The
following is a trip report of our recent Maine Sea Kayak trip. I am
submitting
this account to solicit comments, corrections and suggestion
for
future trips. This was my first trip to Maine, an experience I hope
to
repeat many times; we only got a small taste of the many great paddles
in the
area.
One of
the things that made this a such a successful adventure was the
many
helpful suggestions and comments from the paddling `net' community!
Thanks
Again
-Kurt
Kurt
Ries
Canandaigua,
NY
kries@kodak.com
==================================================
Maine
Trip Report
Dates:
August 19 - 25, 1996
Destinations:
Mount Desert Island, Deer Island, Casco Bay
Transportation:
Car, Sea Kayak & Bicycle
References:
----------------
Sea
Kayaking Along The New England Coast
-Tamsin Venn ISBN 1-878239-04-X $14.95
-Most of our trips were base on some
variation from trips
outlined in this book
Coastal
Paddling Routes in Nova Scotia
-Scott Cunningham,
-Coastal Adventures, P.O. Box 77,Tangier,
Nova Scotia B0J 3G6,
902-772-2774
-This book has many helpful suggestion;
Haven't made to
Nova Scotia...yet
Maine
Island Trail Association (MITA)
-P.O. Box C, Rockland, ME 04841,
207-761-8225
-Helpful information on camping on public
and privately owned
islands on the trail system
Trail
Map
------------
Trails
Illustrated, PO Box 3610, Evergreen, CO 80439-3425,
303-670-3457
or 800-962-1643
-Acadia National Park, Mount Desert
Island, Isle au Haut #212
Marine
Charts:
------------------
International
Sailing Supply 1-800-423-9026
-Mount Desert island Area #105
-Eggemoggin Reach #104
-Casco Bay #101E
We
drove from Rochester, NY to the Lake Placid area to camp on St. Regis
Pond.
This got us north and a chance to work the kinks out of the boats
and
camping equipment. Not to mention a spectacular sunset paddle around
the
lake.
Next
day caught the ferry across Lake Champlain and a short paddle north
from
the public landing in Burlington along the sheer cliffs and rocky
out
croppings looking for Champ. Continued our drive across Vermont on
Hwy 2
with only one Ben & Jerry's stop.
Spent
the night at Gorham, New Hampshire just
outside White Mountain
National
Forest. The next morning hiked up to Tuckerman Ravine
(hopefully
a future Tele trip...Fred are you listening!).
Continued
our road trip on Hwy 2 across Maine through Bangor and into
Ellsworth
just north of Mt. Desert Island. Stayed at the Ellsworth Motel
($56)
next to Cadillac Mountain Sports on Hwy 3. The Cadillac Mountain
Sports
folks are very knowledge on paddling in the area and are a good
source
for marine charts and outdoor/paddling equipment.
#DESERT
ISLAND / ACADIA STATE PARK
For the
next three days we explored Desert Island coastline and Acadia
park.
This included Frenchmans Bay, Blue Hill Bay, Somes Sound and
Cranberry
Islands. All day trips are outlined in Venn's book. Little
Cranberry
island has a harbor with novelty shops and a restaurant for
a great
rest stop. The weather was sunny in the mid 70's and the seas
were
calm.
One
morning the fog rolled in and we opted to explore the Carriage Roads
of the
park. These are roads that where built by John D. Rockefeller Jr.
1913 - 1940
with spectacular stone arch bridges. Now closed off to all
but
hikers, horses and bikers. These roads connected the harbors and the
hiking
trails of the east side of the island. Nothing technical and can
easily
be ridden on a cross bike. After paddling we start biking these
roads
exclusively to get from one eating establishment to another leaving
the car
parked at the harbor.
#DEER
ISLAND
After
just a taste of Desert Island we continued our journey south to the
town of
Stonington on Deer Island. Spending the night at a B&B run by an
artist
Penny Parkinson $65, includes a good paddler's breakfast.
-Penny's B&B, PH 207-367-5933, PO Box
283, Stonington ME, 04681
-Located a couple of blocks from the
Public pier
Off the
coast of Stonington there are many
islands that are measured in
yards,
not miles apart. In short a paddlers paradise! We spent the next
couple
of days exploring these islands and camping on Wheat Island just
north
of Burnt island. After paddling sunny clear skies out to Wheat
Island
a thick fog rolled in during the night. By morning one could barely
see the
next island. The trip back to Stonington was hopping from one
island
to the next in the thick fog...really cool on the perfectly calm
seas!
I have never
seen so many lobster buoys in all my life! By now I am
getting
proficient at the Lobster Buoy slalom. Judging from our
discussions
with some of the locals there is a concern of over harvesting
lobsters.
Most conversation revolved around the Sunday ban on fishing
doesn't
have any impact on preserving the Lobster population.
Being
originally from the Midwest I am not use to getting all the fresh,
inexpensive
seafood...wow what a treat! Paddling back to the harbor
thinking
about dinner, we made note of which restaurants on the piers
where
buying and selling sea food right from the fishing boats. For $15
enough
corn-on-the-cob, steamers, mussels and jumbo soft shell lobsters
to
easily feed two hungry paddlers.
#CASCO
BAY
>From
Stonington we continued our road trip south of Brunswick to Orrs and
Baily
island. Where we did a day trip out of H20 Outfitters, fun and
enthusiastic
paddlers. Their shop wares include boats, lessons and tours.
-H2OUTFITTERS 800-649-5257 at the tip of Orr's
Island by the Crib
Bridge
Paddled
out to the Haskell Island area for lunch on a sand bar and explored
the
adjoining islands. The day started out looking like rain but after a
couple
hours on the water the skies opened up to some major sunshine. Even
got
into some swells on the open sea side that could be surfed!
#CONCLUSION
From a
driving perspective it worked nicely to start at the northern end of
the
coast and work down the coast to the southern bays. Never had to drive
for
more than 5 hours at a time.
Caught
the Turnpike to the Thruway and home
:-(