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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 20, 2005 - A winter voyage at seaOfficial Newspaper of Southold Town A winter voyage at sea Focus on Nature By Paul Stoutenburgh It was one of those late wintry afternoons when the sky was dark before its time. Off in the distance I could hear the soft call of a great homed owl_ Was he calling for a mate? They sometimes call as early as December. He' s an expert at daytime hiding. I've only seen him twice, for brief moments as he flew from his hiding place when evening was just settling in. I'm sure he has his favorite hunting ground. I can just picture him surveying a field with those big yellow eyes. Watch out, rodents of all kinds, and you too, Bier Rabbit; you'd make a fine meal. Great homed owls nest after a hooting courtship. It could be any month — January, February or March. Once eggs are laid and young are fledged. the adults will separate and go their own way until the next calling. The Sound has many moods. We saw her the other day at one of her calmest times. This photo shows her much different Here cold air and warm water create a sort of mist over a churning sea. No matter what the weather, the gulls will scavenge the shoreline for bits and pieces of nutrients. Times/Review photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh The following day still carried its overcast raw unpleasantness. To brighten it up. my son came along and said, "Let's put the boat in and take a ride along the Sound." Well. I' m not as young as I used to be, but it did have a sound of adventure in it, so after lunch we checked the motor, got out a set of oars just in case, threw in some life jackets and an anchor, and we were off. There aren't too many places you can launch a boat into the Sound, particularly in midwinter, when most of the ramps have become unavailable because of the winter storms. We used the Matiituck ramp (the one where you can see the creek to the north along Route 48). There's a good cement ramp there to launch your boat_ In no time. Roger had the boat off the trailer and in the water. and we were ready to go. As we pushed off, 15 geese, all in a line, greeted us. As they swam by, each gave us a nervous look. There was little wind, yet what there was stung our faces as we moved along. We noticed that ice had formed the day before and was still frozen in puddles along the roadway. We knew it must be freezing_ As we moved along, we saw empty docks that had been busy only a few months ago. They looked sad without any activity or boats tied to them_ We passed the marsh on the left, with its osprey platform that looked like it had been used, for it had its sticks and debris a foot high still on its platform. By March, when the same pair of ospreys return, most of the nest will have been blown away by winter winds. It will be their job to rebuild it. We passed by my brother -in -law's house, longsincealteredbythenewowner. Little groups of bufflehead ducks popped to the surface ahead of us. They were gleaning the bottom for whatever they could find. Once on the surface, they flew away. their plump little black- and -white bodies disappearing ahead of us. In the side channels we could see black ducks and mallards taking advantage of the The Suffolk Tunes 'I A winter voyage at sea Page 2 of 2 tnft'low tide. They were feeding upended, picking away tit'the'bottom forwhatever it yielded. Just iside the inlet, we came'to numerous working boats ,of one kind or another.] was amazed to see so marry. As a matter of fact, one'had just come in with a catch of dams. 'Mostof ,the'boats were there 'to get dams. Some were new, some were old, some were'big and some small, some'looked overworked, others just starting a new way of'life. All were rigged for dredging dams. At the mouth of the inletwe saw '100 or more bemng gulfs and a few'bladc= backed gulis'resting on the'beadies. Now b g the'blackw backed gulls are compared to the others. Just think, 50 to'60 years ago'black- backed gulls were just starting to be seen in our area. They were a'bird found to our north, 'but today we find them everywhere. Outside of the Inlet we turned east Into abiting wind. We badnY realized 'how cutting the wind would be.' Water streamed from my eyes and jacket zippers were pulled up as bigh as they would goAt was cold. We stayed a good way off shore, in deeper water,'because, as you well know, the north shore is rodry, and'hidden rocks could 'lurk in the shallows. Strings of surf and black scoters fsea ducks) rose before ,us and drifted off to the'left and right as we sped along. 