Boost Your Self-esteem Through Kayaking

Recently I came across this quote in a women’s magazine; “Five minutes of exercise in a natural setting-like walking in a park or even raking leaves in your backyard-is all it takes to provide a boost in both mood and self-esteem, say researchers from the University of Essex in England. Most powerful; activity near water.”


My first thought was this is what how right that was.  I was feeling terrific as I sat by our cozy wood stove. I’d just been out clearing several inches of light, fluffy, easy-to-shovel snow from our deck and paths. It was about 20 degrees out, and if the air wasn’t completely still, the wind was from the west and blocked by a nearby hill. It was night, after a long day of sitting at a desk, and it was just terrific to be outside moving and watching as the moon peaked out and disappeared behind the thin cloud cover. I was reminded as I worked, how very wide human’s range of vision is, how very big the space around us can be. And really, how much closer can you get to activity near water than shifting snow?

And I thought what a wonderful ad this made for kayaking. But then I found the University of Essex article about the study and discovered the researchers found just five minutes of outdoor activity produced the largest positive effect.

Really? I would get the same mood boost whether I just walked down to my boats and back up the hill than if I got in the boats and paddled up to see what was happening up river? The same mood boost from clearing just a part of the deck as completing the job?

Now, I understand that not all of us (myself especially) are going to circumnavigate Australia, or even Ireland, and that doesn’t mean we don’t have a sense of accomplishment. 

For years I’ve paddled under various bridges over streams leading into the Penobscot, and wondered, could I get under all three bridges in the same tide cycle? Turns out I can, and that’s one of the achievements I’m proudest of for 2010. And there are some people for whom a five minute walk outside is a challenging goal, and who feel great pride on achieving that goal - as well they should.

But though achieving the Three Bridge Challenge definitely improved my mood, I’m pretty sure setting and achieving a bigger goal would help my self-esteem more.

So, I’m not sure who those University of Essex folks surveyed and studied, but I’m pretty positive that there is a measurable difference between the mood boost from exercising outside for just five minutes and spending a day paddling out to Isle Au Haut and back. Though, in a pinch, when my workload is high, it is nice just to sit by the Penobscot and dream of summer……

The Power of Decoys

One of our river neighbors keeps a pair of goose decoys by the river, which in turn attracted a pair of Canada geese.  The foursome hung out together all summer, so when we'd paddle by we'd always guess which were the real geese.

This picture, taken just a minute or so later makes it clear; did you guess right?

The decoys and geese stayed until October.  This shoot is close enough that the plastic eyes are obvious.  The real geese are still nearby.

Shortly after that picture was taken the decoys went away, and presumably the real geese did as well.

Welcome Hampden Highlights Readers!

Penobscot River on Dec 10, near Hamlin's Marina

Today the Penobscot River is mostly ice free, with dark lines running across it marking the paths of competing north and west gusts. A little more open than it was mid December, thanks to today’s warm weather and visits from the Coast Guard ice breaker, but hardly inviting for paddling, so instead I’m inside at my computer updating my blog.

I’d like to thank Annie O’Reilly for mentioning this blog in Hampden Highlights. All who know her can attest to her generous and supportive nature. I ran into her while interviewing Janice for Calkin's Castle/Castle Rock, a story she felt others in town might enjoy.

Mark paddles by Castle Rock

Calkins Castle/Castle Rock tells the tale of how Burpie Calkin may have influenced Stephen King, and shares a beautiful feature of the Penobscot River.

Other local stories are listed under “Tales from the River” in the Index, (found on a tab up above). Reflections on the Week, and 1000 Miles have been popular for their photos, while The More Things Change displays another old postcard.

It’s been easy to write, because there are so many incredible places to paddle in the area. I list our paddle trips on the Index under “Trip Reports” subdivided by “Salt Water” and “Fresh Water.” While I do post some cautions on conditions we encounter, (See Canals of Bangor) it’s not practical to list all the skills and equipment needed for all the conditions which can arise on a trip. But I like to remind all paddlers to be ready to climb back into their boats or swim to shore at all times.
We are omni-paddlers, enjoying the quiet water of Birch Stream and the swells off MDI on a visit to the Porcupine Islands. Even if you don’t paddle, you might enjoy these trip posts for their many photos. If you do paddle, you should visit other paddling blogs listed to the right, two other local blogs are Sea Kayak Stonington and Waterlines - A Maine Sea Kayaking Journal. A variety of other wonderful bloggers are also listed, so check them all!

