Freeport bayman Cory Weyant, dies at 54

When he was young, Cory Weyant's father told him he could never make a living as a fisherman.

"He turned around and showed his father what for," said Weyant's longtime friend and fellow Freeport bayman Tony Sougstad.

Weyant, who died Wednesday at age 54 in a boating accident, not only made a living eeling and crabbing, he also became a master at educating young people about marine ecology and maritime history.

For 20 years, Sougstad said, he and Weyant presented programs for children at schools and maritime festivals for Long Island Traditions, a cultural preservation organization.

"He won awards for teaching kids," Sougstad said. "He was a natural teacher."

Nassau police said Weyant was killed when his 19-foot Garvey skiff struck a piling in Swift Creek off Freeport as he and friends Owen Patterson, 58, of Freeport, and William Wittenberg, 49, of Baldwin, were returning from goose hunting.

Weyant, whose first name was Cornell though he was universally known as Cory, was replacing a drain plug in the rear of the boat and probably lost track of where he was, said a police spokesman, Det. Lt. Kevin Smith.

The survivors told friends the boat had developed a leak.

"The Marine Bureau personnel, who do the accident reconstructions, believe the boat was traveling between 30 and 35 miles per hour," Smith said. "There are no speed restrictions in that channel." No one was wearing the three personal flotation devices that were aboard the skiff, but that is not required by law.

Police have not decided whether to conduct an autopsy or toxicological study.

When the boat hit the piling, Weyant hit his head on the pole and tumbled into the channel. Wittenberg was hospitalized at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow in stable condition with a back injury after being thrown into the bow. Patterson was knocked into the channel but he was able to return to the boat, get the other two men to shore and call 911.

Weyant was born in Oceanside and grew up on Woodcleft Canal in Freeport where he spent much of his time afloat.

He learned from local fishermen how to clam, crab, trap eels and killifish, catch horseshoe crabs for bait, and to smoke fish.

Visiting will be at Hungerford & Clark funeral home, 110 Pine St., Freeport, today from 7 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

Weyant, who will be cremated, is survived by his wife, Priscilla, and a son, Collin. Long Island Traditions is establishing a memorial fund that will benefit Collin.