Dan Foster

On a sunny Friday, seven of us gathered at the bustling Dolphin Cove Marina in Harpswell to begin our paddle to Jewell Island, where other NSPN and SMSKN paddlers were already converging from Winslow Park and Cousins Island. The skipper of the lone sailboat we encountered called out "isn't it a little cold for that?" as we paddled across calm, 48 degree water toward Eagle Island. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch on Eagle, and admired the view from Admiral Peary's fortress-like house. Landing in a deserted Cocktail Cove on Jewell, we soon found our other pods of kayakers camping along the southwest side of the island and quickly established our camp. And then it was time to eat, and eat, and eat some more. We snacked on guacamole, cheeses, and smoked salmon while pots of lentil soup and lamb curry simmered. Cookies, cakes, and pies emerged from kayak hatches to end the evening's excesses. As the sun sank to the horizon, a lone paddler approached across the dappled water, and another round of food was prepared for Paul's arrival. It was a glorious night to linger by the fire, but eventually we all drifted off to our tents. Rising early on Saturday morning, I wandered over to the Punchbowl to watch the sun try to rise through the low clouds. Fresh deer tracks lead down to the water, and evidence of deer and raccoon was everywhere on the island. The Punchbowl was deserted, save for a few dozen gulls scavenging after low tide. I followed the western shore for a bit, climbing to the site of the 90mm anti-torpedo boat guns that were installed during the second World War. The view from the walk back along the still water of Cocktail Cove to camp was breathtaking. Our pod paddled over to join the SMSKN group for the day's adventures. The group decided to paddle to Little Chebeague, passing the south tips of Cliff and Hope Island on the way. We landed at Little Chebeague to stretch our legs and re-confirm our group plan to circumnavigate Long Island. A new brood of privy warblers will soon be gracing the island. We paddled past the lobster boats on the west side of Long, and gathered together one final time at the south tip, where an intrepid foursome split off from the main group to round Peaks Island while the rest of us headed back toward Jewell. We squeaked through the rocks between Jerry Pt and Overset Island, and then found a sandy beach for our lunch. We continued up the east coast of Long to the Stepping Stones, and then lined up for an orderly crossing of Luckse Sound back to Cliff, and onward to Jewell. The Peaks Island crew made good time and arrived a bit later. A group hiked down to the south tip of Jewell to view the campsites in Smuggler's Cove, and to take in the views from the fire control towers that directed the island's gun batteries. Saturday night featured another campfire, with even more dessert options than the night before. 2AM brought rain and lightning, and we woke to a blanket of fog surrounding the island. Our pod was the last off of the island, and hopped from island to island by compass bearings until the noon sun finally burned through and we were back at our cars. The kind owners of the marina waived our parking and launching fees when we gathered in their restaurant for one final meal together, which was a perfect ending to a thoroughly-enjoyable weekend trip.

Yes, if you've got a parking pass (or have paid for a day parking pass at the main lot) you can drive east a block or two and then turn right down a rutted gravel road to the boat launch area. There's parking for a dozen cars or so there.

The park closes at 7:30. They will lock the gate with you and your car inside at 7:31. From the boat launch parking area where we meet, you could walk 5 minutes to the changing room at the main swimming beach, or just duck behind your car with a towel to change discreetly.

I plan to be there most weeks. Does anyone else want to start a week or two early? I'd like to practice some rescues before the end of the month. Looks like the daily fee went up: Daily Parking Fee: $8 MA Vehicle, $10 non-MA Vehicle

My understanding of timing a trip to play in the currents at Cohasset is that you want to flood tide to flush you under the bridge and trap you in Little Harbor. You then play for a few hours on the harbor side of the bridge as the flood weakens, and then eat lunch and paddle around the harbor during the slack at high tide. Then you paddle back to the ocean side, and play as the ebb tries to push you back out to sea. If you reverse the tides, you end up trapped in Little Harbor at the end of the day, or there are too many exposed rocks when the tide is low. So the ideal date for a Cohasset Little Harbor trip is one where high tide falls around lunchtime. Sunday, May 17 has high tide at 11:34AM, which is just about perfect. Monday or Tuesday might be better. Saturday, May 23rd has high tide at 4:18PM, which means the the flood will be ripping from noon until 2PM, but you'd have to stay past 6PM to play on the ebb. http://ma.usharbors.com/monthly-tides/Massachusetts-Boston%20Harbor,South%20Shore/Cohasset%20Harbor%20%28White%20Head%29

High tide on May 23rd is 4:18PM. I'd be interested in an afternoon session in the current there.