Early color along Birch Stream in Old Town

Be sure also to check out the “Misc” category which includes posts like A Tale of Two Trap Trees and Ginger Season.
A few local notes: Calkins Farm Stand still has cider, maple syrup and other items for sale - watch for the open sign as you pass by. The minced ginger and ground orange peel (along with other tasty treats) was purchased at Hampden Natural Foods. The wide variety of ginger beer used in Ginger Season was purchased in Hampden, at Hannafords.

I try to post regularly and hope to see you again!

Searsport - A Great start to the New Year!

Howling blizzards, wind speeds of 44mph, temperatures in the single digits; that’s so 2010. Now that it’s 2011, let the winds be calm, and if temps are in the single digits, let it be single digits Celsius!

Counting on the warm weather continuing, we kept the boats on the roof of the car. And mindful of the limited time span that immersed fingers and limbs remain nimble, even when ensconced in drysuits and gloves, it was another tame trip, from Searsport to Moose Point State Park.

Basics: Launch Searsport ramp. Parking area is cleared, access from ramp or beach. Portapotties are gone for the winter. Launch 11:30AM, low 2:20PM, finish about 2 PM. 5 miles
The sky was grey and the sea like mercury.

Pintails argued across the bay.

Pick Me! 

UPDATE:  Suasco Al is correct, the right name for these birds is Long-tails (not pintails)
The granite pier towered like Inuksuk over the water.

In Searsport Shores campground the picnic tables were all perched at angles, the better to view the sea. A few trailers claimed spaces, and an eagle claimed a tree.
We stopped at Moose Point to give Mark a chance to cool off, and to admire beach views. Moose Point is closed in the winter, but often cars park at the entrance and explorers hike in.

Southwest, over Northport, the sky was an orange red, odd coloring for 12:20.

I wondered what it meant:
Red sky at noon, spring will come soon?
Red sky mid day, sailors say “hey”?

On the way back, the gentle north breeze kept us from overheating. A confetti of seagulls rose up to welcome us back to the harbor.

So we’re off to a great start and should get in more miles than ever this year … unless that north wind was a portent of the return of more seasonable temps ...

I hope your year is off to a bright start as well!

Stockton Springs - An Ideal Year End Paddle

Just one boat left in the harbor

Basics: Plowed parking and access to ramp. No winter facilities. Low 1:38PN. Our paddle noon-1:30PM

Forget Christmas; all week long we’ve been anxiously anticipating the return of warm weather. Sure we went to Bangor woods and did some short skis, but they seemed to aggravate my back. What I wanted was to get back on the water.
At last Friday arrived and it was all we were promised; warmth, sunshine, low winds!  We left our ice bound river and headed to Stockton Springs, launching from the beach to the distant chatter of eiders.  We followed along the shore into the sun.

At the end of Cape Jellison is Defence Island, where a lone eagle guarded a nest.

From the island it was just a short distance to Buoy 4.

In the distance a large tanker and its tugs is making its way by Fort Point and into the mouth of the Penobscot River.

On Buoy 4 was a sticker. I guess our old friend Marcus Hanna  has been tending to it.

We glided back on an incoming current, enjoying the visual feast of low tide in Maine; periwinkles, mussels, urchins, and long stretches of sand dollars.  Here a periwinkle wends among the sand dollars.

As we were pulling out, lots of beach walkers were arriving. A truck pulled down the ramp, depositing this wonderful 65 pound rowing dory. We changed out of drysuits and into a more typical outer layer, and Mark chatted with the builder, who’s built several boats including a few kayaks.

What a beautiful boat!

Just a short paddle, and a bit embarrassing how stiff my legs were at the conclusion. But it was wonderful, like finding a lost present as you put away the tree. I love viewing low tides, my favorite paddle of the year was Lubec to Eastport, because it was new (to us), and because it was at low tide, in an area renowned for extreme tides.
Tomorrow starts a whole new year!  Best wishes to all!


Sharing and preserving your memories

It was on a stormy evening much like this when I first fell into my photobook addiction. I was looking through the photos for the year, picking out pictures to print for scrapbooks when I came across a beautiful photo from Stockton Springs Harbor. It struck me that this picture could be an oil painting.

