We Went to Montauk

I forgot how much I love Montauk- it’s this magical beachy place that conjures up images of Robert Shaw-like fisherman, summertime regulars exchanging hellos at the local grocer, and lobster rolls at the local seafood stand just off Hwy. 27. It also stirs up a kind of quiet solitude. You feel like you’re standing at the edge of the world on the tip of that Island. It is markedly more chic than I remember as my last visit was back in ’06, but despite the house music at the latest 60s motel-turned-hipster haunt and the city’s latest eatery and shop offerings, Montauk manages to maintain its salt-of-the-earth sensibility and rustic charm.

Our friends graciously invited us (and 5 other couples with kiddos in tow) out to their sweet Montauk beach pad. We had a ball, there were 12 adults and 14 kiddos. We joked that it should have been a shit show but it was completely and totally awesome. These are my best girls from college and now that we’ve run out of weddings to attend (we’re all hitched), we have to come up with ways to get together. It happens about once every 2 years and it’s always amazingly memory filled. It was a weekend filled with rosé, lobster rolls (the mayo-less kind from Red Hook Lobster Co.- yum!), beach days, pool time, shingled homes, blooming flowers and the world famous Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament.

Ok, let’s talk about this shark tournament. I honestly could not believe I had never been to this before. I am such a Jaws fanatic, this tournament was surreal. Boats were lined up to come in to the harbor where the docked in front of the crowd while the fisherman hooked their catch to the pulley. The sharks were lifted up and weighed next to the fiberglass 3500 lb. Great White that was caught in ’86 while the crowd waited to hear what type of shark and how it weighed in. Most were Makos, Blues and Threshers and the winner this year was a 360 pound Thresher brought in just under the gun at exactly 5 o’clock, when the tournament ended. No doubt those proud fisherman were circling the harbor, waiting to come in at the last minute and make a splash with their Thresher. I was completely in my element, mouth open and wide eyed as the weighed the sharks, cut them open, gutted and filleted them inches from my flip flops. They severed their heads and nonchalantly threw the sharks’ parts in dumpsters that soon hauled them off. Seriously, the whole thing was so surreal. There was a marine biologist on hand to cut out important organs for science and research so that did put one’s mind at ease a bit that this was not entirely all for show. Every part of the shark’s meat is donated to local charities, churches and nursing homes, so that helps too. Honestly, it was pretty crazy town.

If you love sharks and are not offended by a fishing tournament or grossed out by a close up gut, you have to go.

Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament

{Image: Eileen Casey}

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