West Sayville Dock

Part of the West Sayville Dock extends out into the bay past the marine repair businesses. Cars and fishermen are often found down at the end of the dock. You can see Fire Island off in the distance. 

Bicycles at the Beach

 At the end of the Field 6 parking lot at Robert Moses Beach there is an area that always has bicycles locked up. I'm not sure who they belong to and quite often they are a very rusted collection of bikes. I was surprised to see that the ones locked there on my recent trip were in much better condition. I used artistic license and only sketched two of them, but there were actually about 7 of them. While I was sketching them a man came along and unlocked one and rode away. I don't know if you are allowed to bike ride across the bridge that gets to the beach so I'm not quite sure where he was headed. I know that with a permit you can drive into the Fire Island communities as well as the Fire Island Lighthouse. I wonder where he was going...

View at the Bay

 I painted this at the Islip Beach. The view looks out toward Fire Island in the distance.

Autumn Colors by the Bay

My autumn color quest took me down by the bay in Blue Point the other day. Fire Island is peeking out across the water.

 

Ferry Loading

I went over near the ferry terminals in Sayville and sat across the creek from where they depart. The South Bay Clipper was boarding passengers to make the trip across the bay to the Fire Island communities. I've only taken the ferry to Fire Island once, but it was a fun trip. These riders look like they are ready for a great day! 

Drift 82

 Drift 82 is a seafood restaurant along the canal by Sandspit Marina in Patchogue. I sketched along the outside deck of the restaurant and caught the hostess and a waitress in action. If you look at the mileage markers on the right, all the places listed are Fire Island Beaches. From the Sandspit Marina you can catch a ferry to some of them.

Final Sketches of 2023

 I've been having fun with the continuous line sketches so I thought I would do one final one for 2023 of my breakfast. I almost always have the same breakfast...a swiss cheese omelette with spinach. My holiday plate makes it a little more festive.

My final plein air sketch for 2023 was done down at Hecksher State Park in East Islip. It is a huge park that is right on the Great South Bay with views across to Fire Island. The parking lot I was in had some huge puddles from recent flooding or high tides. It could be either but this particular parking lot seems to always be partly flooded. The ducks were quite happy, but the human visitors had to drive through some of the water to get out of the lot.

Clouds Over the Bay

As much as I love finding Christmas and holiday decorations I had to go down to the bay near Sayville the other day to paint the clouds. They were so great. Straight ahead across the Great South Bay is Fire Island one of our barrier islands where the lighthouse I'm always painting is located. You can often get a glimpse of one of the ferries heading over to or back from the small communities located there.

 

Lighthouse

Last week when it was warm I made several trips to Robert Moses State Park. 3 out of the 4 days I sketched or painted the Fire Island Lighthouse. I can't resist!!

 

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 11

 I've been able to keep up with the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge. Like usual I try to keep a few days ahead in case something comes up and I can't paint. My Day 11 painting was done at the Smith Point Marina looking over to Fire Island. You can see a tiny view of the Ranger's Station over on the left.

The Bridge

 If you want to drive to Fire Island your choices are limited. One way is to take the bridge from Smith Point across the Great South Bay to Smith Point Beach. It is one lane in each direction and does open at certain times for large boats with masts to pass through. You can also drive to Robert Moses State Park on the western end of Fire Island, but to get to any of the beach communities you have to take a ferry since there are no cars allowed other than at the two beaches mentioned. 

Dune Fences

 After painting the dune view that I posted yesterday I crossed back over to the mainland and stopped at Capture State Park. It looks back across the bay to the park I had already painted on Fire Island. For some reason this image shows a bit darker than the actual painting.

Dune Path

 I've been too busy to go down to the beach recently, but I took a drive there today. The beach always relaxes me. Although it was probably warm enough to sit outside I opted to sit in my mobile studio to paint. This was done at Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island.

Over the Dunes

The other day I knew I needed a little time to visit the beach. It was cold so I found a spot to park overlooking the dunes at Cedar Beach along Ocean Road. Off in the distance you can see Fire Island. 

Bay View

There are many roads here that lead down to the bay with a view toward Fire Island across the water. This was sketched in Bayport.

Ranger's Station

 When you go to Smith Point State Park you are at the eastern end of Fire Island. There is a ranger's station as you cross the bridge to the barrier island. You can get informations about Fire Island there, and they often give classes to the public. I love going up to their top level where you can see a bird's eye view over the dunes and the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Great South Bay on the other side.

Inktober 2020 Day 29

 For my Day 29 sketch I headed down by the Great South Bay in East Patchogue. You can see Fire Island in the distance. 

Canalside in Sayville

There are so many boats along the canal in Sayville where the ferry boats depart for Fire Island. Some of the boats are commercial but most of them, aside from the ferries, are private. As I turned into the parking area there was a separation in the grasses and reeds where a sailboat could be seen on the other side. I had been on the other side first but couldn't find a good view of this. I did like it with the grasses though.

View to the Bay

The other day I had to drop off my shingle paintings at the Maritime Museum in Sayville, so when I was done I figured I would stay for a while and do a sketch. This is the view from the end of the dock looking out to the Great South Bay. In the distance you can see the bridge going to Fire Island.

Patchogue Lighthouse

In Patchogue out at the end of one of the jetties near the ferry to Fire Island is a small lighthouse. I followed the construction of this project for a while sketching some the equipment that was being used. You can see one of those sketches here.