Bangs and Crow Islands in Casco Bay

[scamlin]

Due to the NWS forecasts of high swells from the SE, we cancelled the Level 2 camping trip to the Maine Island Trail sites at Cape Porpoise (Kennebunkport, ME). It seemed a shame to pass up a summer weekend, especially since the forecasts promised a break from the relentless rain—on Friday Portland got 3.25 inches.

So we switched to a day trip to Crow and Bangs Islands in Casco Bay both owned by the State of Maine but managed by the Maine Island Trail Association (www.mita.org) and supported by membership dues. The club became Island Adoptors of these two islands when it arranged its affiliation with the Maine Island Trail. Island Adopters agree to provide stewardship for one or more islands to support MITA's volunteer model. The plan is for club members to visit these islands once or twice a month to pick up trash and keep an eye on things.

Saturday dawned sunny, promising to be a pleasant day. It clouded over on the way up to Portland but it was warm, almost muggy when we arrived. We put in on Cousins Island at Sandy Point at the end of the bridge from Yarmouth. It's a great place to launch trips: easy overnight parking, a sandy all tide beach with easy access to most of Casco Bay. It even has a Porta Potty! Only slight drawback is a 100 yd. carry down a path to the beach. The main dilemma was whether to wear drysuits or short sleeved tops over a wetsuit. Three chose drysuits and reported sauna conditions within. Two went bare-armed and had a cooler time of it, but may have paid in other ways (see below). We were fortunate to be joined by Eliza Ginn, MITA’s Marketing and Membership Manager who had cancelled her own weekend of paddling due to conditions.

After the Friday low blew out to sea, the seas were calm and almost windless, sort of like paddling across Walden Pond in August. We skirted the north shores of Cousins and Chebeague Islands, expecting meet some swell when we rounded the north point of the latter. The NWS had predicted 4-5 foot swells every 7 seconds from the SE—enough for small craft warnings Saturday morning. We paid attention since Chebeague is at the head of Broad Sound which runs NW-SE. But not a ripple: we didn't see swells all day. At least the ebb gave us a little boost as we eased down the shore to Crow Is., which is just off Chebeague Island's east side.

Crow is listed as a heavily-used island. The north cove has two nice beaches with a large campsite above the north beach in the grass under the trees. The prospect to the north from the elevated campsite is classic Maine coast, rocky shoals in the foreground with islands dotting the horizon. Several paths through the brush lead to an old cabin mid-island that has a fine view to the south from the porch. The cabin is pretty run down: glass is gone from the windows and they are covered by wooden shutters. Inside was old and dark, but clean and dry as the roof is kept in decent repair. Brush has grown up to the walls of the cabin though there is a patch of sweet fern next to the house.

We walked the rocks and beach around the perimeter of the island with trash bags. Crow was quite clean and we only collected a couple half bags worth. MITA studies indicate that some 90% of trash on Maine islands (at least the ones on the Trail) are from debris washed up on shore--not from visitors.

We did discover dozens of browntail moth caterpillars munching on the bushes near the beaches. MITA report these moths can cause a rash or respiratory problems in some people. I guess I'm a guinnea pig: by Sunday, I had poison ivy like rashes on my ankles and forearms, both of which were exposed while wandering around the island. Also, a bit of a sore throat but who knows. We noticed the big oak trees above the beach and campsite were entirely bare. Some trees leaf out rather late in Casco Bay since it doesn't really warm up until later in June, but we did wonder if the caterpillars were stripping them like gypsy moths.

We paddled the short distance over to Bangs and the western shore just south of the narrow waist at mid-island. The pool at the waist was rapidly emptying and promised to be dry by the time we'd want to depart, so we landed on a steeper, beach just to the south. We found a MITA campsite at the bottom of an enormous field of sweet fern which blanketed the slope above--a lovely expanse of light green with sumac poking up here and there. With the rains the day before, however, the campsites were a under 6" of water in places: the entire hillside was draining and the berm at the top of the beach was damming the flow.

