Scant Turnout on Sunday For Barcelona Boat Party

The annual Barcelona Point boat party on Sunday was either very poorly attended or rescheduled for another weekend.

The watery revelry has been held on the first Sunday in August for several years, but only about 30 craft were in the waters of Northwest Harbor on Sunday.

Enforcement personnel from Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, East Hampton Town Marine Patrol, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, and the Coast Guard were among those on hand Sunday to monitor the party. One arrest was made for boating while intoxicated.

A 1992 Seratos pleasure boat was “stopped under Coast Guard boarding procedure,” the police said, after its pilot, Michael D. McCall, 26, of Springs, was said to be seen holding an open container of Coors Light beer. Failing sobriety tests, he was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a vessel, as well as operating a vessel while intoxicated.

Taken to East Hampton Town police headquarters, he consented to have his breath tested to determine the amount of alcohol in his blood. According to the police, the reading was .16 of 1 percent, twice the level that triggers the charge.

He was released the next morning without having to post bail, due to his longtime roots in the community, but with a spot on East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky’s criminal calendar.

Originally held off of Barcelona Point, the boat party had been moved to Sag Harbor Cove a few years ago after East Hampton officials cracked down on the gathering, which sometimes drew as many as 200 boats. East Hampton officials were concerned about the safety of those involved because of heavy drinking by many participants.

But when Sag Harbor Village passed regulations to control the event, too, it was relocated last year to Northwest Harbor. Its organizer, who police said was Charles Canavan, was fined $2,000 by East Hampton Town Justice Catherine A. Cahill, following a three-hour trial. Mr. Canavan denied that he was the organizer, comparing the event to New Year’s Eve in Times Square. “You don’t have to tell people when to show up,” he said at the time.

This year, with no one stepping forward as a front man, it was hard for officials to tell whether participants had collectively canceled the event through social media due to Sunday’s rainy weather, or if it had simply lost its steam.