Dans Papers - May 11, 2007

It's August fifth. The summer sun is in its zenith of providing bright, hot warmth. You're in your boat on the bay off Northwest Barcelona Beach with a few hundred people in rafts and small crafts, listening to music provided by noted local musicians. The clean, clear, water beneath the floating flotilla of fun is shallow -- anywhere from two to four feet deep -- so you can walk to the beach. Isn't this what Spain is suppose to be? Except, it's not Spain -- it's Sag Harbor on the first Sunday of August, when Brian Scanlon organizes The Barcelona Beach Party.

Moving into its second decade of existence, this celebration of owning a small craft, being a local and enjoying a good cocktail or two in Gardiner's Bay has remained one of this area's best-kept secrets. Entertainment the likes of The Nancy Atlas Project, The Loan Sharks and others complete this afternoon (and evening) of song, dance, swim and drink. The bands perform on an open barge that has a few VIPs on board -- there is drinking, dancing and celebrating of summer life. Surrounding the barge are a hundred or so small craft -- 23-foot sailboats, powerboats, whalers -- many rafted together to form little oasis of friendship. And let's not forget the others, lying on surfboards and all sorts of rubber tubes and rafts, enjoying the music and festivities. It's a mini Woodstock on the water, with adults in their twenties, to one old captain who claimed to be born in 1903 -- of course, he had had rum or two -- and every age in between.

In an area with names like Noyac, North Sea and North Haven, where did the name Barcelona Neck come from? According to local lore, the bluffs were named during the height of the whaling era, when Sag Harbor was as busy a port as that of New York City. Many sailors of that time expressed that the neck reminded them so much of the bluffs around Barcelona, Spain, that homesick Spanish sailors would go there to rest and feel closer to home than they did in the seafaring village. Now, it is a preserve, which makes being off its coast that much more pleasurable.

Though it is considered an annual event, the Barcelona Beach Party has not been held every year. A few years back, it was canceled because the one the year before was so well attended. In recent years, it seems that the unofficial festival has become something of a right of passage for local bartenders, waitresses and other shop workers throughout the Hamptons, celebrating just one more month to the hectic summer season. Most attending the party somehow still end up at work later that evening. Some, however, call in sick or just never make it to work.

At the last two parties, everywhere I looked I recognized people I knew (or knew of) wearing festive attire, the likes of which I had never seen them in before -- colorful bathing suits, festive tee shirts and all sorts of logo hats and visors to block out the sun. Deals were being made between groups of people on the small boats -- trading beers for ice, rum for Cokes, water for beer, hot dogs for chips and salsa. You could not help but feel the electricity in and on the water. With water so shallow, it was easy to just jump off a boat and walk to another friend's boat, or jump in to dance to a favorite tune and cool off. The good will in the air was contagious. Windsurfers cruised in, sailboats dropped their sails and powerboats gently bobbed up and down to the beat of the band playing on the barge. All of this was happening just offshore, with the beautiful Barcelona Beach as a backdrop, with its summer sunbathers looking on in surprise, as many did not know that this was the weekend of a beach party.

So come this summer's first Sunday of August, with its gloriously sunny, warm weather, perhaps you might like to take time off from your usual ritual and check out this happening. Like everything else, nothing lasts forever, so attending an event such as the Barcelona Beach party is very special. You will see your neighbors on their boats, having the truest, purest version of weekend fun. It's a floating summer yard party with great bands. I am not sure if those sailors of yesteryear ever celebrated on this beach this way, but I can only imagine how they would have reacted, sailing into Sag Harbor after a month or so at sea and seeing a full-fledged Barcelona Beach party underway.

Barcelona Neck is located east of the Sag Harbor Village. The Sag Harbor golf course is right next to it and is accessible easiest by Route 114.