Anyone done sections of it? Looking for some advice on a trip for the first week of April. Going to need to find a boat too, don't think I'll drag mine out from Utah.
Justin
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Anyone done sections of it? Looking for some advice on a trip for the first week of April. Going to need to find a boat too, don't think I'll drag mine out from Utah.
Justin
I'm not familiar with the "Island Trail" specifically, but for a time our family used to have a summer place on the rocks just outside of Friendship, Maine...and I've sea-kayaked and sailed dinghies all throughout that part of the coast, including up around the Penobscot Bay area of Vinylhaven Island, North Haven, etc., but mostly just the coast near Friendship and environs.Quote:
Originally Posted by xcmntgeek
It is truly a sea-kayakers paradise!! But......
due to the large tides, the tidal currents can very strong....
and the winds can be quite strong....so I'd recommend getting good at feathering your paddle....that'll keep your wind resistence down.
I'd also recommend a full dry-suit if you're going to be a few miles offshore....the water temps are fairly cold, especially in April, and if you capsize it will take you awhile to de-water your boat with your bilge pump.
Due to the afore-mentioned potential (albeit small !!) of capsize, I'd acquaint yourself with sea-kayak self-rescue.....it may be a little different in the beamier and longer sea-kayaks than the river craft you'd be used to in Utah.
No help, really, on obtaining a kayak in Maine. I always had my own. I think there a couple places in portland and maybe one in Rockland or Camden that rent kayaks on a multi-day basis, but not positive. Might be simpler to buy there.
MaineSports in Camden, Maine sometimes has some great sales on kayaks.
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Yes. I've spent a lot of time on it leading trips over the past three summers. Here is my sudo TR from my second trip last summer.
Do you have any idea where you are going to be based? Or is this a trip especially to paddle the trail? Going for distance vs exploring/pinball? Skill level? April could be a good time to explore the Casco Bay part of the trail as it won't be a mob scene.
What are you used to for gear? There's a whole lot of places like Maine Kayak and Maine Sport that rent basic plastic boats like Necky Amaruks. Rigg @ East Boothbay Kayaks rents nicer plastic boats, and I believe has a whole bunch of fiberglass boats stashed in his shed too that he hasn't posted. I believe that Lincoln Canoe and Kayak also rents both plastic and composite boats, plus they build some of them right there too. If you really want a fancy P&H hassle John Carmondy at Sea Cliff Kayakers.
There are a couple of places where the current rips enough that you have to plan around it, but most of the time it's pretty obvious from the chart, and the MITA guidebook often will spell it out too. Unless you head way East and court the Canadian border, but there aren't a hell of a lot of islands out that way on the trail.
Second doing a safety course in the kayak your using, and not just the regular 20 min rental course where you don't even get in the water. A drysuit is something that I'm still saving my pennies for, and I don't know of anywhere nearby that will rent more than a farmer john and a splash top except maybe Sea Cliff (but I'm not even positive if they rent boats or if they just have a small fleet for courses) Kayak Academy on the other coast does mailed rental drysuits.
Thanks guys, great info. I'll take as much as I can get. Great TR too...
Was planning on a full dry suit for warmth and safety as well as a thorough safety course. Our plan is to really just explore- no huge agenda, bounce from cool place to cool place via boat and hopefully link it into one long out and back but camp in different places. I joined the MITA on their site (www.mita.org) and they actually had helpful maps/charts/advice/etc.
Most of my experience has been on the bigger rivers of the Midwest (done most of the Missouri with my dad and a fair bit of the Miss) in either a ruddered perception Carolina 14 (mine) or Necky Manitou 14 (borrowed) and general screwing around in creek boats back in MO. Did a brief 3 day trip out of Seward that involved open ocean and sheltered inlets. Only capsized once in AK, just for practice but I did flip a boat trying to kneel and piss on the Missouri.
I'm swift water trained via our SAR team- but I don't think that means much in this case.
I don't think we'll be in a tandem... sounds like a great way to end up at each other's throats if a canoe trip in the everglades was any indication.
Thanks, here's a shot looking out towards one of the day use islands on the trail this morning.
http://alexkerney.com/posted/TGR/20111225_DSC0045.jpg
I think that a good place for you to start would be Muscongus Bay.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6222631/imag...33.40%20PM.png
You can start way up the Medomak, where it's pretty sheltered. There's a couple of spots that have some noticeable current near Hungry Island, but nothing like what we break the whitewater boats out for on some of the other islands.
