THE LEGEND OF CAPTAIN BALDWIN AND CAPTAIN MURDOCH


Cosmo reports to Saltaire38.blogspot.com:


Back in the 1940’s and 1950’s, there were two “Baymen” left working the Great South Bay off of Western Fire Island. They were Capt. Baldwin and Capt. Murdoch. Both made their living from the bounty of the Bay, selling fish, clams and oysters to the summer residents. They would ply the waters with rowboats or small dories. I still remember seeing Capt. Baldwin pull up to the Saltaire dock in the early 1960’s when I was still a young boy.

Capt. Baldwin was paralyzed from the waist down, but he had incredible strength in his upper body. There was stiff competition between Capt. Baldwin and Capt. Murdoch for the limited business between Seaview and Kismet, which led to intense animosity between the two. At some point, an agreement was reached whereby Capt. Murdoch sold to the residents of Dunewood, Fire Island Summer Club, Ocean Beach and Seaview, and Capt. Baldwin would sell to Fair Harbor, Saltaire and Kismet. Their animosity reached the point where there was violence on the Bay. Then, one day, Capt. Murdoch disappeared and was seen no more. The rumor was that Capt. Murdoch had been murdered by Capt. Baldwin, thought he was never charged.

Capt. Baldwin lived on an old clam boat on Clam Pond, which was decrepit and half full of water. In the early days, he lived primarily on oysters, which he would shuck, and discard the empty shells over the sided. In later years, as the oysters died off, he switched to clams. As his boat was far from seaworthy, each year he would pull his clam boat further up on the pile of shells, which grew higher and higher each year.

How he survived living through the winters on an old clam boat, half full of water is beyond me. Apparently, he had a small stove on the boat for heat, and an old lounge chair perched in the portion of his boat that remained above water. I recall the story about one winter when Helen Krowlakowski, worried that Capt. Baldwin was starving to death out in the Cove, went out to see him with a baking pan full of pork chops, thinking that it would last him a week, but which Capt. Baldwin devoured on the spot.

I also recall being told how Capt. Baldwin used to work at the Kismet Inn opening clams. He was quite a cantankerous old salt, who hot along with no one. One night, someone else patronizing the Inn got on his wrong side, and despite being crippled, cleared the twenty or so feet across the bar and almost slit the man’s throat before he was stopped.

Robin Wright told me the stories how Capt. Baldwin would run off any of the local kids that got near his boat with a shotgun. One day, Robin, Bobby Aherne (Squirt) and Mike Fitzgerald determined to get a look at the inside of Capt. Baldwin’s boat. They waited until he left to go fishing. What he saw, and what happened to them is best told by Robin.

I vaguely remember that eventually, Capt. Baldwin got to the point where the authorities came and took him away and put him in a home.

Everything related herein up to this point was oral history, but in the mid 1980’s, Bill Goldsmith (aka Bilbo), who is an archeologist by trade, went out to clam cove with my brother Chris in search of the site of Capt. Baldwin’s old boat. Sure enough, the remains were still there. They dug into the pile of shells, finding clamshells on top, but oyster shells further down. There was little left of the boat, as the wood had all rotten away. The only thing that was left was Capt. Baldwin’s old head, which, being made of porcelain was still intact. They brought his head back, and put it on our back deck at 104 Marine Walk. I remember it being a beautiful summer day, and my parents and other local residents were enjoying the day drinking. That night, one of the worst storms I ever experienced at Saltaire struck. Robin Wright woke me in the middle of the night imploring me to help him with the Full House, which was moored off Neptune Walk at the time. The storm was so severe that the wind blew, dragging his mooring, and blowing the boat up against the bulkhead. I had a motor boat at the time, and we went out in the storm and, between his two engines and my outboard, eventually dragged the Full House back out to deeper waters. The next morning, we found that the wind had picked up all the Hobbie Cats on the bay front, blew them up thirty to forty feet, and dropped them back to earth upside down, breaking most of the masts. Clearly, Capt. Baldwin was very angry at his old haunts being disturbed, and worse, his head taken. Bilbo and my brother returned the head back to where they had found it in Clam Cove. Apparently, Capt. Baldwin was appeased, as Saltaire has never seen a storm like it since.



THE FOSSIL SPEAKS: "WHAT COSMO SAYS IS TRUE"


ROBIN WRIGHT IS OUR SECOND SOURCE. HE WRITES:

Chris Hull, Bill Goldsmith and I went to Capt. Baldwin old foundation site,made up of clam shell and oyester shells, to do some excavating.The only thing we found was a piece of an old toilet. That night we had afierce tropical storm. Capt. Baldwins spirit still lives on. We returnedthe piece to where we found it.
--Robin.

