The one and a half miles of water between Orient Point and Plum Island is known as Plum Gut, another nautical term.

They were seen by at least two of my men getting into their boat, the Spirochete, and heading out into Plum Gut.

But that meant going into Plum Gut, which was treacherous enough in normal tides and winds.

I aimed at a point between the light and the coast of Plum Island, right into Plum Gut.

The ferry had come through Plum Gut.

"We're hitting Plum Gut with three knots against us and eight knots of breeze."

Sadly, two of these, the Cape Henlopen and the North Star, collided in Plum Gut offshore here last summer.

In his younger years, Mr. Berks was a sailor who spent many afternoons fighting the current in Plum Gut and thinking about ways to tap its energy.

"The lobster is from Montauk, and the striped bass comes right out of Plum Gut," he said.

The tide races through Plum Gut, a turbulent channel between Orient Point and Plum Island where seven currents converge.