There's a cabin up that way that requires reservations, and a couple of small spots. Hungry island (owned by Chewonki Foundation where I work) is relatively large, and has a couple of spots if there are other groups around. Once you poke your head out there's Hog island which is owned by the Audobon. It isn't great camping, but good hiking. Crow is a nice spot which can hold a ton of people for it's size.
Out further on the West side is Thief island. It's got a big group site at the North end and a smaller (~4 person/2 tents if I remember right) site at the South end. There's a nice trail between the two with an osprey nest on the East side. There is also some nice rocks to jump off of on the East side.
Slightly to the East are Black and Harbor Islands. Harbor is sweet to hike around,, lots of fairy houses and whatnot tucked into the woods, and has a nice beach, but I believe that the Davis family usually only has it open for day use for most groups. Black is another Chewonki Island that can support a couple of groups.
I haven't visited Little Griffin or Burnt on the East side of the bay. There may be some more islands or less on the trail next year, it's always changing.
It looks really tempting to poke your head around Port Clyde and go past Tenants up towards Spruce Head, but it's often much rougher than people expect right there, and same thing heading out of Muscongus Bay to the West around Pemaquid Point. It would be much more reasonable to go around Pemaquid if you didn't have to paddle 17 NM to get to your next good island to the West. There used to be a great island that you could use to cut the distance in half, but Fish and Wildlife has closed it to overnight use (I need to hassle them at some point about that...).
Muscongus is sweet because it's not really a touristy area, but that also means that amenities match. Your not going to find many places to resupply, or other people out on the water if something goes wrong.
A couple other areas that might be good places to start are around Deer Island, but that is pretty exposed, but a bazillion options, or around Boothbay and Hockamock Bay if you want to start reading tide tables. Some short distances near Boothbay can turn into really long days if you get the tides wrong, but you can also make some massive days really short if you get them right.
They're called divorce boats for a reason!Quote:
Originally Posted by xcmntgeek
I would strongly discourage your doing the trip in April based on your experience. Water temperatures are just starting to rebound and will be in low 40's. With the change of seasons, April can be stormy. The best month IMO is September. If you are set on going, it certainly will be quiet at the sites on the Islands and Stonington is an obvious point of departure allowing you to explore many Islands
Yeah....definitely ditto on the tandem kayak....mainly for safety's sake. If you flip a tandem, you're both in the water, both getting colder, and while you DO have two to bail, it's just more problematic with two getting back into a tandem.
With two singles, the upright kayak moves over to the capsized one and stabilizes it while the person gets him/herself back in the cockpit....makes a BIG difference.
I'm not sure about this one....but I'm pretty sure there is some sort of 'manual-pull' CO2 inflator float for the end of the paddle that you can pull a cord and inflate if needed for support while getting back into the 'yak. But such a system WILL add weight to your paddle....so there is always a equillibrium somewhere between too much safety vs logistical sense.
If your set on April, there is no reason you can't do it....just make sure you are prepared for ALL different kinds of weather including snow and ice. Layers are mandatory, of course. Remember the pogies!! I've done much wintertime kayaking around Prince William Sound in Ak, and it all depends on your experience, your preparation, your clothing and your general hardiness. Goretex drysuits like kokatat's will make your life MUCH more pleasant during your trip, if you plan on getting new drysuits. They are very pricey ($850 - $1200) but are worth the extra $$$$ because of the amount you'll sweat (even in April) paddling into a strong head wind and/or against a tidal current.
There is some GREAT advice from various Maine paddlers in this thread. I'd give their advice much merit....especially Muscongus Bay....that is a beautiful area and a great starting point.
You have lots of time to prepare....ENJOY.
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I lived on Deer Isle for four summers and have sailed all over the area but not kayaked. The main thing I'd reiterate is that water is damn cold. It's a beautiful area though, amazing really. I'd recommend that you stay on the Deer Isle side of Penobscot bay and explore from there, there's a ton of islands and you could get over to Mt. Desert if you wanted some civilization. Also you could get up into Blue Hill Bay or Frenchman's bay for flatter water if the winds pick up.
I boat all around casco bay and it's a great place. Water is slightly warmer than up by Deer Isle, lots of islands close together and there are some great spots for camping and exploring WW2 ruins. Just watch out for the fog, it's a problem anywhere on the coast in Maine.