One technique I think I'll start practicing is to start my crossing with an identifiable landmark behind me (like the lone house on Little Bustins), and then, as we approach the point where the land behind us is fading from view, I'll turn around and shoot a back bearing. On Sunday, that would have been about 1/4 of the way across, and (based on the GPS track) would have shown that we were actually proceeding at a 310 magnetic course, despite our heading of 295 to Crab. I'll also follow Warren's suggestion and get a grease pencil, and I'll start writing down some of the bearings we chose out on the water, for a reality check against the GPS track back at home. I was very happy to have a watch for these crossings, especially after paddling for two hours at the beginning of the trip thinking I'd left mine at home, only to find it strapped high up on my new Posiedon PFD at our first stretch break. Another reminder to practice everything and develop routines.

In the time it took us to wash and rinse our cookware off in the ocean, the tide advanced enough to leave me stranded on the rock I'd selected for easy access to rinse water. Warren was kind enough to rearrange some stepping stones so I could hop my way to safety without soaking my feet. After reviewing our GPS tracklog back home, it's clear we maintained a constant and correct heading through the fog on two of our three homeward crossings. But our crossing from Little Bustin to tiny Crab Island (both private) shows enough [current induced?] drift to the north that we would have passed by it in a zero-visibility fog. Something to be aware of and work on in future trips.

A few weeks ago, Warren made an offer to mentor someone interested in kayak camping this season, and I took him up on his most generous offer. We discussed trip planning and gear selection, and I pored over my gear and made sure it was ready for the colder temperatures we'd been experiencing so far this spring. We settled on a one night trip to a private MITA island in mid Casco Bay, and the tides and weather lined up nicely for our trip this past weekend. We launched from Winslow Park in Freeport, alongside a troop of Boy Scouts from Marblehead, who were paddling over to newly-protected Lanes Island to perform a service project. Their camping gear was ferried over on a small power boat, whereas our gear had to be packed away hatch by hatch. Luckily, it all fit. Winds were light, but building to 10 knots out of the south, so we swapped our two daily paddling plans and worked upwind to the southern tip of Whaleboat and then rode downwind toward our destination. We stopped to check out the meadow campsite on Whaleboat, and to admire the rocky shoreline it looks out onto. With the wind at our back, we enjoyed a pleasant paddle along the varied shore. At one point, a bald eagle flew overhead, and a bit later, a mink scampered up from the waterline as we passed. Having paddled 9 nautical miles for the day, we hadn't seen a single boat or person out on the water since launching. But as we approached the group of islands where we intended to camp, we saw two kayaks hauled up the beach and a lone hammock at the treeline. We glided silently past, wondering whether another NSPN group was out enjoying the weekend. With plenty of daylight to spare, our first order of business upon landing was to decide whether a sunny bench-like nook in the rocks would provide enough wind protection to serve as our kitchen. With the sun out and and an osprey circling over a nest on the the adjacent island, we got comfortable and devoted a good 30 minutes to this task, just to make sure. With our limited space to make camp, I was happy to find that my tent lined up with its lowest profile exposed to the prevailing south wind. Even the rocks align themselves to the wind! Right around the corner we found a small cove with a wind-sheltered ledge at the perfect kitchen height, and promptly moved there for appetizers and dinner prep. Warren cooked up an Indian feast, and I opted for chili, Fritos, and guacamole. We watched the osprey come and go, and watched loons, eiders, and gulls go about their routine as the tide fell and rose, and then it was time for us, too, to turn in. Waking to a foggy "sunrise", I explored a bit of our shoreline, and then made the mistake of announcing that I'd be ready for an early departure since I was already partially packed. Not everything goes back in the dry bags as easily or as compactly as it does when packing back home. I quickly learned that although my tent and fly fit nicely into a tapered dry bag back home, I was now combining a perfectly dry tent with a soaking wet fly in a single bag. Oops. At least it was only a one-night trip. I straggled down the beach with the last of my gear and made it into the boat just a few minutes past our "early" departure time. With no wind to worry about until later in the day, we worked our way north, handrailing along the shoreline in the fog, and exchanging hellos with the first and only boat we saw on the trip. A second, immature, bald eagle greeted us from a perch high up above the water as we paddled onward. With visibility around 1/3rd of a mile, and several ~1 mile crossings to get back to the cars, we spent some time plotting our bearings. This was my first time navigating to targets enshrouded in fog, so we did things by the book, plotting courses for the centers of islands, keeping close together with a sharp watch for traffic, and staying well outside the "busy" boat channels. A highlight of the trip for me was watching a little island slowly emerge from the fog in front of us after paddling into the abyss. Warren introduced me to several NSPN landmarks in the area, including Andy's rope swing. I used the fact that it wasn't high tide to avoid any temptation to give it a swing. We passed by the octagonal HOUSE seen on the chart, and made a final foggy crossing back to the ramp at Winslow. Just as we pulled our boats up the ramp, a motley flotilla of kayaking Scouts arrived back out of the fog, and our weekend of solitude on Casco Bay drew to a close. I'd like to thank Warren for introducing me to the joys of kayak camping and for guiding me through the pre-trip planning process. Most of the hard work happened long before we got on the water, and when we finally did, things unfolded smoothly. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend on the water, and one I won't soon forget.

