Been There, Done That

Thought I'd share this video of a man struggling with a paddle float re-entry.

     It makes me laugh, because I've made most of those mistakes.  Errors and unintentional capsizes are a part of the learning process. About the only mistake the video doesn't highlight is the need to hold on to your kayak.  Forget to grab your kayak on a windy day and your kayak may sail away.
    Best wishes for safe practices!

Lamoine State Park to the Ovens, Mount Desert Island Maine

It’s hard to imagine a more peaceful location than Lamoine State Park on a still day. Not many boats remained anchored, but those that were reflected perfectly. Between the boats, a few loons swam. And off in the distance, the mountains of Acadia made a beautiful back drop.

We’d come to Lamoine State Park to enjoy the low tide. In the summer, under similar conditions, I’ve paddled between Lamoine Park and Lamoine Beach watching the ocean floor rise and fall beneath my boat. I felt like a bird on the wing. Several times we’ve gone to Lamoine State Park for snorkeling at low tide, admiring the many crabs and sea stars on view.

But with a fall sun hanging low in the sky, the underwater viewing was limited, though I did spot a few sea stars.

Meanwhile, out on the water, we kept seeing distant white spray. Hoping to spot some sea mammal, we crossed to Googins Ledge where we were a little disappointed to learn that the source of splashing was Eiders displaying for each other.

Then, since we were part way across the ¾ mile narrows, we decided to continue on and see the Ovens. The Ovens, a series of brick oven-shaped caves, are located by Sand Point on Mount Desert Island (home of famous Bar Harbor).

They’re a well known attraction and a fun destination. The Ovens are publicly owned, but the land around them is private, making kayaks one of the most convenient ways to visit them.

A rainbow of minerals have leached out of the Ovens over the years.

This arch is known as the Cathedral.

If you’d like to know more about the Ovens formation and geology, check out this article by the Maine Geological Survey. Clicking on the pictures on the Maine site brings up captions, and in one case, more pictures.

On our trip back we paddled by Lamoine Beach, quiet except for one dog walker. The wind had picked up, adding texture to the water and obscuring the bottom. On shore, seagulls struggled to open mussels, and overhead an eagle flew by.

Lamoine State Park is such a pretty, peaceful area; yet twice this summer Frenchman's Bay has been paired with "kayaker fatality". In one case, the kayaker launched from Lamoine State Park. While the exact cause of death was not published and preventative actions are subject to debate, one thing is clear; as happened with us, this is an area where folks start on one side and are soon tempted to cross to the other. Before they do, they should be sure to have the skills and equipment for a cold water rescue.

Summary: Start 10:40AM, finish 12:30PM, 5.4 miles. Low tide 11:40AM. Lamoine State Park has fees in season. Outhouses available at Lamoine State Park. Lamoine Beach, and Hadley Beach are also good launch points for the ovens. Hadley Point Beach, on Mount Desert Island is probably the closest launch site.

Halloween Tour – Remnants of Maritime Disasters - Castine, Maine

The abandoned remains of Gardiner G. Deering, a five masted schooner, lies in Smith Cove

From the history-drenched community of Castine come two tales. The first, of a spectre lingering on after one of the worst naval defeats in U.S. History. The second, hard evidence of a prophetic dream. Read on if you dare, but be warned: There is almost no kayaking involved!

Well Deserved Recognition

Congratulations to  Karen Francoeur, (Castine Kayak International Adventures) Brad Ryder (Epic Sports) and Jeff Strout (recently retired from Bangor Daily News).  They are shown above receiving Coast Guard Public Service Commendations for starting and continuing Bangor Paddle Smart, a kayak safety symposium which has reached over 3000 people since it began in 2001!

TV coverage of the award.

Pictures in the Penobscot

 Humans are designed to see patterns; especially to find faces.

Faces need not be detailed; two triangles and a jagged line carved into a pumpkin, two dots and an arc, both are instantly recognized.

Humans are also hard wired to like symmetry, especially bilateral symmetry, which serves as a marker for good genetic strength.  So it is no surprise that we spot any number of fantastic creatures in the bedrock exposed by the falling tide on the shores of the Penobscot River.

On the right day, and at the right tide, it makes for a very distracting paddle.

Long Pond, Mount Desert Island

Rounding Northern Neck

The waters off Mount Desert Island are one of my favorite places to paddle. But, with gale warnings in effect, it seemed best to stick to inland waters. Fortunately there are several possibilities on MDI. In fact, there are two ponds named “Long Pond.” We were headed for the Long Pond in Somesville. This Long Pond is five miles long; at each end is a boat ramp. Generally when I’ve driven Route 102 (aka Pretty Marsh Rd) by Long Pond, I have no chance to look around. Beside the 102 boat ramp there is a small beach and across from the beach/ramp is National Park Canoe and Kayak Rental. So my eyes are focused on the road and distracted canoe carters as well as errant children and pets. However, on the way back from Seal Cove, riding as a passenger, I happened to glance at the pond and realized how lovely it was, a narrow strip of water with mountains for a backdrop. We hoped it would be protected from the winds, and on Sunday it mostly was. I’ve read that a south wind can create a fair amount of havoc on the pond.

