Although there are many, many, many more people crowding the isthmus of the South Fork these days, there seem to be fewer people out on the bays. Fifty years ago, on a given Thursday in August, you’d have seen a lot more sailboats and power boats, and more water skiers, if you went down to Gardiner’s Bay to do a head count. In 2024, the docks and moorings at Sag Harbor are chockablock with mega yachts that have motored in to sample the ceviche at Le Bilboquet, but not many are out there ruffling the water on vast swaths off Napeague or Northwest.
It’s also been a rather routine observation on the South Fork that we’ve moved well past the tipping point of overcrowding on the roads and highways. Our transportation infrastructure has been maxed out; we cannot take any more cars. We cannot take any more people. We cannot take any more, period.
Where is everyone? Shopping, restauranting, and stuck in traffic cursing at strangers through the windshields of cars.
So here we have a simple suggestion for those whose blood pressure needs a break as their summer vacation chugs toward the terrible terminus of September and a return to school and work: Craving alone time? Go to the bay.