After lunch, we walked the shore to the south a ways until the bluff stopped our progress. We then retraced our steps and crossed over to the east side and patrolled north and south. Again, very little trash: just occasional pieces of old rope and other debris. At low tide, the eastern shore uncovers a lot of rocks under seaweed; the exposed rock above the high tide line is not only easy walking but a fascinating lesson in Casco Bay geology. The characteristic NW-SE fins of upturned sedimentary rock are laced with seams of quarts and other intrusions, creating endless variations. One of our party swore some of the rocks looked like old weathered logs. We found a pocket beach and some flat rocks for a siesta in the sun and a series of "top this" stories, most variations on the Darwin Award.

Back on the west shore, it turned into a lazy afternoon, a second lunch and more stories. A lone seal hauled out on some ledges exposed at low tide and lazed along with us. So much for a circumnavigation of Bangs or indeed nearby Whaleboat Island. On the trip back, we did notice some breaking surf in the distance on the north end of Cliff Is. and Eagle Is. So perhaps the swells did appear: they just didn't find their way into inner Casco Bay.

The trip home involved more leisurely paddling aided by the building flood tide. To the south, we noticed a bank of sea fog roll in and obliterate downtown Portland. And another bank covered the islands to the north. We, on the other hand, paddled in between under that soft light that sifts onto happy paddlers as the sky is hazing over. This blessed canopy lasted almost to the takeout. As we finished hauling the boats up to the parking lot and changed out of our wet gear, the fog finally started to close in around Sandy Point and the bridge back to the mainland.

[djlewis]

Due to the NWS forecasts of high swells from the SE, we cancelled the Level 2 camping trip to the Maine Island Trail sites at Cape Porpoise (Kennebunkport, ME). It seemed a shame to pass up a summer weekend, especially since the forecasts promised a break from the relentless rain—on Friday Portland got 3.25 inches.

So we switched to a day trip to Crow and Bangs Islands in Casco Bay both owned by the State of Maine but managed by the Maine Island Trail Association (www.mita.org) and supported by membership dues.

...

The NWS had predicted 4-5 foot swells every 7 seconds from the SE—enough for small craft warnings Saturday morning. We paid attention since Chebeague is at the head of Broad Sound which runs NW-SE. But not a ripple: we didn't see swells all day.

Thanks for a lovely report, Scott!

And now my usual hobby horse -- predicting swell. You got flat when NOAA said 4-5'. But the NOAA forecast is out 25 miles, and you were in among the Islands.

There are lots of ways to do it, but the important thing is to account for swell direction and shadowing landforms. In this case, a SW to W swell around Bangs and Crow would be almost entirely shadowed by Cape Elizabeth and the Casco Islands to the SW of Bangs. S swell would be shadowed by Cliff and others. I believe the prevailing winds in the area are from the SW this time of year, so too probably is the typical swell direction.

But thanks to our super high-tech world, there's a direct way to get a pretty accurate swell prediction that takes all that into account. Look at...

http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/wfo/secto...ineDay.php#tabs

Well, the resolution on that isn't very good on this map, but I think you can figure out where Chebeague and hence Bangs and Crow are. Right now, it looks like 7-8' swell outside will translate into 4-5' W of Chebeague. And WetSand.com says the current swell is 6-8 from straight E, which I think can partially get through to that area. If it were S or SW swell, the drop from NOAA's 25 miles-out forecast would be even greater. So I'm not surprised you got flat conditions despite the forecast.

When I get my iPhone, this will be one site I personally bookmark! Of course, there may not be an AT&T signal on the beach, but there should be one somewhere in the area.

[EEL]

Due to the NWS forecasts of high swells from the SE, we cancelled the Level 2 camping trip to the Maine Island Trail sites at Cape Porpoise (Kennebunkport, ME). It seemed a shame to pass up a summer weekend, especially since the forecasts promised a break from the relentless rain—on Friday Portland got 3.25 inches.

So we switched to a day trip to Crow and Bangs Islands in Casco Bay both owned by the State of Maine but managed by the Maine Island Trail Association (www.mita.org) and supported by membership dues. The club became Island Adoptors of these two islands when it arranged its affiliation with the Maine Island Trail. Island Adopters agree to provide stewardship for one or more islands to support MITA's volunteer model. The plan is for club members to visit these islands once or twice a month to pick up trash and keep an eye on things.

