This Level-3-and-up trip will visit one of the most dramatic coastlines in the world, Maine's Bold Coast, the long weekend of Friday August 10 - Monday August 13. Ranging from Machias Bay to Lubec and beyond to Canada's Campobello Island, the Bold Coast is a largely undeveloped and wild region with lots of dramatic cliffs and rocks, 25+ foot tidal ranges, strong currents and quite unpredictable weather. (See the trip report from last year's MITA scouting trip which was a smaller, non-club paddle.) The tourists and pleasure boaters don't make it up this far, which accounts for even more of its charm.
The plan for this trip is to section-paddle various portions of the Bold Coast, Campobello Island and Cobscook Bay, adjusting the plan for conditions, interest and level of challenge. The sectional approach contrasts with trips that attempt to run the coast during a single tide cycle, which offers much less of an opportunity to explore the beauty of the region (and less flexibility if adverse conditions arise). Without hard tidal deadlines for launching or landing, we can pick various out-and-back or shuttle adventures and have a lot of freedom with the length and nature of the paddles. During this weekend, high tide will mostly occur around midday -- and it's a new moon spring tide, so there is an extra helping of current on this trip! If conditions really suck on any given day, there is also really great hiking in the area.
(NOTE: Even in mid-August the water in this region is in the mid 50s, with air temps in 60s. A drysuit is very much in order, and you're unlikely to get that hot.)
Home base for this adventure is the Sunset Point RV Park in Lubec, which is a very clean and well-run campsite. It's not all RV's -- actually, the area reserved for tents is a lovely grassy headland that juts out into Johnson Bay, with its own little pavilion. The fee will run around $15 per night, but it may be less than that depending on how many campers we get -- when we finalize attendance, I'll be able to get the number. Showers are free with unlimited hot water and if you care, there is free Internet at the office.
While this is posted as a 4-day event, folks can easily extend it (or shorten it) in either direction. However, it takes 6-7 hours to get up there or come back from there, so allocate a day for travel on either side.
If you're interested, please RSVP to indicate and I will pick this up via a PM thread. I would like to get the attendee list nailed down by the end of April so that we can finalize our reservation with the campground since it may start to fill up.
Event details
