Digging Deep On Long Island With Glimpy’s Clam Boys

As kids who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and were baptized in clam juice, Deep Impact Custom Boats owner Mark Fischer and his best friends Mike Esposito and Mike Valardi raised a fair amount of mostly harmless hell. All worked summer evenings in the local clam beds for the late James “Glimpy” Fallon, a well-known local character who ran a stealthy clamming operation in the Great South Bay off East Islip.

The Deep Impact 369 is a head-turner at the docks.

Never sure how much or when Glimpy would pay them, they learned how to work hard and shut up. By the time they were teens, they were making good money and falling in love with their local waters.

Glimpy gave each of the boys a nickname. Valardi was “Poodle” for his thick head of curly hair. Just like everyone else with his last name, Esposito became “Espo.”

Fischer was “Higgins.” No one involved can recall exactly why.

All of their adventures involved boating, usually to the postage-stamp town of Kismet across the bay on Fire Island, and often at night. They worked hard and played harder—often on the edge and sometimes over it—yet managed to survive their teenage years.

Captain Kyle Heidecker (left) and Mike Valardi enjoyed the ride.

“There are hundreds of stories,” Valardi said, then laughed after telling a tale involving a local law enforcement official and an “accidentally” discharged fire extinguisher, during dinner last Tuesday night in Ocean Beach on Fire Island. “So many stories.”

They went their separate ways after high school. Esposito and Valardi stayed close to home to build their respective construction businesses, while Fischer headed to South Florida to start a clam-harvesting operation of his own. The business eventually went under, but Fischer found his way into the automobile sales business and was successful enough to retire some 10 years ago before buying Deep Impact.

Now they all have lovely waterfront homes in East Islip within five minutes of one another by boat. Esposito and Valardi, as noted, never left Long Island. Fischer and his wife, Eileen, bought their house in The Moorings neighborhood earlier this year and are in the process of renovating the place.

Four Mercury Racing 300R outboards power the 36-footer.

The couple’s expansive home backs up to the end of a canal, where they have a 2024 Deep Impact 369 center console on a temporary inflatable lift. Powered by four Mercury Racing 300R outboard engines, the 36-footer is the Fischer’s summer-boat.

As the owner of Deep Impact, Fischer could have any model he wants for personal use. But the 369 makes the best sense for the boating he and his bride of more than 30 years do on waters off Long Island.

First, it fits neatly behind their place. A Deep Impact 399 could do it, but a 499—the company’s newest model—or the upcoming 449 would be a tight squeeze at best.

Mike and Michelle Valardi (right) enjoyed and idle moment on the way to Hampton Bay for lunch.

The Fischer’s digs are a short idle from Great South Bay. At 60 mph, Kismet and Ocean Beach are just 10- to 15-minutes across the bay for lunch or dinner. When they want to run longer, they head to the Hamptons on either protected water or the open Atlantic Ocean if conditions allow.

The Deep Impact 369 can handle all of it.

“This boat makes sense here on Long Island—it’s the perfect size and it do everything,” Fischer explained during a lunch run to Oakland’s Restaurant in Hampton Bays with his wife, Esposito, Valardi and his wife, Michelle, last Tuesday. “You don’t need a lot of people to handle it. It gets in and out of anywhere easily.

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Enjoy more images from last Tuesday’s Long Island adventure.

“I could have ordered this boat with a bow-thruster, but I didn’t need it,” he added. “Same goes for air conditioning. It was an option but I didn’t include it. I wanted to keep everything simple.

With 1,200-hp worth of V-8 power on its transom, the center console tops 80 mph. But standing-start and mid-range acceleration are where the real fun lies. The 12,000-pound boat pops on plane in seconds. Likewise, it jumps from 50 to 70 mph on command.

“I love the quad 300s on this boat,” Fischer said. “They are the perfect power package for it.

“And when the water gets rough, the 369 handles it better than any boat in its class,” he continued. “The 369 is our smallest model, but it has the Deep Impact ride. Our boats are built for open water. Their hulls are designed for running offshore. We are not trying to build them light.”

The Deep Impact 369 center console is a perfect day-boat for Long Island.

After the Tuesday lunch run, Fischer dropped the Valardis and Esposito back at their homes. The day had gotten late, as they tend to when he’s out with his two best friends. A quick turnaround was needed if they were to make their Ocean Beach dinner reservation via the same 36-footer that transported them to lunch.

Getting ready for a dinner trip on a Deep Impact 369 center console is uptown problem for sure. It’s one that Higgins and his pals Espo and Poodle never dreamed of when they dug clams on Long Island more than 30 years ago. Back then, they were just teenagers trying to make a few bucks and have a good time.

Glimpy would be proud.