Night Scares

fish on the middle to eastern end of Long Island's south shore. The location is far enough from the NYC that its skyward glow cannot be seen after sunset. On clear new moon dark nights by the water there is no light on the southern horizon, only stars. One summer night I was fishing Moriches Bay alone and quite late. There were no boats out and the only light came from the channel markers little green and red blinks. I had been fishing long enough that I was in that trance state of relaxation that comes from minimal sensual stimulation and tiredness from standing in moving water for hours focusing on subtle hits and splashy sounds.

Suddenly, from nothing a sound began to crescendo as if it were approaching my position. The fear for my well-being violently jerked me out of my somnambulant fishing state. My eyes began darting back and forth over 180 degrees of water. I began desperately looking for a power boat. I could not for the life of me locate the source of the sound that had now become very loud and still growing. It is a legitimate fear where I fish that an idiot boater might come in tight to shore without running lights. I've seen it happen and have heard about it too. I now realized that this roaring sound could not be a boat but something in the sky—maybe a helicopter—but where? The sound now is truly deafening. I can feel its vibrations wave through me and my eyes are quickly scouring the sky for a whirlybird that seemed almost overhead but I neither saw its lights nor fuselage.

Just as the sound began to fade from its climax I spotted the source of my adrenaline surge: a barely detectable black silhouette of a helicopter suspended against a black sky. It hovered for perhaps 30 seconds and then moved off. Judging by the sound it left in the reverse of how it came and left me absolutely clueless to its disturbing activity. Then it was out of sound.

After that it was impossible to continue fishing, so I went home.

I found out later that not far from where I often fish is a military base for a Special Services unit that specializes in rescue.

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