The Boat Ride

 

The ocean is a stallion, calm and peaceful, corralled within the perimeter of the bay, quiet and reserved, not angry at present but with the potential to become something else, something terrible, something unrestrained and furious at a moments notice. A dog quietly bobbing down the street on his leash with his master momentarily turned into a killer straining at the leash due to the poorly chosen path of a hapless squirrel, or the driver floating down the road until driven to revenge by the disrespectful actions of a lawless motorist cutting him off, and risking his life for no discernible reason, innocuous to the lives of others who come into his path and egocentric thoughts.

It was a beautiful day on Moriches Bay, as we floated along, trolling our lines before the small skiff. Our prey were the flat flounders wobbling below, visible in the clear Long Island waters. They were discerning shoppers only picking the best worms, swimming with the most graceful motion as their food supply had allowed them this degree of comparison shopping, like wealthy ladies shopping for the best hats on Fifth Avenue, what with the Easter Parade merely a week away! Visible one moment then disappearing the next the fish blended perfectly with the sand below them which they buried themselves into for camouflage and stealth. The heat burned down through my flimsy polo shirt cooking me on a slow simmer in the strong sun. Forgetting my baseball hat, sunglasses and sunscreen on the kitchen table was a serious mistake and one that I would later regret

Moriches Bay is a beautiful inlet on the south shore of Long Island where skiffs with a motor can be rented at Al’s Fishing Station. As the morning was ending, we had each caught a few flounders, each of them giving us the side eye, but now our thoughts were turning to lunch and we proceeded to put our rods down, the handle wedged under foot, in case of action, and proceeded to pull out sandwiches for lunch. Suddenly we noticed black clouds in the distance rapidly approaching. Like a black curtain descending onto a stage, they were momentarily upon us. The sea started to roll and pitch as the thick fog engulfed the tiny boat and we were blinded by it. This went on for some time sloshing and riding the waves as rain poured down through the thick fog and we bobbed along with no idea of our location. Suddenly the blast of a loud foghorn inundated our eardrums and the red hull of a huge ship towering above us narrowly missed our bow. What was a large boat like that doing in the bay? Maybe Neptune was angered by us removing the Flounder from his favorite bay, which we would gladly return to escape this dangerous scenario.

Maybe a Mermaid finally convinced Neptune to calm down explaining to him that we were not beyond reform, for the sea quickly calmed down and the black curtain ascended the stage. We were overjoyed having been shaken by the near miss with the large vessel. It now became clear that in the thick fog we had exited the inlet and were on the open ocean though not far from the mouth of the inlet. The motor was started as we could see our direction now and headed back through the choppy waters working our way back into the protected bay. Though glad for our new lease on life, we reneged on out promise to return the fish we had stolen from Neptune.

 

Jim

Aug 2021