegetables.

In the farm stand Karen Lee is educator/tour guide. She showed us everything Sang Lee Farms had to offer while explaining how it’s prepared and what foods to pair with it. At her suggestion we took home some pepper jelly to serve over cream cheese and, as promised, it was a hit with our birthday party guests.

Drove back out to Peconic Dunes to pick up Seaweed and celebrate mass on the beach. I’m not a church going man, but I always enjoy the seaside service.

Father Eugene and Deacon George Reich lead mass in a truly grand cathedral.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, after the birthday parties were over and all the driving was done, Karilyn and I went to the Snapper Inn to enjoy our favorite summertime drink. No, not Long Island Ice Tea, Gin and Tonic.

There’s nothing like enjoying a cocktail while watching the water on a hot day. Gin & Tonics work for me.

Monday was boat launching day. All went well, except I can’t find my spreaders. I took them off the mast last Fall and now they’re gone. Beats me. I’m ordering new ones today.

Hope your weekend was just as exciting.

If you live on Long Island you probably woke up this past Saturday morning to the sound of shovels and scrapers. I’m an early riser so I had a few hours of quiet time before the racket started, but it wasn’t long before I found myself out there with everyone else shoveling snow and scraping ice.

I helped two of my neighbors dig out their cars and then drove over to my girlfriend’s house to shovel the slippery ice from her concrete stoop and sidewalk. After that my son and I shoveled the ice off of his boat and went for a ride.

A boat ride on a snowy winter’s day? Well, I did have to twist his arm a little, but it wasn’t too hard.

Joe is one of Long Island’s baymen, so with the exception of a short haul in the early spring his boat stays in the water all year long. For most of us a boat ride in the winter is a bit of a novelty. For Joe it’s all in a day’s work.

Joe shoveling snow from his boat to prevent ice melt from ending up in the bilge.

Seagulls know that they frequently get meals from fishing boats. They started following us as soon as we left the dock, but soon gave up when they realized we were empty handed.

Icicles hang from our pilot house, and snow covered boats and buildings line the canal which is at an unusually high tide. The careful observer will note a small boat sunk up to it’s gunwales, a victim of the late winter storm.

An old, but too young to retire net boat.

I love this little house/garage on the canal.

Heading southeast, Fire Island is visible way off in the distance while Long Island is far behind us. (The wooden table is for separating scallops from seaweed.)

The Robert Moses Bridge stands alone under the gray winter sky.

Cap’n Joe really hates having his picture taken. Safely back home, the long shadows at day’s end tell me it’s time to settle in for the night.

Well, that’s not exactly your typical day on Long Island, but Long Island, with it’s fleet of fishing boats and spectacular coastline is one of the few  places where it’s possible.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love living on Long Island? 🙂

I woke up Friday morning to extraordinarily low temperatures—the coldest day of the season on Long Island so far. I looked my thermometer. 9.1 degrees. “Cool,” I thought. While most people grumble about bad weather I am excited by it. Storms, hail, thunder, ice. All great stuff…

I stepped outside, looked up and saw the stars sparkling against a crystal clear blue-black sky. An icy chill clears the air like nothing else. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and I thought this would be a perfect morning to catch a sunrise at the beach.

No matter where you live on Long Island you’re never very far from the shore. I happen to live very close to the water and within minutes I was at Heckscher State Park taking pictures. Much to my disappointment however, there were clouds on the horizon blocking the sun.

No matter, I came home with a few of good snap shots anyway.

Looking southwest towards the Fire Island Lighthouse. These ducks were disturbed by my presence and began retreating from the shore. They made quite a bit of noise complaining about me.

A temperature inversion stretches the Robert Moses Causeway bridge and makes it appear to float over the Great South Bay.

Fire over Fire Island.

The sun finally rises from behind the clouds painting a bright stripe across the bay.

The scene looks tranquil enough, but there was a breeze blowing and the temperature was still only about 11 degrees. By the time I was done taking these pictures my hands were frozen solid.

But I got to enjoy another beautiful morning on Long Island. Frostbite? Who cares.

Shelter Island, so named because of the way Long Island’s north and south forks shelter it from the sea, is a trip back in time. The island is pristine, dotted with old farm houses on large plots, and is so beautiful it’s almost unbelievable.

On Friday I had the “privilege” of driving a carload of teenage girls to their annual retreat at Saint Gabriel’s on Shelter Island. Their weekend started with a beautiful sunset view on the ferry ride from Greenport.

The four girls along with Shelter Island are silhouetted by the beautiful sunset. What a great way to start the weekend.

While they were on retreat I spent the rest of my weekend enjoying Long Island’s North Fork.

In all, I ate at 4 Long Island restaurants (Jedediah Hawkins Inn was amazing), visited 3 Long Island wineries and stayed in 1 Long Island hotel. (How many hotels can you sleep in in 1 weekend anyway?)

Needless to say I came home exhausted. And now I have a lot of writing ahead of me…

That a storm hit Long Island this past weekend is news to no one. Many Long Islanders lost power (I was fortunate and did not), lost trees, and sustained property damage.

While everyone was out cleaning up the mess, what was I doing? What I always do after a storm…taking pictures.

Most of my shots are the same old boring storm pix; trees down, etc… but this one I like.

It’s a dramatic image of the Great South Bay looking west in late afternoon sunshine. You can see the Robert Moses Bridge, and the water tower on Fire Island. What you can’t see is how hard the wind was blowing. I had a very difficult time opening my car door and the bay was kicked up into a spray. I love days like that.

In the Here’s-something-you-don’t-see-everyday department, I found a 1960’s era landing craft at the East Islip marina.

The picture above and the one below were taken just minutes apart. The difference in appearance is due to the direction of the camera. Above is looking west towards the sun. Below is looking east away from the sun.

From the looks of the water in this sheltered part of the marina you’d never know the wind was howling at 30+ knots.

Behind the boat is Heckscher State Park, one of Long Island‘s largest and most popular parks.

My son, Joe and I took advantage of Sunday’s beautiful weather with a quiet sail on Long Island’s Great South Bay.

The wind was light, so we just ghosted along soaking up the late season sun on what was very likely our last sail of the year.

That we are surrounded by salt water is one of the things I love about Long Island.

Even though winter is coming, I won’t stay away from the shore. I just can’t go for very long without hearing, seeing and smelling the sea.

There will be frequent visits to the boatyard and the beach. I’ll daydream my way through a cup of 7-11 coffee, recalling summers past and planning next season’s adventures.

A nearly empty ferry returns from Fire Island with Robert Moses Bridge and water tower in the distant haze.

A sure sign the sailing season is over.