Junk in Maine Waters??

 What's this???  Where did it come from, and why was it being launched now???

One minute we were merrily sitting there, scouting Belfast (ME) harbor for ducks and admiring the friendly seagulls, and the next, a crowd had gathered and a colorful vessel was being backed down the ramp.

Maynard (??) had built his version of a junk in his backyard, and was shifting it to the Belfast Boatyard where he planned to finish work on it.  He's thinking of using it as a houseboat.

Unfortunately conditions at the ramp, kept the boat trailer from getting deep enough in the water to launch the boat.

So close to being launched!

Fortunately it was an incoming tide and his crew of admirer's strong and inventive.

It took about 40 minutes, but finally the boat was afloat.

 Soon a skiff arrived to guide it to its winter docking; the Shanty does not have a motor yet.

Where ever it winds up, it will be a colorful addition to Maine's waters!

Best Nature Sites Midcoast Maine

 Here's an interesting tidbit for an icy day...did you know that the hippocampus of a black capped chickadee grows over 30% as winter comes on?

It does, researchers feel it might be so they can better track where they've stored food.  Not sure that applies to humans as well, but there should be some reward for making it through the cold.

Here are a couple more questions:

Which U.S. state is the only state in the lower 48 to have a breeding population of eiders?
(can you guess based on the blog title?)

How did Native Americans use false hellebore to help select the most worthy candidates?

If you enjoy having bits of trivia on hand to add to a conversation, or like exploring a series of ecosystems, Best Nature Sites of MidCoast Maine might be the book for you.  It covers public locations along U.S. Route 1 from Brunswick to Belfast, but it's real strength is in the interesting details it includes about the many flora and fauna found in these locales.

We found this book at MaineSport in Rockport, but it should be at many other locations.  It is also available  online.
Answers to the questions in the comments.

Another Old Kayak Picture

     As I rummaged through the collection of clutter which makes up our estate, (looking for a decent calculator) I happened to glance up at the wall and noticed we had another old kayak picture displayed there:

 This is a drawing by Luther Bradley, one of Mark's distant relatives.  I'm not sure it's an accurate portrayal of kayak construction, but it's an interesting depiction of intrigue at the polar cap.  "Stefansson" is Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian Arctic Explorer who helped establish the US Army Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory at Dartmouth.  Luther Bradley was a cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News from 1899-1917.  This cartoon was initially published Sep. 20, 1915 while Sefansson was in the midst of his Canadian Arctic Expedition.  In fact, Stefansson has just spent 14 months exploring the ice pack. 
     In addition to editorial cartoons, Luther Bradley also wrote two amazing children's books:  Our Indians: A Midnight Visit to the Great Somewhere-or-other and Wonderful Willie!  What He and Tommy Did to Spain.   I especially wish I could share Our Indians with you. Our Indians has illustrations of a flying canoe pulled by birds.  I've haven't been able to find a full copy, but a few illustrations for Our Indians are here.  They are marvelous pictures, well worth scanning down the page.

A few Luther Bradley Resources:
A Tribute to Luther Bradley by His Boss at the Chicago Daily News
A digitized version of his book, Cartoons by Bradley,
A short biography of Luther Bradley  Another post by Allen Holtz on Luther Bradley
Scared Motherhood Poster by Luther Bradley

Old Photos

Winter nights are perfect for reviewing old photos.  These pictures come from my grandfather's collection.  In the early 40's he signed on as a cook on the Alaskan Highway Crew, then found work as a cook at a gold-mine in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Pictures of Kayaks and Canoes:

The caption on this postcard reads: The Seal Hunter Returns.  It was taken by Jacobs/Nome.  I believe it was also taken in Nome. 

These two pictures are from:  The Alaska Sportsman Book:  Pictures of the Last Frontier by the Alaska Frontier Publishing Company.

Some miscellaneous pictures:

Henry Dreier, "Gen Del" in a wonderful sealskin coat and rather hasty put on boots.  This picture was approved by the Army Examiner, so its probably from the Alaskan Highway.

A wonderful Christmas card from Maurice, though I'm pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to do with bears.

I wish I knew the story behind this picture.  I never asked my grandfather about his photos from Alaska.  As a kid, I was mostly interested in seeing if my grandfather had any spare gum.  Beyond the gum, I loved looking at his display of ivory figurines, small polar bears and geese, he'd brought back with him.  And on an especially good day, he might pull out the coporlite, mammoth teeth, tusks and other treasures he'd found with near the gold mine.

And speaking of the mine; here are a few pictures:

The smelting process

My grandfather is the one on the right.  He believed in basic food and plenty of it.  His recipes were for 200 biscuits, gallons of beans etc.  He was a frugal man who believed in saving.  He could not understand why any of the men at the mine might chose to go into town and pay for meals when they were given free meals at the mine.  When he moved back home, he kept a huge garden for vegetables (loved his tomotoes!), fished and clammed for other meals.