OUT OF CALFORNIA THE RELIC, ROBIN WRIGHT POSTS HIS RECOLLECTIONS OF CAPTAINS BALDWIN AND MURDOCK:



Winter 1947-48 Captain Baldwin staked his claim on Clam Pond.That spring Captain Murdock, who lived on his houseboat on the South side on the Pond, disappeared, presumed drowned. Bill Cerveny and Herbie Paine reported hearing gunshots in that time frame - nothing ever came of it. No body = no crime. Captain Baldwin now had the fishing and clam trade in Saltaire and Fair Harbor. He was not allowed in Kismet.On weekends he used to work at Dick Grenameyers (Kismet Inn) shucking clams. He worked for whiskey, and one time he claimed that the bartender shorted his drinks. Words were exchanged and Captain Baldwin pulled a knife and tried to cut the mans throat. Persona non grata after that. He died sometime in the fifties. Helen and Eddie Krolikowski took him to the mainland and he died in the hospital shortly hereafter.

Robin.



Another set of recollections from Beaver/Frank Mina:


Captain Baldwin's residence, though in close proximity to the water in the Cove was basically built from scrap lumber - Frank & Richie McManus ventured down to Capt Baldwin's shack after he died and went inside - it was sort of Beverly Hillbillys' chic. Frank remembers Capt Baldwin selling clams/fish to his mother and that he was able to stand up(possibly disspelling the story that he was paralyzed from the waist down). Frank also stated that Baldwin could have been a world champion rower and confirmed the story I had heard that after the '38 Hurricane Capt. Baldwin was found way down east in his rowboat. Frank claims that there were a number of Capt Murdoch's - they were a large Bayshore family and it was very likely that one or two actually ran ferries in the early days. Gil Clark's mother, according to Frank, was a Murdoch - Gil's full name was Gilbert Murdoch Clark. Frank also said that there were, years ago two Capt. Baldwin's in Fair Harbor - he doesn't know if "our" Capt Baldwin was one of them. Again, all good yarns which make all of posts interesting.


(ed note: first posted Feb 15, 2008)1/11/09

FACES FROM THE FIFTIES: SALTAIRE PERSONALITIES AS SEEN THROUGH THE LENS OF BILL WEINLANDT

Previously posted 1-12-2017

This is what we looked like in the Fifties, with an occasional shot from the Forties and Sixties. These pictures are from the camera of Bill Weinlandt.  

At the end of this photo array, there is a  "comments" section.  Please post your comments. 

Rich Greer and Billie Greer, 1951
Note the Pavilion at the top of Broadway at the Ocean. 

For a great series of Kodachrome Labor Day photos by Rich Greer, click here:    http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=Labor+Day

Rita Connelly, Kay Imray; Bronson Goddard to right

Kitty Goggins and the Glascocks
Note the dune line in the background. This was a dune replenishment year

1958  Chris Kartalis, Chief Lifeguard
by the way: so many outdoor shots of Saltaire vistas somehow have the water tower somewhere in the background. 

Murderers Row, 1957:
From left: Ed Weinlandt, Jack Thorp, Mike Fitzgerald, Tony Shoecraft, Bill Weinlandt, "Stick" O'Brien, Bob Marks; Larry Lynch.
Pic by W.J. Weinlandt

1957

1957
Anne Keegan told me that this was one of her favorite pictures of her Dad Mike Coffey

1949

Captain Baldwin 1948
Hermit. Fisherman. lived in a shack in the marshes of Clam Cove. 

Captain Baldwin, 1948
for the lowdown on who Captain Baldwin was, click on the link below to one of our most popular stories:
http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=Baldwin

1957 

Charley Ritch, Village Superintendent
from the 1930's through late 1950's

Frank and Kitty Goggins,  1948
Mrs. Goggins, too was one of the earliest Saltairians. Second Village Historian.

Larry Lynch

The Marks

Ladies' Softball Labor Day 1957
Left: Rita Connelly  Mary Wright at bat.

Labor Day, because one of the girls is holding a trophy. Best kid in group got "The Cup."
The Labor Day ceremony was kind of like the Academy Awards.

Ladies' Softball Labor Day 1957
Edna Wilson, Mary Wright

Cyril Schmidt, October 1954

Father Francis X. Fitzgibbon of Our Lady Star of the Sea 1954

Howard Sutherland October 1954

Lou Schmidt, Catsy Schmidt October 1954

Chuck Foster, Pie-Eating Champion. He won by diving into  the Entenmann's blueberry pie while all the other kids were trying to eat theirs.   Hands behind  backs, of course. 

