Riverhead, NY and Fishing Memories

It's out on eastern Long Island, a resort town near the sound. I'm working in Bridgehampton this week, about 40 miles farther east, toward Montauk.

This a great area, and it brings back memories. I used to, with a bunch of cronies, go fishing here about this time each year. At least we told everybody we were fishing. I mostly remember hanging out in the local barrooms, misbehaving with Ray, Greg and Gil.

We actually did go fishing once, sort of. We hired a charter boat out of Montauk. We drove up early one morning and had breakfast about 5:00 am at some greasy dive by the wharf. I had toast and coffee and Ray wolfed down a plateful of awful looking red and yellow stuff. We warned him, but he said he was a navy veteran and could handle anything. I forget what Greg and Gil ate because I only saw it once.

I saw Ray's breakfast twice.

The weather wasn't good. It was windy and overcast. The sea was so high that most of the boats stayed in, but our captain took us out.

He needed the money.

We bucked the waves on the way out, powering up the crests and then dropping down into the troughs. Greg slept on a padded bench the whole time. When the boat fell he would hang in mid-air for two or three seconds, and when it hit bottom he would smack down so hard we thought his fillings would fall out.

We got to the fishing area and put some lines in the water. But the swells were about 8 feet high and we didn't catch anything. We just watched the horizon rise and fall, rise and fall.

Ray the navy veteran got seasick, which we enjoyed immensely. I was fine. I've never been troubled with motion sickness of any kind, plus I didn't eat much for breakfast. Greg continued to sleep -- he didn't really wake up till we were near the dock. He looked around wild-eyed and asked when we were heading out. We told him we'd been, and that he had a good time.

Times have sure changed. I don't fish much any more or hang out in bars.

I still eat, though.