Lazy Girl: Episode 3

 Sunset, Cocktails and Seals

It was perhaps four-ish when we set off for the nets near the end of Orient State Beach. The waters of Peconic Bay were smooth and smiling and the cooler was well stocked with the fixings for delicious cocktails.

Chris was at the helm of the Wild Goose, a 25-foot Surfhunter motor boat. Jack was First Mate with simple duties like hoisting the anchor which he did with aplomb, occasionally breaking into a Buster Keaton routine as he pranced about the bow in bare feet. Jeanne was the Mistress of the Cooler which contained not only libations, but also small nibbles of cheese and other savories. I was the lucky passenger with no duties but to enjoy the surf and sky.

Boarding the Wild Goose at the Orient Yacht Club, we motored out of the slip and rounded Chris' 39-foot Concordia Yawl, the KeeNeeNoh. Jack snapped a picture of a tern resting on the bow.

Our destination was the Long Beach Bar "Bug" Lighthouse and the "nets" where we hoped to see the Harbor Seals.

Jeanne Markel sips a cocktail in a chic and sea-worthy Martini glass.

The "Bug" Lighthouse, so-called because it looks like a water bug when the rocks are covered at high tide. It helps mariners navigate around the hazardous sandbar between Orient Harbor and Gardiner's Bay. It was destroyed by arsonists in 1963 and rebuilt in 1990 with contributions from locals under the auspices of the East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation. The U. S. Coast Guard maintains the 10-inch solar-powered light which is 63 feet above the water.

The day's heat melted away. As the sun touched the horizon and its pink and orange hues debuted, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of a Harbor Seal. He nudged his nose from beneath the sea and snorted in his peculiar way, staying only for a few seconds before sinking back under the water in search of a fish or crab which might have wandered unawares in to the fishermen's nets.

Thank you to Jack Wedge for the photographs.

A Bientot!