Future Mayor and Fire Island Association President Norma and Tom Ervin 1951. Both had worked at the Nuremburg trials.

Charley Ludlow and his brother Jack, 1951  in the ball field. This Photo looks east.  No playground yet. 

Mike Coffey 1951

The Pipers 1951
Mrs. Piper was a fashion model in the 1950's.
Background: Looking West, Bay Prom was still boardwalk,  CC Sailboat on right. 

Paul Schmidt, former Mayor,  1951

Ruth Dobie and Mr. and Mrs Lynch, 1951
Among the earliest Saltairians. 
Mrs. Dobie eloped and got married on the beach, 1917.  A  summer resident until 1959, she was the First Village historian. 

Mrs. Lynch was working for a public health service organizations in 1918 (?) when a troop ship ran aground and she came out as part of the rescue corps. Village houses were used as emergency shelters.  She fell in love with the village; bought land and a house and stayed a summer resident. 

1951: future Mayor John Ludlow and Dan Langley

Ed Weinlandt, Eleanor Mark; Fred Mark; Helen Weinlandt; Bob Mark

Gil and Pat Bell, 1951 
There are kids jumping off the Fire Islander in the background.
Those days labor day swimming races were held in the boat basin. Eleanor Mark on right.

Dwight Isaccson, Chief Ocean Lifeguard   1964

Bob Marshalk and Gil Bell, 1951

All smiles. Pete Kuracheck at the  guarded  front door. Kids wait on line to go in for gamma globulin shots in polio epidemic, August, 1954. Notably, kids who got shots inside exited the back door so that the kids waiting to go in through the front door  would not see their tears. 

Oliver Hull, Georgiana Hull 1960

Peter W. Kuracheck, 1955
Athletic Director, swimming instructor, 1954-1964.
Wore this white zinc oxide on his nose, 1954-1964. 
  Played football at University of Kentucky, Class of 1937;  M.A.  in  Phys Ed, University of Kentucky. When the War came, Captain Kuracheck drilled  WWII fliers to be physically fit to handle combat flight.  Some say he was every bit as tough (but loving)  in teaching eight year-olds  to swim in Saltaire in the 1950's and early 1960's. Sixty years later, people remember his swimming lessons like yesterday. He would hover over fledgling swimmers with a ten foot long bamboo pole. Kuracheck was one of the most successful football coaches in New York scholastic history at Pleasantville High School.  

Yacht Club Steward and Stewardess Jim and Terry O'Connor, 1960

Beach Party. Lotta kids. Lotta families had lotta kids. July 1954

The Ahernes,  1954. Merry, Harriet, Marie and Bob. 
Note the artificially built up dunes 

Skinner Birthday Party 1950
Captain Al Skinner lived in a small apartment in what would now be the east end of the Fire House, with a porch facing the ball field.  "the Shim Shack" they called his apartment. By the terms of the contract between the Village and Fire Island Ferries, the ferry had to be berthed in Saltaire at night and Skinner had to live in Saltaire. In case of the need for any emergency evacuations. 
Note on the bulletin board in background.
Carved initials "JO'H"  and "DW"  by Jim O'Hare and Danny Weinlandt. 

Skinner, 1954

Skinner Birthday Party 1960
Skinner was an accomplished pianist, singer, accordion player, raconteur and life-long bayman.

Buying Fish in Saltaire in the 1950's

click to enlarge

Capt. Baldwin, 1949, photo by Bill Weinlandt
Courtesy and copyright Bill J. Weinlandt 2008


If you wanted to buy fish you went down to the dock or over to the cove (were there was a path beaten through the rushes) to buy your fish from the hermit Captain Baldwin.





But woe to those who invaded his turf selling fish. See notes by Cosmo and FOSSIL here http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=baldwin as to what happened to Capt. Murdock.


(ed note: originally posted may 19, 2008)1/11/09

Dialogue From Our "There Are More Ways Than One To Catch a Fish" Department

Top image 1952, Courtesy Billy Poteat

next four photos courtesy John Zaccaro Jr.

From Our "There Are More Ways Than One To Catch a Fish" Department

we get this query from one of America’s great fishing and hunting writers, Duncan Dobie:
Duncan asks:
Do you remember much about fishing on the dock? What kind of fish did we catch besides fluke and snappers? What kind of bait do you remember using for fluke? Snappers? Any particular instances that you remember?