   I hope your winter memories are keeping you warm!

The Power of Arbitrary Numbers

Ever put your hand in ice water?   It can be painful, enough so that Mythbusters used keeping a hand in ice water as their test for ability toresist pain.  We’ve given people the chance to do this as part of a kayak safety symposium, known as Paddlesmart.

   We called it the ice bucket.  It was a simple design.  A bucket of water had ice added to it to bring the temperature to about 45 degrees, which is about the temperature of the Gulf of Maine in May.  Volunteers placed their hand flat against the bottom, fingers spread, and keep it there as long as they could.  
   Throughout the evening, the water temperature was monitored.  As the ice in the bucket melted, water was removed and more ice is added to keep the temperature constant.

The first year we did this it became a contest between two people, an young adult male and an adult woman.  The male was very thin, he set a good time at first, but the woman bested him.  So he came back and tried again.  She bested him again. By the end of the evening, the young man struggled to set a new record.   He used his right hand to hold the left down, moaned and practically fell to the floor.    

Watching him go through all that, we decided he was the winner and closed the table.

The very sophisticated ice bucket sits beside the interactive activities table, you can see the thermometer on the table and the sensor wire going into the bucket

   The next year, in an effort to keep things calmer and prevent someone accidentally hurting themselves, we installed a time limit:  3 minutes.   Anyone who could keep their hand still on the bottom of the bucket for 3 minutes had their name put on the wall of fame.  (And we also noted that if they paddle in spring, they really should be prepared to get back into their boat within that time.)  At the end of the evening there were  17 names on the board.  Many of them were girl scouts hosting a nearby refreshment table who cheered each other on, applauding as each minute milestone was met.  About one-third of the people that attempted the ice bucket wound up with their names on the wall.  And no one looked like they were ready to collapse at the end.

   Limiting the time was really good I thought, as I packed the equipment away.  I was sure it was a good thing we didn’t do it as long as we’d done it the year before.  Until, at the bottom of the storage box, I happened on a scrap of paper with the times from the previous year.  And the winning time, the time which had caused that young man so much suffering?  Three minutes and 2 seconds.  All the other times on the list were much shorter, 30 seconds or so.

   Merely listing a concrete goal made the whole experience more bearable.   Plus, every time a name went up on the wall it was proof it was possible. Remember this as you make your plans for the New Year!

Florida: a few other sources

A few other folks who wrote in about places to paddle in Florida:

Baffinpaddler noted that she too had tried a mangrove trail and found it claustrophobic.  The trails can be tight, though it's also true that not all mangrove trails are the same size.  The first part of the Woolverton in Placida was quite narrow, but the trail from the lagoon back to the bay was wider, as were the trails in Sanibel.  She recommended paddling in Cockroach Bay, near Tampa.  She's paddled there with Big D's Kayaks
          Cockroach Bay, Tampa Bay Florida - Kayaking with Dolphins and Manatees
          Mangroves, Caladesi Island, Barrier Islands, Tampa Bay Florida

Rob Allen, Kayaking Michigen was also recently in Florida:  He went on a Mangrove Tour in Palmetto and on the Little Manatee River in Wimauma

Sarah of Sarah's Soggy Scenarios recommended paddling in the Everglades.  I didn't see any posts for those paddles on her blog, but I did find that Places We've Kayaked had a post about renting kayaks in the Everglades.

 I also wanted to mention a few places we've gone to on prior trips.  Just before Thanksgiving 2003, we rented kayaks and canoes from Canoe Escape and paddled on the Hillsborough River, east of Tampa.  It was a wonderful trip for spotting ibis, herons, vultures and especially alligators.

In 2009, in addition to paddling at King's Bay, we rented kayaks from Riversport Kayaks to explore the Homosassa River, home to an island of monkeys.

But of all our rentals and trips, the best has been the Ozello Paddle with Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company.  It is rare to have such wonderful gear and such a talented guide.

Then there are those kayakers lucky enough to bring their own boats to Florida including:
    Dave's Yak Tales:  He lives in Florida and is out paddling regularly
   Sea Kayak Stonington who paddled the length of the Keys in 2011 and the Everglades in 2010

Finally a guide to Florida:  Paddlers Guide to the Sunshine State, by Sandy Huff, 200, University Press of Florida.  We used this in 2009, but did not pack it this time, since it does not cover Sanibel Island.

Merry Christmas from the Penobscot!

Heavy rain and above freezing temperatures cleared the ice from the Penobscot so we could sneak in one more paddle.

And look, the river has a present for me:

Can you find Mark?

Who knew Old Navy made a glittery soccer ball?

