Banging Around for Labour Day

H, PB, and I wanted to do a camping trip in Maine before the warm weather ended. We tried to get something together last weekend, but the weather and schedules didn't corporate. Since this weekend was a three day end of summer celebration and the forecast was reasonable, we managed to get something together.
It was a small group since a number of people had other plans. It included PB, EB, H, and myself.
Since H already had Friday off from work, she decided that the plan would be to turn our three day weekend into a Friday through Sunday affair. We would miss most of the traffic and still have a day off from work to lounge about the house and clean off our camping gear.
Friday morning didn't start off with a bang. H and I had troubles getting our acts in gear. Everything just took longer than we anticipated. We also had to make an unplanned stop at West Marine to try and order a new battery for my VHF. The connectors on the current battery corroded to the point where one of them just fell off. Even the West Marine stop took forever. It seems that West Marine does not carry spare batteries, or the AA battery pack accessory, for the VHF radios they sell. They can, however, special order them. The very nice kid at the desk took the special order, but was either new or "special" orders are so special they are rarely executed....
Once on the road we made excellent time to the put in at Dolphin Marina in Harpswell, ME. PB and EB were there well ahead of us since they had gotten on the road at the planned time. We didn't hold the show up too long though. H and I made quick work of getting the kayaks loaded.
We had discussed several possible islands for camping including Whaleboat, Bangs, and possibly Jewel. Our first choice was the camp site on the NE tip of Bangs. It has views of both sunrise and sunset, a sandy (for ME) beach for the kayaks and fires, and flat tent spots. All of the options, except for Jewell, were short paddles so we figured that we would go for the first choice and if we got skunked we could easily find another decent spot before dark.
To our delight, our first choice was available. We set up camp and immediately settled into island time. PB set out to collect fire wood. The rest of us sort of wandered about gazing at the scenery and moving towards dinner. Our eventual dinner was quite nice.
Eventually, we got our acts together enough to go on a moonlight paddle. The full moon spread silvery light over the landscape. We hardly needed extra lights. The moonlit island and water was lovely. We saw a heron that sat in place as we paddled by at a very close distance. The landscape was so transformed that we paddled right by our beach the first time.
On the way back, I decided to be cute and paddle backwards. As H chastised me, and I joked about how it doesn't matter that I was paddling backwards since I could see anyway, I backed onto a rock.... Fortunately, the keel strip took the brunt of the contact.
Once back at the campsite we got a fire going. The rest of the evening was spent basking in the glow of fire and friendly conversation.
The only tension was the slow march of water towards the fire. When the water finally snuffed the fire, we headed to our tents.
Saturday broke sunny and fresh. We again spent a good part of the morning meandering around. We eventually decided on an excursion to Admiral Peary's Eagle Island. The island is a Maine Historical Site. The original house has been turned into a museum and the grounds have been preserved for public viewing. The house is well preserved and full of interesting relics. One strange thing is that they make visitors put on plastic booties before entering the house. According to the caretakers, the booties keeps the salt on people's shoes from corroding the floor planks.
After Eagle Island we started over to Whaleboat Island to check out the campsites. The current and the wind were against us on the crossing. At first we didn't really notice how strong the current was working against us. The lobster buoys were sitting straight in the water, so there were no visual clues. Eventually, however, the current took its toll on our strength. We decided to abandon our push to Whaleboat and retreat back to the comfort of camp.
We spent our second night at camp the same way we spent our first. Sitting around a fire. Instead of doing a moonlight paddle, we watched as the tide slowly lifted a grounded sailboat out of its muddy trap. Actually, the real show was the stream of boats that motored out the sailboat, circled it, and returned home.
On our final morning, we did a quick search for the campsites on the opposite side of Bangs Island from ours. We scoured the coast from our kayaks for sign of them. We even checked the shore line by foot for signs, but found very little. There was a nice beach and a number of cairns marking the spot where the camp sites should have been. However, we couldn't find anything that looked like a tent site on the shore and there were no obvious paths into the woods.
After a quick lunch and repacking our kayaks, we decided to head home via Whaleboat island. We really wanted to find the campsites on that island for future trips. This time we were successful. The first set of sites we found are in the woods of the western shore of the island. They have a nice beach and plenty of shelter. We considered, briefly, extending our trip for a day and staying the night here. Sadly, we couldn't muster the energy to unpack the kayaks and reestablish camp.
So we headed back to Dolphin Marina. On the crossing from Whaleboat to South Harpswell, the water can play little tricks on your vision. The passage between the point of South Harpswell and the islands off of it can be hard to judge. I knew roughly where it was and headed straight for it. The rest of the group decided to trust their eyes and took a wider course. We never lost sight of each other, but it was fun watching them paddle out to sea for a while before realizing that I knew what I was doing.
It was a great weekend. As PB mentioned on the paddle home, the islands in Casco Bay are treasures that need to be preserved.

A Jewel of an Island

For the last few weeks we have been talking about doing one last kayak camping trip this year. With the warm weather vanishing, our window was shrinking. At a dinner gathering last weekend, we decided that we would definitely go this weekend.

We decided to return to Winslow Park in Freeport, ME for a launching point. It has a nice ramp, plenty of over night parking, and access to a number of nice camping islands.
When the weekend finally arrived, I was on the fence about actually going. Work has been completely crazy for me lately and I was beginning to feel very overwhelmed with my merciless pile of to-dos. I needed to spend the weekend attempting to catch-up. I needed to spend the weekend decompressing. I didn't want to stop H from enjoying the weekend.....
I decided to go and told myself that I would ignore the shrill little voice keening in my head.
We arrived at the launch before lunch and took our time getting on the water. The weekend was about relaxing...

