Gale Force Winds

These shots were taken in high winds where I could not hold the camera steady. Most were shot at extreme zoom focal length from within our rocking Jeep as we got blasted by sand from the beaches. Please forgive the graininess. See photos below, click to enlarge.

The night before last the wind began to pick up and the temperature plummeted. It was an arctic high blowing down our way, pushing steady 40 mph winds gusting 55 to 60 mph, short of a hurricane, but windy. With the wind chill factor the temperature was + or - zero. A normally placid Long Island Sound was whipped into a froth, seas reaching 8 - 10+ feet, endangering shipping. I got an early shot of a tug keeping a barge from running aground just north of Greenport, this before the storm hit it's stride. The tumult in the water tossed the small stuff (bait fish) around out of control making it a field day for the gulls having a feeding frenzy.




At Southold Town Beach the wind was so strong that I couldn't force the door of our Jeep open, but this fellow trying to impress his girlfriend made it out and grabbed a sign post just before being whisked off his feet and on to the hood of his car. That's show biz!



Here a tanker is in shallow water, 30 - 40 feet just off the Mattituck Inlet Jetty. It promises to be a long night for the captain of this vessel, fighting the broadside winds just off a lee shore.