Hampton Bays Bridges

 I like wandering all over Long Island and one of my favorite places to visit is the Hamptons. I rented summer houses with friends in Hampton Bays many years ago. I still have a fondness for that town. These bridges can be seen along the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.

Hampton Bays Sketches

 I have a fondness for several towns in the Hamptons since I spent many summers renting summer houses there with friends. Hampton Bays is probably the least ritzy of the Hamptons and most affordable.

This is the Ponquogue Bridge which connects Hampton Bays with the barrier island that runs along part of the coast. When I first started going out there the bridge was a much smaller version and a bit rickety. I remember when they built this bridge and have good memories of walking to the center of it with my niece and nephew to watch the sunset. They were maybe 7 and 8 and told me they had never watched the sunset. So every day for the time they stayed with me we went somewhere to watch the sunset.

If you cross the bridge Ponquogue Beach is straight ahead. If you make a left you can ride about a mile along Dune Road and you come to the Shinnecock Canal. Nearby are the commercial fishing docks. I did a continuous line sketch of this fishing boat docked there.

Along the Shinnecock Canal is a rocky jetty where fishermen come and fish and people come to watch the boats travel through the canal.

In case you are wondering about the unusual names, many of the towns and locations have American Indian names. The Shinnecock Indians are still in the area and have a reservation nearby.

Fishing Boat

 Before I started working on the 100 People challenge I had posted a sketch of the dunes at Tiana Beach in the Hamptons. I drove along Dune Road to the end by the Shinnecock Canal where there are a few restaurants and a commercial fishing dock. I sat and sketched one of the fishing boats with all the interesting equipment both on the boat and off the boat.

Hampton's Boat and Fishermen

Down by the Shinnecock Canal there was this great fishing boat. Once again all the rigging made me crazy. It was next to another boat and I couldn't tell what belonged to what.

Also along the canal there were a number of people fishing. I didn't see anyone catch anything.

Dune Road

I went out to Hampton Bays on Sunday to see an exhibit of my friend's art group. So of course I figured I would go early and paint. I went down to Dune Road which is on a barrier island with dunes and the Shinnecock Canal at one end. I sat right next to one of the bridges and painted the view looking toward the canal. When I finished this I went over to view the the exhibit which was very nice. Stay tuned because I went back after viewing the exhibit.