Once on the water we planned on paddling out to Jewel Island. It is the farthest northern island on the Maine Island Trail and an eight mile paddle from the launch. We planned our route out so that we could bail out and camp on Bangs Island if we wanted.

Fortunately, we committed to paddling out to Jewel Island. The camp sites were great. We found an excellent group site where we ad a fantastic fire. In the morning we took advantage of the pleasant hiking trails to explore the island. Jewel was the site of a WW2 camp and the remains can be seen all over the island. The two best attractions are the fire towers that jut out over the tree line and offer spectacular views of Casco Bay. We also found some neat tunnels to explore, but we couldn't go to far without the flashlights.

After exploring the island we leisurely broke camp and prepared to paddle back to the cars. The return voyage was pleasant.
We had dinner at a lobster shack along the river. The food was fantastic and the deserts were better.

I definitely made the right decision in going. The work pile will isn't going anywhere....

Banging Around

As summer fades into fall, we all start looking for the last big trip. PB suggested a wilderness get away to cap a great season of paddling and camping. The only constraints put on the plan were:

• it not be too close to Boston


• it not be too far from RI

Casco Bay in Maine meets both of those conditions if you can launch from some place in Freeport or Portland. It also offers plenty of island camping and spectacular views for a small group.
The group was going to be pretty small. H was going off with non-kayaking friends for a girl's weekend. RB was camping with an old friend as part of a long standing annual tradition. MA had signed up for an AMC kayaking excursion. So it was only going to be PB, CC, BH, and myself. It was a small, but perfectly formed group.
PB picked me up bright and early Saturday morning. We were going to head up early and find a launch before the RI crew arrived. PB had called about overnight parking at Winslow Park in Freeport early in the week and had not received a return call. We figured it would be wise to check it out before trusting our cars there for the weekend.
Winslow park is a nice place to launch kayaks from. It has a nice boat ramp and is sheltered. At this time of year it was largely deserted. There were some crew races going on and we saw one power boat launching. It also has plenty of parking. PB called the state police to ensure the cars would not get towed if we left them. Once we knew that we were all set, we called CC and BH to inform them of their final destination.
By the time BH's battle box pulled into the park, PB and I had figured out how to stuff most of our gear into our kayaks.
The trick to packing the Q-Boat is still a work in progress. The front compartment is spacious and dry, so it has become the default place for clothing, tent, and sleeping bag. The back hatch is cramped and wet, so it is pretty much useless. I stuffed the stove fuel, the tent poles and the water in the rear hatch. I also tried to cram my kitchen supplies in there, but they would not fit. The kitchen ended up in the cockpit.
While CC and BH packed up their kayaks, PB and I rustled up some tasty sandwiches at a near by country store.
After packing and eating, we got on the water around noon. It was a leisurely trip and our planned camp sites was only six miles away. We were not worried about day light and the forecast was clear for the whole day.
The paddle out to Bangs Island was nice. The islands we passed by were sparsely populated. The sun was shining. The temperature was mild. One could hardly ask for more.
It was the first time in many moons that I navigated. Matching shore line features to a chart is not easy even on a clear day. PB had his GPS as a backup, so I felt better.
Once we found Bangs Island, we had to locate the camp sites. After circumnavigating the island we located the southern camp site. It was too small for our four tents. The middle site was big enough for our tents, but it was wet and didn't offer a good view. The northern site was big enough, had a nice rocky beach, and looked out over the expanse of the Bay.
After unpacking our kayaks and setting up the tents, we set about collecting fire wood and getting dinner ready. BH stoked up a major bonfire out of the collected drift wood. PB cooked up an excellent pasta dish with sausage and meatballs. CC & I helped out where we could.
After dinner, we settled in front of the fire to enjoy marshmallows and other tasty treats. We were also treated to thrilling tales of BH's days as a youngster. PB reportedly saw many shooting stars.
During the night, the weather began to shift. The wind picked up and the temperature cooled down.
BH's kayak grew a blue hand over night. This was the second time his kayak ventured to Maine waters and grew a new appendage. It is freaky.
BH treated the group to a breakfast of strong coffee, oatmeal, and fruit. As we ate, the wind died down and the temperature grew comfortable. We decided to take the long way home. We were going to round Whaleboat Island and check out a number of other islands on the way home. Whaleboat Island has some nice camping spots on it and we wanted to scope it out for future expeditions.
A plan decided on, we broke camp and reloaded the kayaks. I'm always surprised that nothing fits in the kayak the same way twice... While we packed, the wind picked up and shifted to the NW - a perfect headwind for our trip home.
We crossed over to the lee side of Whaleboat to check out the camp sites there. As we paddled and explored, the winds stiffened and the sun retreated behind the clouds. Despite being in the lee of a large island we could feel the wind. Rounding the end of the island and turning homeward was going to expose us to the full force of the wind.
Sure enough, we rounded the northern tip of Whaleboat island and were slammed. We slogged for about half mile before stopping for lunch on Little Whaleboat Island. We plotted out a route that was four short crossings between small islands. We could rest in each of the lees. We all also added to our layering. The wind was kicking up two foot chop that soaked us. The wind and lack of sun meant we chilled quickly.
The return paddle was tough, but fun. The wind and chop made for tough going. However, it also kept things interesting. A little work is good for the soul.
By the time we reached Winslow Park, we were all ready to put on dry clothes and eat some warm food. I, however, wanted to attempt rolling the Q-Boat while it was fully loaded. I managed to nail both my onside and my offside once.
Then it was time to dry off, load up, and chow down. We found an excellent Mediterranean place in Freeport. The food was different and definitely good. It capped off an excellent expedition.