From Shelter Island to Montauk was about twenty two miles. We left our anchorage by 8:15am and arrived around 11:45am. Plenty of time to find our anchorage, make sure we’re secure and still explore with the bikes. We entered Montauk Harbor and followed the channel markers. I was alerted on the charts to make sure to follow them as there is a giant shoal/sandbar that extends out in the lake. I almost missed it as it is a sharp turn to starboard to follow the markers and the lake is straight ahead, but I spotted it and we followed them past the low spots. Once in to Lake Montauk it is deep enough to go back as close to shore as possible. There were a few boats on mooring and a couple boats anchored so we found a spot far enough away from everyone to be comfortable and dropped the anchor. Again we sat and waited about an hour or more before heading to shore- I like to make very sure we are not dragging the anchor. First I took Frank for a walk and explored the dinghy landing which was on the beach. There were a few people around and I inquired if we were cool to land the dinghy here and all said yes. I noticed a group of people setting up some stuff on the beach and was curious to what they were doing but I didn’t ask. I did chat with a guy who told me he would be there all day and would keep an eye on the dinghy for us too. Nice. I went back and dropped off the dog and picked up Lauren and the bikes and we returned to the beach. The guy I had spoken to earlier told us how to get to town. He said we could dinghy closer back on the other side of the lake, but since we already had brought the bikes and unloaded them we decided we would just ride there. It was about a three mile ride along a highway, but there was a wide enough berm/bike lane it wasn’t too scary- except for the hills- still with no brakes. We found our way in to town and passed Memory Motel (made famous by The Rolling Stones song) as well as all of the shops and markets in the area. We eventually found ourselves at Montauk Brewing Co. which was nice because we were thirsty after the long bike ride in the sun. Unfortunately they weren’t allowing people to sit, but they were selling take out. We looked around and could see groups of people hanging out in a park across the parking lot all drinking beer They all were looking enviously at the forbidden brewery patio. . We ordered some to-go brews and headed off to find the beach. We relaxed at the beach enjoying the refreshments, then decided to stop in the grocery store we had passed on the way in. We picked up a couple of items and headed back to the boat. Now we could see what they were setting up when we left- they had electric surfboards! There was an instructor and a group of people taking turns ‘surfing’ on the somewhat flat lake. Cool! We settled in for the rest of the evening except to take Frank to shore again. We looked at our next stop and discussed going even further than we had originally thought as we still have a lot of time waiting for the darn Erie Canal to open. Tomorrow we will head to Block Island, Rhode Island. Wow! Hard to believe we are leaving New York and heading to Rhode Island!