Some color along the western shore

The water seemed pretty tame, much tamer than we expected. Heading out from the landing, the initial cove was crowded with a variety of cottages. Some were simple cottages from the fifties, which would be at home on any lake in Maine. Others appeared significantly more likely to be summer housing for the well-heeled.

Once we’d made it around Northern Neck, much of the western shore was a part of Acadia National Park, as was tiny Rum Island.

Rum Island is to the left

With many paths criss-crossing it, Rum Island is well loved, and yet still lovely. Especially appropriate is the picture of Rum Island on Google Earth labeled “Insert Romantic Interlude Here.” I’m afraid our humble snack wasn’t quite a “Loaf of bread, a jug of wine” but there was a thou and a semi wilderness. Ah…...

We didn’t paddle all the way to the other end, but we did go as far as Duck Rock where we spied a few Acadian hikers, before we headed back to the start.

Documenting our successful paddle to Duck Rock, Beech Mountain in the distance

Afterward we drove into Bar Harbor, which was jammed with the passengers from two huge cruise ships. We watched as the schooner Mary Todd headed away from the dock, just far enough to turn around and sail into the more sheltered waters of Frenchman’s Bay.

We looked with great longing at the Porcupine Islands and the waves battering them. Fortunately, they’ll be there next paddling season as well.

Summary: Limited parking in season, portapottie.

Drysuit Rescue Practice

Going out is optional, coming back is mandatory – US Coast Guard saying

The most critical part of kayak paddling is making it back to shore. So we like to test a few things regularly:

First, if we capsize, can we get out of our boats easily?

Second, after dumping, can we get back into our kayaks quickly?

Finally, based on the ease of the rescue, under what circumstances are we likely to be successful?

With rain and wind due Thursday, it was time for our long-delayed drysuit rescue practice. We headed out to a nearby pond, suited up, acclimated ourselves to the water and attempted rolls and rescues.

Mark wanted to see if the ash paddle moved quickly enough for a successful roll. Good news, it did!

I wanted to try exiting from my Vaag and see if my baggy drysuit caught on anything. It didn’t, this time anyway.

And it was time to practice rescues, specifically a rescue we’d read about in the Spetember issue of Atlantic Coastal Kayaker, the Leg Hook Re-entry After a Capsize. This article was written by Wayne Horodowich. The leg hook rescue is much like the standard T-rescue, only rather than have the rescuee scramble onto the back of her kayak, she lifts one leg into the cockpit and leverages herself up from that. Here’s a video of the rescue.

My attempt was probably just as smooth ; ) One thing I discovered was that though the instructions noted the need to hook the leg in the cockpit as far as the knee, to leverage myself in I needed to push more leg into the boat first. But after that it was easy, and I appreciated that I didn’t need to climb over the spare paddles and pump I store on the back deck of the Vaag.

However we had trouble when I worked as the rescuer. It was hard for me to stabilize Mark’s boat enough for him to slide into the cockpit. I had my boat on its side, and draped myself over Mark’s boat. Still, I was not able, to keep water completely out of his cockpit. Fortunately, we have other rescues to fall back on.

Wayne, and others have written up many rescues for Paddling.net. His philosophy, like ours, is if something doesn’t work for you, find what does. Ray Wirth, Water Walker Sea Kayak, has several rescue videos; others can generally be found on youtube by typing in the names.

Roll and rescue practice, certainly made me more comfortable when I headed out into the wind on the Penobscot River Saturday. I think my comfort level was not so much from the practice, but from the experience of being immersed in autumn water. I knew that the wet suit I was wearing was warm enough that I had lots of time to attempt rescues, and even enough time to swim to shore.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: The water certainly wasn’t as cold as it will soon become. I didn’t have a thermometer, but after we’d finished the rescues and paddling I was hot so I tried swimming in just my under-layers. Based on how comfortable my un-gloved hands were, I would guess that the water was about 60 degrees. It was a 51 degree day, and after my swim I felt comfortable staying in my damp clothes while loading the kayaks back onto the car. Granted, the promised wind was missing, but it was nice to know that the fleece turtleneck and Coldpruf long underwear was warm when wet. Your comfort zones may vary. I have a pretty good tolerance for cold water, which is certainly aided by an internal wet suit I’ve built up over the years.

We probably won’t do any more rescue practices this year. Frankly it’s just too easy for me to imagine a cold water immersion practice going wrong. Just check out Chuck Sutherland’s site for some of the dangers. So as the water gets colder we’ll have fewer paddles, keep closer to shore on quieter waters, as well as beefing up our clothing. After all, like you, we have people counting on us making it back safely.

Cold Stream Pond

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower – Albert Camus

Summary: Cold Stream Pond Concrete launch, swimming and tables at launch, portapottie.

Gaudy, gay-hued leaves are such a transient thing, and so impervious to command. It seems one week we will paddle by maples on a lake and see only green and the next week the trees are bare with curled up scraps of maroon beneath them.