Dan's Papers - September 21, 2007 - Down at the Docks With the Big Ships and Homeland Security

You may have spotted them, three men dressed in black suits who walk around looking for trouble. They are the superheroes of Sag Harbor, the guys who are on the government's payroll to watch out for things such as suspicious activity on the water, terrorism, civil disorder or other disasters. Without them, nobody else would be able to handle all of the trouble that occurs at the only official port of entry on the Eastern End of Long Island. They are members of the Federal Water Protection and Customs Office and are not to be messed with because Sag Harbor is the port authority of the Hamptons and has been since it was officially settled in 1730. Since there are no other ports that are used on the East End, MIBs are sent to patrol the docks to observe the yachts, and perhaps, grab an ice cream cone or two on the pier.

Wait a second. Aren't there Montauk, Napeague, Three Mile, and a dozen or so other Harbors on the East End? How come Sag Harbor is the only place that gets the guys who wear the cool suits and have the cool radios and get to drive the cool SUVs? How come East Hampton doesn't have a big brother type making sure that nobody is doing what they aren't supposed to be doing or buzzing around with a Saudi Arabian flag on their boat that sounds like it is ticking? What makes Sag Harbor so special? After all, their port is not so busy. In fact, it is one of the less busy ports, by comparison, when you count all of the fishing and recreational boats that use other harbors on Long Island.

Well, it all has to do with a little bit of history. Sag Harbor is officially a whaling port according to the United States government. And although whaling doesn't go on there anymore, it used to, when it used to be a really important thing. Whales were harvested for their oil, and without the oil you couldn't run lamps in any of the towns, and it was because of the oil that extra protection for Sag Harbor was important. In 1789, Sag Harbor had more tons of square-rigged vessels engaged in commerce than New York City and had become an international port. It was so important that the British attacked it during the War of 1812, but they were driven back. Sag Harbor's whaling was such a major industry until the 1840s that it is mentioned several times in the book Moby Dick. Its whale oil was important and that logic has stuck to this day, even though whaling is now illegal and Sag Harbor ports are pretty much used for guys who have way too much money and spend it on buying yachts.

Nevertheless, it is still an official port on the National Register of Historic Places and therefore needs the extra manpower and security. Which is all fine and good, unless a guy in black reports you to the Harbormaster, Ed Swenson, because you were doing some suspicious brandy drinking and it ruins your night of yachting. But that doesn't happen very often. The MIBs blend into Sag Harbor kind of nicely, as everybody else does in one of the groovier towns of the Hamptons.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, Homeland Security has issued security protocols for major ports. Sag Harbor is following the measures, which include keeping a close eye on foreign flagged vessels that go in and out of the port. An Italian flag on a ship out of Venice or a French flag from a yacht out of St. Tropez for example, would draw immediate attention to the Men in Black and they might even board the vessel to investigate, interrogate the models and test out the hot tubs, if they are so inclined.

The waterways of Sag Harbor are being taken seriously when it comes to terrorism. Plans are in the works to keep Sag Harbor safe in a time of crisis, which include purchasing a generator that will power the town for 72 hours. It's a lot of effort to protect all of that whale oil.