Thanks, Rob! I'll order one to stomp on and report back to the group.

Can you explain the timing of the ebb and flood currents relative to the tidal cycle in Portsmouth, as it relates to this circumnav? The only current predictions I've been able to find are the ones listed below, which don't match up with "max minus current is also about noon" for Sunday the 19th. http://www.portsmouthnh.com/cam/ Current data for the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor. Tide and current closer to Pierce and New Castle is described as 1/2 hour later than these times. Sun 01:33am -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins Sun 04:23am -2.51 knots Max Ebb Sun 05:54am Sunrise Sun 06:35am Moonrise Sun 08:09am 0.01 knots Slack, Flood Begins Sun 10:16am 1.66 knots Max Flood Sun 01:58pm -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins Sun 04:44pm -2.38 knots Max Ebb Sun 07:29pm Sunset Sun 08:25pm 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins Sun 08:43pm Moonset Sun 10:38pm 1.81 knots Max Flood Tides for Portsmouth, Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire2015-04-19 00:05 EDT 9.96 feet High Tide 2015-04-19 05:55 EDT Sunrise 2015-04-19 06:17 EDT -1.55 feet Low Tide 2015-04-19 06:35 EDT Moonrise 2015-04-19 12:37 EDT 9.40 feet High Tide 2015-04-19 18:35 EDT -0.97 feet Low Tide 2015-04-19 19:30 EDT Sunset 2015-04-19 20:43 EDT Moonset

Great report! I get cold just looking at some of those photos. After the snowy adventure that the three of you had, Alaska will seem like a tropical vacation. You certainly deserve it.

Where did you find yours locally to try? Did they have all of the add-ons, like the belly pocket? I couldn't find one locally, so I ended up ordering a Poseidon sight-unseen from REI. I was looking to replace my PFD and to add a hydration pack, so the Poseidon's internal hydration sleeve seemed to kill both of those with one stone. And the modular, attachment points everywhere, approach resonated with me. Like you, however, I'm not thrilled with the execution. When I first saw the design, I thought of the military MOLLE system, which uses 1" webbing sewn at regular intervals across the pack or vest so that you can slap on any number of compatible pockets or gear with 1" connectors or velcro strips. The Poseidon looks really modular, but the webbing is sewn at 1/2" intervals, so that only their slick-clip accessory pockets (or a mini carabiner) will attach. I couldn't strap my watch band onto the PDF in most locations, for example. The chest pocket that comes with the Poseidon has three zippered compartments. After finally getting one to play with, it's really just one main compartment with a zipper at the top, and two zippered flaps on the back and inside the main compartment that sub-divide the main space without expanding. I was able to put a pair of heavy neoprene gloves and a light fleece hat into the chest pocket, and not much else. The belly pocket, which I haven't seen, claims to have a "radio sleeve", with no indication what that means. My new VHF is 11.5" to the tip of the antenna. I suspect the belly pocket will fit "a radio", but not necessarily "my radio". It clips on the shoulder loop OK, however.

As far as I can tell, Kokatat uses a Hydrapak Elite 1.5L reservoir with custom printing on it. http://hydrapak.com/store-2/#!/Elite-Reversible-Reservoir/p/6847484/category=632576 http://www.amazon.com/Hydrapak-1-5L-50oz-Elite-Reservoir/dp/B00NCPGXBU/ Hydrapak claims the Elite has a twist-on/twist-off shutoff valve on the bite valve. The other issue with the Poseidon PDF is that the hydration bladder is inserted from the bottom, and it relies on a 1/2" velcro strap at the top to hold the water bag in place. The water bag I tested with didn't have a hanger loop at the top, and decided to do a wet exit of its own halfway through my paddle after I loosened the PFD straps to release some of the pressure.

