Thursday, July 28, 2016

Maine Trip: Paddling

Our Maine vacation wasn't planned as a paddling trip, but it was pretty well assumed that in a week of being around water I was going to sneak in some kayaking. I hadn't brought a boat along and so was at the mercy of rentals.

Trip 1: Long Pond, Acadia
As soon as we got to Bar Harbor I started jonesing to go kayaking. So much water, so much beauty! We were staying at a lovely B&B right on Frenchman Bay and got to see groups of paddlers passing by. When we went into town I inquired at one of the tour companies, but they offered only doubles, and I just didn't want to pay someone a bunch of money so I could do some wimpy paddle stuck in a double with a know-nothing stranger. Instead I went for the only solo rental I could find - a recreational kayak (rec boat) on Long Pond. Again, this wasn't perfect, but at least it got me out on the water, and it got me out on the water solo.
In my groovy rec boat

The kayak rental shop is at the far north end of the pond, and is actually across the road from the lakefront. Interestingly, for solo rentals they don't give you a cart; they just have you sling the boat over your shoulder and carry it yourself down to the launch. That's not a big deal for me, but I'm surprised renters don't get squashed from time to time. Why did the paddler cross the road? To get from the rental shop to the launch.
View from the Long Pond launch

I launched into the lake and headed south. The land alongside the north end of the lake is mostly privately owned and I got to see a variety of houses, from small cabins to pretty fancy places. My original intention was to paddle the length of the lake (about 8 miles round trip), but there was a breeze up and I was a little concerned about working my way back 4 miles into the wind in a rec boat, so I altered my plans. I paddled about 3 miles down the lake, crossed and then worked my way up around the broad part of the lake, exploring the shoreline. At one point another paddler passed going in the other direction. We chatted for a minute and he asked where I was visiting from (he's a local). When I told him DC, he asked if I was from the Virginia side. I said yes, and he followed up with a question about Tim Kaine, who had just been nominated as Hillary Clinton's running mate. This crazy election is not far from anyone's mind right now, even when kayaking in Acadia!
Wildlife!

I guess that I paddled about 5 3/4 miles all told. Not bad for a rec boat paddle, and filled with beautiful Acadia scenery

Trip 2: Rockport to Camden
Up in Acadia I couldn't find a way to rent a decent kayak. Down in Camden, I showed up at Maine Sport Outfitters, plunked down a credit card and out the door I went with a 17 foot sea kayak, a paddle and a PFD. As far as they knew or cared, I was going to paddle out into the open ocean and head for Portugal.

When I went in to reserve the rental the day before the trip the young woman behind the counter suggested a Rockport to Camden "port to port" paddle, about 5 miles. She did point out that if I did this paddle I'd need to arrange for someone to shuttle me back. When I said that it sounded like something I could do round trip she looked at me like I was some kind of extreme paddler. Likewise, when Valerie and I went out on a schooner sail that evening, the captain, who paddle boards the "port to port" trip one way, was surprised that I would consider doing the round trip. I guess that outside of the paddling nut community, ten miles is a long trip.

Thursday morning, after a lovely breakfast at the inn (yogurt parfait and blueberry pancakes) I picked up the boat and headed to Rockport. As I was getting ready to launch a Maine Sport tour group showed up. I was a lot faster getting onto the water than they were and so we weren't paddling anywhere near each other.

I launched and did some boat sightseeing as I paddled through the harbor - a lot of lovely, classic sailboats. Rockpart, like Camden, is a pretty natural harbor framed by mountains. I looked around and enjoyed the scenery as a paddled. Out of the harbor I rounded Beachamp Point and turned north. I've got to admit I almost stopped at that point - while the water was quite calm there was a line with some breaking waves. I'm something of a wimp when paddling by myself and so thought about whether it was too risky to paddle through these breakers. After watching for a bit I realized that there were gaps in the breaking waves. I set a path through one of the gaps, and everything was fine. I continued north, generally following the shoreline. As I paddled, the scenery reminded me a bit of Scotland: "skerries" (big boulders) sticking out of the water, waves lapping the shoreline. Unlike Scotland, though, there shoreline was lined with some serious houses.
Scenery just outside Rockport harbor

It was a really nice trip with great ocean scenery - somehow more of an ocean feel than the Chesapeake Bay. After about 90 minutes of paddling the lighthouse on Curtis Island (formerly known as "Negro Island"!), marking the entrance to Camden harbor, came into view. I paddled through the harbor all the way up to Public landing where we had taken a sunset sail the previous evening. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell where the public ramp was. I wanted to take a break before paddling back so I paddled back out to Curtis Island and took a break in a little cove there. I wasn't sure if it was OK to land there and so I just hung out in my boat. As I was about to head out the paddling tour from Rockport came into view, heading to land in the same cove. when I approached I asked the trip leaders (who included the woman from whom I had rented my boat the previous day) about landing there. They said that it was public land and it was fine to land there. So, I extended my break - climbing out onto land and then going to the top of the island to take in the lighthouse and the view.
Curtis Island light

The trip back to Rockport was a little tougher. The wind had picked up and was from the south so I was paddling into it (somehow, you always wind up paddling into the wind, particularly on the way back). The tide also started to come in while I was taking my break, and the tidal range is pretty strong, so I was paddling against the tide tool. The wind made the water a little rougher and so I stuck pretty close to shore. The good news is that the southerly wind was always blowing me towards shore, not out to sea, which was reassuring. I saw a few loons as I paddled back. Loons are usually pretty skittish. when you approach they dive underwater and usually pop back up someplace far away. On this trip one loon let me get close enough to get some pretty good pictures.
Camden Harbor panorama from Curtis Island

When I got back I dragged my boat up the ramp. As I loaded the boat I watched a mother and her young son unload their kayaks and launch. As with the kids I saw in Camden launching for sailing lessons, the water just seems like a natural part of kids' lives in coastal Maine.
A loon!

By the time I got off the water it was about 2 PM and I hadn't eaten lunch. I bought a rice and bean burrito from a food truck and ate it by the water, not wanting to leave the lovely scene of Rockport harbor.



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