And it matches my paddle!

Thanks Penobscot!
Merry Christmas and Safe Paddles to you all!

Florida: Ozello with Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company

    When we decided to drive north to Crystal River, my first thought was, this time we're going to have a real adventure, this time we'll call ahead to Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company to arrange a tour.

  What I like about Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company are the quality of boats they offer and the respect they have for wildlife.  Check out their policy on manatees.  What makes things hard is they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

  So, it was Wednesday morning when we met with Matt to drive to Ozello.  Ozello is an unincorporated town on the gulf coast.  We'd be exploring a shallow bay and various mangrove islands.  Much of the land, and many of the islands are a part of the Crystal River State Park Preserve.

   The road to Ozello is a small and twisty offering occasional glimpses of water.  Single ornaments were hung on various trees along the route, as if a seasonal Hansel and Gretel had marked the trail to safely return home.  More impressive, if less seasonal, was the presence of Roseate Spoonbills in one of the marshes. 

   Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company has a variety of kayaks for rent, we  requested touring boats.  I had an Eddyline Fathom, Matt the Eddyline Raven and Mark the Eddyline Nighthawk.  Paddles were a choice of Bending Branches or H2O's.  Mark used his Northern Light Paddle.

  We were exploring in the last hour of an ebbing tide, and I was worried that might mean we'd be slogging through shallow water.  And if we were there on our own,  we'd have grounded out a lot.  But Matt knows those waters and was easily able to pick out the deeper channels.  He likes going out at low tide because it concentrates the larger animals to the deep channels and makes sightings more likely.  It also gives us a better shot of seeing turtles, seastars and other undersea life.
  Unfortunately the skies were gray so undersea viewing was limited.  On the plus side, skies were gray and the day was cool, making it ideal for paddling a swift kayak.

   We had just a spot of sunlight, which allowed me to see this orange sponge amidst the Sargasso seaweed, but not to get a great shot.

   We were hanging around Bird Key when Matt spotted a distant flash he identified as dolphin.  A half mile later we came upon a dolphin fishing in the shallows.  Dolphins use various techniques to fish, the methods change by region.  Matt was planning a trip to see where dolphins threw themselves on land to catch fish.  In the Crystal River area dolphins often herd fish into dead ends or use tail strikes to stun fish.  Initially he thought that's what this dolphin was doing, but on closer observation, and spotting the pectoral fins, he thought perhaps the dolphin was just swimming sideways and using its tail to drive it into the seagrass to catch fish hiding there.

Dolphin with blowhole surfacing

   We observed the dolphin for awhile, at one point the dolphin surfaced and eyed the kayaks, before moving a short distance away to continue eating.

I like the juxtaposition of the dolphin against the distant power plant

   From the dolphin we moved just a short distance before spotting dark lumps on the surface.  At first we thought it was a manatee.  Turns out it is was several, all hanging out together.  This would have been a great time for the sun to magically appear, but apparently that's beyond Matt's powers.  And I see now, that after taking hundreds of pictures of one dolphin, we apparently took none of a herd of manatees.  But they were there and their moist exhalings are etched in my memory.

Dolphin again, this time the pectoral fin

  Matt has lived in Florida for most of his life.  When he first came to Ozello, the islands were grass covered.  Over time red, then black, mangroves have overgrown the islands.  As with much of Florida, the islands were originally slated for development, fortunately the State of Florida was able to acquire them.  Now, Matt is seeing the water level in the bay rise and pointed out Palm Trees which were dying as a result.  Because Matt has been in the area decades, there's a special depth that comes through all his talk, and that was clearly evident that morning.  For more about Matt and Susan Clemons, co-owners of Aardvark's Florida Kayak Company check here. 

Matt talking about an island

   I enjoyed the Fathom, I found it fast and comfortable to sit in for a couple hours.  I can't say I really tested it though.  (I think partially because I am still in winter kayaking mode, where I don't lean or edge very much.)  Mark, on the other hand leaned the Nighthawk quite a bit.  he was pleased with the stability and ride, but wishes he also took a try with one of the other kayaks.  We meant to do that, but as we got out paddling, just forgot and had fun.

A tiny seastar

  Other wildlife sightings were lots of white and brown pelicans, terns, cormorants and other birds.  The coolest thing we saw was a red-tailed hawk attacking a royal tern.  The tern was casually flying along when the hawk sped out of a nearby island to strike it, just a few feet in front of us.  A second or two later the hawk realized it had over-estimated its skills; the tern fell to the water and took off, complaining bitterly, but seemingly unharmed. 

Just a few pelicans

  All in all it was an awesome tour.  We may not have gotten the best pictures on this tour, but we did have our best sightings and memories. We look forward to getting out with Matt or Susan again.

We launched from the white spot, the area is a maze of islands.