The lighting is amazing, though ideally there would be no tarp

We’d bought a waterproof camera that year, and brought it with us on many paddles. Soon I came across another great photo:

And several more. They weren’t really family photos, they didn’t belong in a family scrapbook, but they were rich in memories. Earlier that summer, Mark’s uncle had first shown us photobooks. Each year he’d make a book summarizing his hiking tours in England. I began thinking we should have a book of just beautiful kayaking pictures. So I gathered the pictures, went to the Winkflash site, made a book and watched the mail anxiously until it arrived.

It was wonderful, and I loved looking through it each night. A week or so later I visited another site, Snapfish and made a second book, this time of a series of boats on beaches, a common motif.

Two boats on Rum Key, off Bar Harbor

Then, seeing how much neater these books were than the scrapbooks, it was off to a third site, Shutterfly, for a collection of favorite family photos. And back to Winkflash, who was having a sale on books: $19.95 for up to 100 pages, for a bigger collection of beautiful kayak pictures and a vacation book. And some cards; glossy 5x7 inch notecards.

A few more books got me through the summer, and by Fall I was ready to inflict share my favorite pictures on with others. So it was time to pick a calendar. I actually wound up with two; one from Winkflash, and one from Shutterfly.

Shutterfly to the left, Winkflash to the right

I started with Winkflash, who tends to be cheaper. But at the time, they had limited designs, no date labels (like New Years Day) and no way to put coordinating photos on the date. (That is now an option) I checked with Snapfish but found the price for what I wanted was too high. Then I got an email from Shutterfly, who’d I’d forgotten as an option. They had a great calendar design, unifying the top and bottom, and some temporary discount which made the calendars quite reasonably priced. Shutterfly is the only site I’ve seen with calendars decorated on both pages.

And last week I realized I’d need more note cards for thank-you notes. I picked up some beautiful glossy cards at Winkflash, just .80 cents each, and a few with an interior and exterior shot (which I can’t seem to do on Winkflash) from Shutterfly, for more, but with free shipping. I ordered the Winkflash cards on Dec 22, and they were shipped on the 23rd. I placed the Shutterfly order on the evening of the 22nd and they arrived on the 24th. (To be fair, Winkflash’s order was larger with several cards, Shutterfly was 5 copies of one card.)

If you are thinking of doing this I have some tips:

1) Check out a few sites. Put together a test collection of pictures to see book/card/calendar formats and prices.

2) To check out the sites they’ll probably make you join and sign. When you do request email/Facebook notices of sales and specials.

3) Gather photos for a specific project in a folder on your computer. That makes it easy to move them to any site to take advantage of a sale, or a special format.

4) If the calendar idea seems appealing, remember you’ll probably be putting it together in October or November. You might want to get Christmas photos now.

5) Some sites allow multiple coupon codes to be entered.

6) Edit carefully, especially gift items. Multiple pictures on a page are trickier than single shots (or well spaced pictures) because depending on the focal point some photos are brighter or darker than others Before you place a big order, you wish to order one copy for final review.

7) Full page pictures in photobooks are ideal for most scenes. It’s a big world, four shots to a page just looks cramped.

Feel free to add your tips or favorite sites (list why!) in the comments area.

Ginger Season

Ahh ginger! In the summer we often carry crystallized ginger with us on our adventures. It’s perfect for an unsettled stomach or a quick energy boost before heading home. But now that we’re gathered in the house entertaining visitors, we’ve added many ginger items to our pantry.

There’s fresh ginger, which can be chopped fine and added to soups. Even easier to use is minced ginger straight from the jar. Add a few tablespoons to chicken soup to spice it up, or a tablespoon to cooked rice along with a can of crushed pineapple for a tasty side dish to ham.

In the fridge are several types of ginger beer. Cans of Gosling ginger beer are mild with just a slight bite. Reed’s is available in varying strengths, and has the added tang of natural lemon/lime flavor. Maine Root is bottled in Portland Maine and has a crisp ginger smell with a cloudy appearance and taste announcing its high ginger presence. Stewart’s is strong enough to burn and is best served over ice. It is for true ginger fans only, and we mourned when its production was interrupted in 2009.

And on the table more ginger treats: gingerbread, from a recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook, with the addition of raisins and ginger orange creams, an experimental recipe.