'I don1 know'if it was my watery eyes orwhat, butwe didn't see a single white- a"inged scoter. They're usualhr'the most common. The'big rocks protruding from the water bad Your-foot-high dark, mossy sections showing where the tide'had been and telling us we were now at dead'low tide. ''In front of us a common'loon appeared and 'then disappeared'below. We never'saw it again. ,A pair of ollsquaws, my favorite sea ducks, rose from the water'beside us. These hardy ducks will stay with us through the winter. We sped pastDudk'Pond in Outchogue.'Each shorefront property owner had bis own particular' type of:bulkhead. Some were wood, some were buge'boulders, 'but all the owners were hoping to stop the erosion "that continually eats away at their sandy holdings —yet there ,were still 'large stretches of shorefront untouched 'by man. 'I wondered bow long this paradise would last We finally reached Pecorfic; and decided this was just about as far as we wanted to go. We thought we'd go ashore and stretch our'legs and perhaps do a little beachcombing, 'but as we throttled down, the engine sputtered and stopped -An abrupt silence took over. We tried time and lime again to start the engine. Nothing. W mt to'do? We'd feel .pretty embarrassed to have to call for someone to come down with another:motor and 'iug pit ,down the 'beach. To relieve the tension we ,paddled in dose to shore. We'looked at each other and actually laughed. `How could this happen tows? The wind had dropped off, so we just wallowed there 100 feet offshore. ''Lets try the motoragain' one of us said. Luc fly, atthe'kastminute'{'had thrown in a can of engine starter, Irs a High -power spray you can squirt into the carburetor and, if that doesn't fire your engine oft', something is really wrong. We took the engine hood off, squirted a Tittle starter fluid into the carburetor, 'held our'breath and 'tamed the 'key. Yen, yen, yen. yen,'" and off she went This was surely as far east as ,we were going to ga, 'partimilaily if the engine wanted to play games with us, so we beaded west with our'badcs to the wind. We'had taken a waiter's boat ride. '1'm not quite sure 'I'd do it again right away, 'but it dd jive'us a pretty good :idea of what it's'like to be out 'in the Sound in a small boat m the dead or winter. Wel wait until its warmer and spring is on its way for our next adventure. Will you be with us? 2005 Times - Review Newspapers http: //vvww2. imesrcview eom/ST /community /290111404807928.php 1/21/2003 The Suffolk Times • January 20, 2005 It was one of those late wintry afternoons when the sky was dark before its time. Off in the distance I could hear the soft call of a great horned owl. Was he calling for a mate? They sometimes call as early as December. He's an expert at day - ime hiding. I've only seen him twice, or brief moments as he flew from his hiding place when evening FOCUS was just settling in. O N I'm sure he has his favorite NATURE hunting ground. by Paul I can just picturf Stoutenburgh him surveying a field with those big yellow eyes. Watch out, rodents of all kinds, and you too, Brer Rabbit; you'd make a fine meal. Great horned owls nest after a hooting courtship. It could be any month — January, February or March. Once eggs are laid and young are fledged, the adults will separate and go their own way until the next The following day still carried its overcast raw unpleasantness. To brighten it up, my son came along and said, "Let's put the boat in and take a ride along the Sound." Well, I'm not a,, young as I used to be, but it did have a sound of adventure in it, so after lunch we checked the motor, got out a set of oars just in case, threw in some life jackets and an anchor, and we were off. There aren't too many places you can launch a boat into the Sound, par- ticularly in midwinter, when most of the ramps have become unavailable because of the winter storms. We used the Mattituck ramp (the one where you can see the creek to the north along Route 48). There's a good cement ramp there to launch your boat. In no time, Roger had the boat off the trailer and in the water, and we were ready to go. As we pushed off, 15 geese, all in a line, greeted us. As they swam by, each gave us a nervous look. There LVAEC iinter ale at seal titi FA, , Times /Review photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh The Sound has many moods. We saw her the other day at one of her calmest times. This photo shows her much different. Here cold air and warm water create a sort of mist over a churning sea. No matter what the weather, the gulls will scavenge the shoreline for bits and pieces of nutrients. was little wind, yet what there was stung our faces as we moved along. We noticed