Saturday dawned sunny, promising to be a pleasant day. It clouded over on the way up to Portland but it was warm, almost muggy when we arrived. We put in on Cousins Island at Sandy Point at the end of the bridge from Yarmouth. It's a great place to launch trips: easy overnight parking, a sandy all tide beach with easy access to most of Casco Bay. It even has a Porta Potty! Only slight drawback is a 100 yd. carry down a path to the beach. The main dilemma was whether to wear drysuits or short sleeved tops over a wetsuit. Three chose drysuits and reported sauna conditions within. Two went bare-armed and had a cooler time of it, but may have paid in other ways (see below). We were fortunate to be joined by Eliza Ginn, MITA’s Marketing and Membership Manager who had cancelled her own weekend of paddling due to conditions.

After the Friday low blew out to sea, the seas were calm and almost windless, sort of like paddling across Walden Pond in August. We skirted the north shores of Cousins and Chebeague Islands, expecting meet some swell when we rounded the north point of the latter. The NWS had predicted 4-5 foot swells every 7 seconds from the SE—enough for small craft warnings Saturday morning. We paid attention since Chebeague is at the head of Broad Sound which runs NW-SE. But not a ripple: we didn't see swells all day. At least the ebb gave us a little boost as we eased down the shore to Crow Is., which is just off Chebeague Island's east side.

Crow is listed as a heavily-used island. The north cove has two nice beaches with a large campsite above the north beach in the grass under the trees. The prospect to the north from the elevated campsite is classic Maine coast, rocky shoals in the foreground with islands dotting the horizon. Several paths through the brush lead to an old cabin mid-island that has a fine view to the south from the porch. The cabin is pretty run down: glass is gone from the windows and they are covered by wooden shutters. Inside was old and dark, but clean and dry as the roof is kept in decent repair. Brush has grown up to the walls of the cabin though there is a patch of sweet fern next to the house.

We walked the rocks and beach around the perimeter of the island with trash bags. Crow was quite clean and we only collected a couple half bags worth. MITA studies indicate that some 90% of trash on Maine islands (at least the ones on the Trail) are from debris washed up on shore--not from visitors.

We did discover dozens of browntail moth caterpillars munching on the bushes near the beaches. MITA report these moths can cause a rash or respiratory problems in some people. I guess I'm a guinnea pig: by Sunday, I had poison ivy like rashes on my ankles and forearms, both of which were exposed while wandering around the island. Also, a bit of a sore throat but who knows. We noticed the big oak trees above the beach and campsite were entirely bare. Some trees leaf out rather late in Casco Bay since it doesn't really warm up until later in June, but we did wonder if the caterpillars were stripping them like gypsy moths.

We paddled the short distance over to Bangs and the western shore just south of the narrow waist at mid-island. The pool at the waist was rapidly emptying and promised to be dry by the time we'd want to depart, so we landed on a steeper, beach just to the south. We found a MITA campsite at the bottom of an enormous field of sweet fern which blanketed the slope above--a lovely expanse of light green with sumac poking up here and there. With the rains the day before, however, the campsites were a under 6" of water in places: the entire hillside was draining and the berm at the top of the beach was damming the flow.

After lunch, we walked the shore to the south a ways until the bluff stopped our progress. We then retraced our steps and crossed over to the east side and patrolled north and south. Again, very little trash: just occasional pieces of old rope and other debris. At low tide, the eastern shore uncovers a lot of rocks under seaweed; the exposed rock above the high tide line is not only easy walking but a fascinating lesson in Casco Bay geology. The characteristic NW-SE fins of upturned sedimentary rock are laced with seams of quarts and other intrusions, creating endless variations. One of our party swore some of the rocks looked like old weathered logs. We found a pocket beach and some flat rocks for a siesta in the sun and a series of "top this" stories, most variations on the Darwin Award.