Our response: OK, Duncan, we will ask our fans to enter their memories by clicking on “comments” below. Please enter your comments, fisherpeople.

Not all of us Saltaire38 authors were the greatest fishermen (there were lots of other things to do in ancient Saltaire) but here are a few starter thoughts:

Bait: killies and shiners and chopped clams from the warm waters of Clam Cove. It wasn't polluted by overdevelopment and ugly houses then. Or you could buy squid.

Lures: names like "Striper Swiper" for surf casting. See Larry Lynch here in 1959, courtesy Jeff Weinlandt:

Snappers: when running by the sluice in late July they would go for anything. Even little pieces of Wrigley's tin foil gum wrappers. Snappers in their feeding frenzies would bite more than mosquitoes after a summer rain.. Could turn a kid into a fish hog. Click here: http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/search?q=a+bad+day+fishing
Snappers were on the top so you needed a bobber. A skinny bamboo pole would do well to snap up the line. I think Harper Lee fished for snappers. She had a pail and she would fish where the kids fished on the dock.

You ask about fluke, but you have a flounder here:

Fluke and flounder were flat and lived on the bottom so you had to go for them hook line and sinker. You might get by with a drop line. Probably any bait was okay since they eat any garbage that that dies and sinks to the bottom.

CLAMMING.............A GREAT SPOT USED TO BE COFFEY POINT, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE SNAKE HILL CHANNEL. JUST TO THE EAST OF THE BABYLON CUT OFF THE STATE CHANNEL

SCALLOPING - THE COVE, EVERY FALL USED TO BE FILLED WITH BAY SCALLOPS DURING THE LATE 50's and 60's. LIKE CLAMMING, WHEN THE SALINITY IN THE BAY CHANGED DRAMATICALLY IN THE EARLY 70'S THAT WAS THE END OF THE SHELLFISH INDUSTRY IN GREAT SOUTH BAY FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES

Then of course, if you didn't want to have a bad day fishing, you could always buy your stuff from Captain Baldwin:

(Courtesy Jeff Weinlandt)

But Captain Baldwin could be pretty tough if you crossed him.

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Blowfish- My brother had an interesting method for catching blowfish. He would stand in the shallow waters of the Bay in front of Saltaire and wiggle his big toe. This invariably attracted blowfish, and just before they would bite his big toe, Chris would quickly reach into the water and grab the blowfish. This method worked very well until one blowfish bit his big toe, and if anyone remembers the front teeth on a blowfish, you could understand why he switched to other methods.

Cosmo
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John Zaccaro Jr. brings us from CHILDHOOD SNAPPERS TO DEEP SEA FISHING AND YACHT CLUB TOURNAMENTS AND A WHALE OF A TALE OR TWO:

Growing up I fished off the dock. The fish I caught were mostly snappers, blowfish and sea robins. The west dock was better for the blowfish than the main dock, which produced the occasional fluke, bluefish or weak fish. Most of the fish were caught with shiners or killies from the bay, which we caught in nets. We also used frozen squid or clam bellies sold in the store. We used bamboo poles with bobbers so we rarely caught fish that spent their time on the bottom of the bay like stripped bass, weak fish or fluke. I do remember going out in the bay fishing with my father, but we only rarely went into the ocean.

We also used to rake the bulkhead for wagons of mussels, which are now non-existent due to the bulkhead material. We also went into clam pond for razor clams and chowder clams. Now you have to go into the back canals near Captree to find clams. We do that once or twice a year.

Now I spend my time offshore fishing, which is different than dock fishing. In the early fall and spring there are stripped bass. They tend to stay in colder water near the bottom. You can catch them on bunker or clam bellies, but usual the best way is to live line a bunker or eel. If you locate a bunker pod you can snag one and fish the snared bunker. You can also use a throw net to catch the bunker and then live line them. I digress to mention it is a thing of beauty to watch Jim McCann try and throw the catch net usually hooking himself or the boat in the process. That said Captain Lorenzetti has a rig design that works well for the stripped bass because they eat the bunker whole commencing with the head. I find there are some spots on the inside and outside of the inlet that produce stripped bass most of the time due to contours on the bottom.

As the summer warms up the water is still cold. That is time to head out to fish for shark. Shark fishing is similar to fluke fishing for you just sit and wait for a bite. I like leaving a chum bag hanging over the side after I have chummed by hand for a while. I also trail a mako magnet that emits an electronic sound that emulates a wounded porpoise. It helps attract the sharks. Then I set up a few lines and send them out with lure. The Japanese have very realistic lures that tend to do well. I like the Yo-zuri brand, but they are expensive. They also are razor sharp and tend to catch as many of the crew as the target fish. I tie a balloon to the line so from a distance you can see your lines action and also works like a bobber. The most fun to catch are the mako and I have had one jump over my boat. That will wake you up in the morning.

