Author Information

Russell Drumm
Senior Writer

Articles by this author:

  • The Fish Are Winning

        With summer prey species flung hither and yon by Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent northeaster, striped bass have been dining on crabs, at least that’s what dockside post mortems have been revealing.

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Pitch in to Save Oyster Farm in Montauk

        Mike Martinson and Mike Doall saw the storm coming a week out and knew the potential damage Hurricane Sandy could do to their Montauk Shellfish Company, and the million or so oysters that were growing in cages in Lake Montauk.
        “We . . . started sinking stuff to the bottom,” Mr. Martinson said on Monday. By “stuff” he was referring to the contents of a portion of the 3,000 or so plastic cages that were strung near the surface on longlines on the east side of Lake Montauk just south of the Gone Fishing Marina. 

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Saving, or Claiming, Dunes

        Three issues important to the East Hampton Town Trustees were brought to the fore by Hurricane Sandy — shellfish, sand, and public beaches.
        During a quickly scheduled meeting on Saturday, five days after the storm roared through, the trustee board voted to postpone the opening of scallop season in town waters until Nov. 19. The postponement follows the opening delay in state waters until Nov. 13 for fear of contamination of scallop habitat due to storm runoff and overwhelmed septic systems.

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Rescued From Burning Boat

        A crew from the Montauk Coast Guard Station plucked a man from his smoldering boat Tuesday night, minutes before it was engulfed in flames. The 44-foot sportfishing boat, Island Girl, sank.
        Its captain, whose name has not been released, received first aid and was taken to Southampton Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Edith (Deet) Wright, Victim of the Hurricane

        Hundreds of friends and neighbors gathered at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Saturday afternoon to bid farewell to Edith (Deet) Wright, and to offer support for her daughters.

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Master of the Mistress Too

       Capt. Fritz Hubner of Montauk said that before superstorm Sandy arrived he hauled the Captain Jay, the fishing boat he’s been running for the past 14 years. Experience has proved the better-safe-than-sorry adage many times over, he said in a recent interview.
        The veteran charter captain who recently turned 80 said he had planned to hang it up 14 years ago, but a private boat owner liked his fishing experience and offered him the helm of his 43-foot Viking, the Captain Jay; he has been skippering ever since. 

    By: Russell Drumm
  • Swept to Her Death by Sandy’s Wrath
    Edith Wright, known to people in Montauk as Deet, died on Monday afternoon when she was apparently swept into the ocean by Hurricane Sandy’s violent surge.
    By: Russell Drumm
  • Stymied Erosion Project Blamed
    Homeowners had brought a multimillion-dollar suit against the Army Corps and the three levels of government over a year ago, alleging that the jetties that mark the Montauk Harbor inlet are the basic cause of Soundview’s eroded beaches.
    By: Russell Drumm
  • Montauk Shoreline Took a Severe Beating
    Hours before Hurricane Sandy came ashore in New Jersey, the storm’s surge, compounded by a full-moon tide, had raised the sea level considerably.
    By: Russell Drumm
  • Relay: Ashes To Embers

       Memories are embers that fade to ash if not tended. Last weekend I brought my father’s ashes to a cemetery south of Syracuse to reside beside my mother. It was his wish. The Ondondaga Valley Cemetery was cloaked in a gossamer fog pierced by the yellow tops of turning trees. Tall pines spread their bows evergreen above the stones.

    By: Russell Drumm

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