At present the recipe is as follows:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon softened butter
2 Tablespoons minced ginger
¼ cup ground orange peel (they sell this in our natural food store)
½ teaspoon orange extract
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Melt the chips and coat chocolate molds. (I do this by pouring a little chocolate in and using a paint brush to coat the mold. Mix butter, ginger, orange peel and extract. Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, until the mix is a good texture for filling. Fill the chocolate lined molds, reheat the melted chocolates and coat the bottoms. Refrigerate and serve. Ideal for your ginger loving friends!

Gratuitous Wintery Scene

A Window of Opportunity – Sears Island Maine

Yes, it really was this gray and dark midday.  Far in the distance the slot between Isleboro and mainland appears

Basics: Launch 1PM finish 2:30PM Low 12:30. 5.5 miles. Launch from the causeway. Lots of parking, portapottie. No ramp. Steep climb or long twisting portage required.

Launch, either down beside the fence, or through the barriers to the distant info sign (by road) and along trail.

Monday, Bangor set a new high, 57 degrees. The couple inches of rain that fell kept most people from enjoying the warmth though. But on Tuesday, though it was cooler, it was still about 40 degrees, and we planned to take advantage of it. The snowmelt and rain meant that the path to the Penobscot was a slippery clay mess, and the river was a fast moving amalgamation of muddy water and deadwood.

However, the marine forecast was not ideal; winds 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 from the south west and seas of 5 to 6 feet. Under more benign temperatures, we’ve paddled under those conditions, but we had no intent of taking on that challenge in December. So we made our plans accordingly. Our thought: Sears Island. Sears Island is one of the largest unoccupied island on the main coast. (Though since it is connected by a causeway, whether it is technically still an island is subject to debate.) Maine has looked to use Sears Island as a marine terminal for decades. For just as long, others have protested against it. Currently plans call for a marine terminal to be put in, and part of the island preserved as open space. But for now, it’s like a great undeveloped lot, 940 acres beloved by bird watchers and dog walkers.

Most people walk along the one road which leads to a stone pier. If you time the tides correctly, you can walk all the way around Sears Island. The south side is rough cobble beach and near high, you may need either to wade, or to bushwhack a bit.

These ledges on the east side are one spot where you'd get wet at high tide

Since Sears Island has beach all the way around it, there are frequent bail points. We used to think of it as an ideal location for (strong) beginning sea kayakers. We were corrected on that impression by a pair of friends who noted that they’d seen horrible wild water and breaking waves on the south west side. A look at the chart shows how that could happen.

East Arrow marks sand dollar beach (search at low tide in the summer) West arrow is jetty (hopefully)

To the south west shallow water (blue) extends out a half mile or more. Along that same side, there is a stretch which is not protected by Isleboro (that slot is pictured in the first photo.) So, especially in the summer, when winds tend to come from the south, paddlers could easily be surprised by wild chop in that area. And, sure enough, a few trips later we found ourselves in confused water along that shore, whose many rocks certainly adds stress to the experience.

Our plan was to use the island as a wind break, paddling along the east side to sand dollar beach and back. And we also made plans in case the “calm” side was too active, we brought jeans and hiking shoes, so we could substitute a hike for the paddle.

Fortunately, when we got there, it was very calm, as we’d hoped. The wind was below 10 knots. We donned drysuits and PFDs, outfitted our boats with rescue gear and toted them down the hill. It’s slightly easier to carry kayaks down the east side, there is a narrow trail, the cars park beyond the guard rail, and there’s a chain link fence to clutch as you climb down.

Being on the water was incredible, even if the sky, water and beach were a uniform gray. Once we made it to sand dollar beach, we felt comfortable going further, to the rocky strewn south shore.

Almost exactly half way 'round

Though the wind was from the southwest, the angle was such that the seas were small, 1 to 2 feet. All along the west shore patches of seaweed extend out, and as the light was improving and colors other than gray appearing, a few times I ducked into the seaweed to take advantage of how it damped out waves.

Jetty where the road leads.  Behind it hints of a meadow and hardwood forest

We saw a number of birds, a variety of gulls, eiders, pintails and mergansers. Across from the jetty is the active marine terminal of Mack Point.

I can't wait until boats this size are on Sear's Island! -)

Soon we were back at the causeway, ready for our final challenge, carting boats up and over the guardrail.

Mark approaches the causeway. 

One more boat to carry up, one more memory of a wonderful paddle!