As the end of the summer approaches it is tuna time. The problem is you have to go out to the Gulf Stream, which is That is about a three hour run in my boat. The jet stream has significantly warmer water temperature and you see Sargasso weed floating up from the south. I troll tuna lures off the back of the boat usually in a w pattern. Green machines, daisy chain and other squid skirted lures usually work well. I use the outriggers for two lines each and a downrigger for a third on each side. That gets six lines in the water. When one hits it takes one person to fight the fish and two others to bring in the lines. Sometimes while you are bringing in a line you get another hit. In addition I run a porta planner down the center with a teaser to disturb the water.

My favorite tuna story was when I was fishing with Eric Lang and we hit a school of tuna. We were following a commercial boat that was picking up his lines and the fish were going wild. We had six lines in the water and there were two of us fishing. We had four hits at once. Eric reeled in one line and cut the other as I started reeling in the fish that went under the boat. Shortly after the line broke on the keel I grabbed another that went down near the transom. I was fighting that fish while Eric took one that went off the side. We booth landed our fish and brought them in. I jumped to the last line, but was having trouble landing it. The line would come in and go out and it reminded me of how marlins behave. After about twenty-five minutes of fighting this fish it came to the side of the boat. What I saw was a twenty-foot shark with the tuna in its mouth. It was wild and I continued to fish until my line broke while Eric ran for his shotgun. I have attached a picture of the fish from that day.

Fluke fishing is all about patience and cold beer. I bring the kids into the bay to fish for fluke, but since they have raised the legal catch size there are not many keeper left in the Great South Bay. You can go into the ocean and you will catch larger fluke. They are over the wrecks, the fish traps or other natural bottom attractions. You need to go three to five miles offshore and the water needs to be warmer. I find that if I go perpendicular to the beech out until I hit a certain temperature and then I start looking for sites that have worked for me before. The problem is it takes a lot of time looking for the fish. Then you can use live bait or synthetic bait. I find with the kids it is easier to use the synthetic bait. Then you can add some smelly jelly and the action is pretty good. The smelly jelly is similar in smell and texture to Beaver’s after-shave. Once the line is set you drop it to the bottom and move it up and down. Meanwhile you get comfortable and have a frosty.
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I have attached four photos of Long Island fishing. The first is the one that did not get away. It is the humpback whale that landed on our shore in front of Saltaire in 2004. Most do not know that I hooked the fish and after an epic battle from the surf reeled in the beast. It was 50 feet long and 80,000 pounds. You can put that photo next to Duncan’s little flounder photo.

The second photo was last year’s winning fish in the Yacht Club tournament. Rumor has it that Scott caught the fish but the truth is far from that. I baited Scott’s hook with a live eel and then went up to the captain’s chair for some shuteye. I was awoken by Jim yelling” fish on.”. Scott handed the rod to Jim, who handed it to me. Twenty minutes later on 20 lb test I landed the 35lb fish. It took the line out four times. Then Jim and John together pulled the fish up with the net. Scott took the fish out by the tail and claimed the catch.
The last two photos are from tuna trips I mentioned above.
--John Zaccaro Jr.

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Billy Poteat chimes in here with lots of cool pictures: All pix here courtesy Billy Poteat.

year: 1952

Fishing -- great memories, thanks for spurring them

some crabs also, Chico (grandfather) loved them

interesting as I look at these old pics how often the water tower and the lighthouse would "sneak" in the pics

and how bout that Rebel flag!!!!!!!

got no clue about that old truck on the beach as far as what its story was

That's Dad behind me in the crab pic.

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Editor's Note: We ask you all: what do you recall about how to fish in Saltaire? Who has some pictures?

Blue claw crabs: numerous when you were there in the 1950’s, Duncan. A barefoot kid like seven year old Allen Aherne could be seen walking along the edge of the bay bulkheads with a net on a pole. He could fill up a bucket with blue claws before breakfast.
Or maybe you would prefer going out on the dock at night and watch the blue claws swim backwards under the light from the street lights and you could scoop them up with your net.

...But really, Duncan, you can’t return to that place. Only crabs can swim backwards. You are not a crab.

“for yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward.”

---Hamlet to Polonius, Act 2 Scene 2.

--JOH