For those of you with a Kokatat hydration system: Does water dribble or leak out of the bite valve if you apply pressure to the water bladder? The reason I ask is that I just bought the new Kokatat Poseidon PDF, which has a built-in hydration sleeve in the back to hold their 1.5 liter hydration reservoir. My initial test with a 1.5 L cycling hydration reservoir installed back there shows that tightening the PFD's side straps applies pressure to the back of the reservoir, forcing water up the tube and out the bite valve. This seems like a huge design flaw to me - the hydration pack should be in a stretchy compartment so you can tighten down the vest as much as needed without squeezing the water bag. I have a second 3L hydration system from Osprey that's much more resistant to dribbling, and has a shutoff valve at the bite end to completely stop leakage. How well does the Kokatat bite valve resist dribbling?

Wonderful report - sorry to have missed what looks to have been a great day!

I researched these over the winter and ended up getting the JetBoil MiniMo, having been swayed by the enhanced simmer control and the possibility of cooking food, rather than just boiling water.

I believe you meant to write: When: April 26th from noon to about 4pm (not May 26th)

I'm planning to be there. I did a cold water clinic with CRCK and some early-season whitewater paddling last year, but put me in the "seldom or never paddled in cold water before" camp. Do rabbit ears from an old TV count as appropriate headgear?

I'm also excited to see a WFA-Afloat offered. Has anyone heard back from the instructor? I've sent two emails and heard nothing. Topsham is a 30-minute drive from some really great restaurants and beer bars in Portland, so I might try to stay or eat there.

26.5 days. 2 pi r = 821 mi r = 130.6 mi (radius of lake) let two_theta be the angle around the center of the lake traversed in a day. let theta be half of that. sin theta is half the chord distance (15.5 mi) / r theta = 6.79 degrees two_theta = 13.58 degrees per day 360 degrees / 13.58 = 26.5 days to complete the circle. extra extra credit: how many days would you have to paddle to complete the "spirograph" and end up exactly back at your starting location (within 1 mile, let's say) Bonus Manicougan reading: http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?t=7780

Even if your self-rescues (roll, re-enter and roll, cowboy scramble) don't require a paddle float, there's still the issue of being back in your boat with a cockpit full of water. As Leon pointed out earlier, a paddle float outrigger gives you much more stability when pumping out. Is there ever a scenario where you could get back in your boat, but it would have taken in enough water to be unstable? If Yes, would a paddle float outrigger make it easier to pump out? Are there situations where you'd be successful in staying upright and pumping out with a paddle-float outrigger, but unsuccessful without one? To answer your question directly, I believe a paddle float deserves space in a paddler's kit when they're sufficiently far from shore and other paddlers who can help, and they've blown their roll, re-entered a partially-filled cockpit, and need to get the water out quickly to regain stability.

With the right combination of slip strokes, draws, and forward and reverse strokes (or merely a circular wind pattern), you should be able to paddle an infinite distance around the torus while maintaining a constant heading. Given a choice between doing high-school algebra or looking for loopholes, I'd rather look for loopholes.

Josko, I've been using Outdoor Products 3-Pack Ultimate Dry Sacks, which sound the same as the Walmart dry bags you mentioned. My first aid and survival supplies have lived in the red bag, which goes in my day hatch or in my backpack for hiking. I have six of these bags now, and after one failed and ruined a cheap phone (while foolishly stuffed in my PFD while playing in surf), I've been leak-testing them by filling with water. My first aid supplies have never gotten wet, but the bag they are in doesn't hold water without leaking from numerous pinholes in the fabric and seams. So I guess I'm looking for at least two grades of small dry bags: 1. Absolutely waterproof to keep first aid/fire starters and electronics bone dry no matter what. 2. Waterproof enough to keep clothes and camping gear dry enough to be usable throughout a trip. p.s. On the subject of stoves, what salt-water protection does a Jetboil need? Nothing?

I'll remember never to borrow a spare dry bag from you, Suz! Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'd been leaning towards the SealLine Storm dry bags, so I'm glad those get positive reviews. I hadn't come across Sea To Summit "Big River" bags in my research. I think I'll get one of each now and try to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses in the off-season. I've got a pair of SealLine Taper Dry Bags that fit nicely around my skeg box. No complaints with those, although I bought them before I learned the "smaller is better" approach to packing for kayak camping. I keep them filled with the air pillows that Amazon and other online retailers use for shipping, and keep them in my unused hatches on surf and rough-water paddles. That way, if someone blows a hatch cover, I've got 90L of flotation nearby.