that ice had formed the day before and was still frozen in puddles along the roadway. We knew it must be freezing. As we moved along, we saw empty docks that had been busy only a few months ago. They looked sad without any activity or boats tied to them. We passed the marsh on the left, with its osprey platform that looked like it had been used, for it had its sticks and debris a foot high still on its plat- form. By March, when the same pair of ospreys return, most of the nest will have been blown away by winter winds. It will be their job to rebuild it. We passed by my brother -in -law's house, long since altered by the new owner. Little groups of bufflehead ducks popped to the surface ahead of us. They were gleaning the bottom for whatever they could find. Once on the surface, they flew away, their plump little black- and -white bodies disappearing ahead of us. In the side channels we could see black ducks and mallards taking ad- vantage of the extra low tide. They were feeding upended, picking away at the bottom for whatever it yielded. Just inside the inlet, we came to nu- merous working boats of one kind or another. I was amazed to see so many As a matter of fact, one had just come in with a catch of clams. Most of the boats were there to get clams. Some were new, some were bld, some were big and some small, some. looked overworked, others just starting a new way of life. All were rigged for dredeine clams. At the mouth of the inlet we saw 100 or more herring gulls and a few black - backed gulls resting on the beaches. How big the black- backed gulls are compared to the others. Just think, 50 to 60 years ago black - backed gulls were just starting to be seen in our area. They were a bird found to our north, but today we find them everywhere. Outside of the inlet we turned east into a biting wind. We hadn't realized how cutting the wind would be. Water streamed from my eyes and jacket zippers were pulled up as hi has they wouldd go. It was cold. We stayed a good way off shore, in deeper water, because, as you well know, the north shore is rocky, and hidden rocks could lurk in the shal- lows. Strings of surf and black scoters sea ducks) rose before us and drifted off to the left and right as we sped along. I don't know if it was my wa- tery eyes or what, but we didn't see a single white - winged scoter. They're usually the most common. The big rocks protruding from the water had four - foot -high dark, mossy sections showing where the tide had been and telling us we were now at dead low tide. In front of us a com- mon loon appeared and then disap- peared below. We never saw it again. A pair of oldsquaws, my favorite sea ducks, rose from the water beside us. These hardy ducks will stay with us through the winter. We sped past Duck Pond in Cu- tchogue. Each shorefront property owner had his own particular type of bulkhead. Some were wood, some were huge boulders, but all the own- ers were hoping to stop the erosion that continually eats away at their yet As the swamthherewerey still large by, each gave stretches of shore- us a nervous front un- look. touched by man. I wondered how long this paradise would last. We finally reached Peconic and decided this was just about as far as we wanted to go. We thought we'd go ashore and stretch our legs and per- haps do a little'beachcombing, but as we throttled down, the engine sput- tered and stopped. An abrupt silence took over. We tried time and time again to start the engine. Nothing. What to do? We'd feel pretty em- barrassed to have to call for someone to come down with another motor and lug. it. down the beach. To relieve the tension we paddled in close to shore. We looked at each other and actually laughed: How could this hap- pen to us? The wind had dropped off, so we just wallowed there 100 feet offshore. Let's try the motor again," one of us said. Luckily, at the last minute I had thrown in a can of engine starter. It's a high -power spray you can squirt into the carburetor and, if that doesn't fire your engine off, some- thing is really wrong. We took the en- gine hood off, squirted a little starter fluid into the carburetor, held our breath and turned the key. "Yen, yen, yen, yen," and off she went. This was surely as far east as we were going to go, particularly if the engine wanted to play games with us, so we headed west with our backs to the wind. We had taken a winter's boat ride. I'm not quite sure I'd do it again right away, but it did give us a pretty good idea of what it's like to be out in the Sound in a small boat in the dead of winter. We'll wait until it's warmer and spring is on its way for our next adventure. Will you be with us?