Back on the west shore, it turned into a lazy afternoon, a second lunch and more stories. A lone seal hauled out on some ledges exposed at low tide and lazed along with us. So much for a circumnavigation of Bangs or indeed nearby Whaleboat Island. On the trip back, we did notice some breaking surf in the distance on the north end of Cliff Is. and Eagle Is. So perhaps the swells did appear: they just didn't find their way into inner Casco Bay.

The trip home involved more leisurely paddling aided by the building flood tide. To the south, we noticed a bank of sea fog roll in and obliterate downtown Portland. And another bank covered the islands to the north. We, on the other hand, paddled in between under that soft light that sifts onto happy paddlers as the sky is hazing over. This blessed canopy lasted almost to the takeout. As we finished hauling the boats up to the parking lot and changed out of our wet gear, the fog finally started to close in around Sandy Point and the bridge back to the mainland.

[Rob Hazard]

Good report, Scott!

And thanks for the swell analysis, David! We were all sort of curious why with all the reports of activity offshore, we were paddling over such a glassy surface.

Also along on the trip were Peter "Da Prez" Brady, Chris Mabon, and myself. While the rest of the team were exploring the southeast corner of Bang's Island, I got out of my sweltering drysuit and had a snooze on the rocks. A couple paddlers wielding Greenland sticks passed by, then turned and crossed over to Crow Island and disappeared from view. We later discovered they were Ed and Gail Lawson, who welcomed us ashore when we returned to the launch.

I was glad to have the chance to check out "our" two islands, and am now beginning to sketch out ideas for an overnight paddle there next month. Weekend of July 18 - 19.

A fine day on the water!

Rob

[ChrisM]

Great writeup Scott. You captured the day perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of trash on the islands.

Here's some pics of the day: here

[EEL]

Trying again....

A few hints cleaned from a few trips to the area about predicting sea state around Bangs area which may be useful since it seems more NSPN folks will be exploring this summer.

Even if there are large swells, the area around Bangs normally will be quiet. On Sat the Portland buoy was reporting a @4' swell all day. Being on the east side of Jewell would have been a very different place than Bangs. For that matter, I suspect the Punchbowl would have provided some fun Sat. If you draw a line from Jewell to Bailey that is the basic demarcation line where the swell stats to mellow out. By the time you get to Bangs area, it will have diminished greatly.

While swells are essentially never an issue there, wind waves can build in some areas quickly.

A southerly wind will funnel up the islands and develop ugly, short, steep breaking wind waves. As will a wind from the north. Sea breeze sounds nice, but you may think otherwise some summer day around Bangs. You can go from flat water to whitecaps in the time it takes to have a quick lunch.

While the currents are mild, they can make for some rough going depending upon the wind and given the fact the currents flow down and up the long side of the islands, there are many eddies.

Not the abrupt ones you see around Popham, but enough to make things easier or harder.

Good place to visit to get a feel for upper Casco Bay without actually getting too far from "home" so to speak.

Ed Lawson

[PeterB]

Trying again....

A few hints cleaned from a few trips to the area about predicting sea state around Bangs area which may be useful since it seems more NSPN folks will be exploring this summer.

Even if there are large swells, the area around Bangs normally will be quiet. On Sat the Portland buoy was reporting a @4' swell all day. Being on the east side of Jewell would have been a very different place than Bangs. For that matter, I suspect the Punchbowl would have provided some fun Sat. If you draw a line from Jewell to Bailey that is the basic demarcation line where the swell stats to mellow out. By the time you get to Bangs area, it will have diminished greatly.

While swells are essentially never an issue there, wind waves can build in some areas quickly.

A southerly wind will funnel up the islands and develop ugly, short, steep breaking wind waves. As will a wind from the north. Sea breeze sounds nice, but you may think otherwise some summer day around Bangs. You can go from flat water to whitecaps in the time it takes to have a quick lunch.

While the currents are mild, they can make for some rough going depending upon the wind and given the fact the currents flow down and up the long side of the islands, there are many eddies.

Not the abrupt ones you see around Popham, but enough to make things easier or harder.

Good place to visit to get a feel for upper Casco Bay without actually getting too far from "home" so to speak.

Ed Lawson

To summarize Ed's comments put another way:

This is a nice reliable level 3 trip on most days . On some days, such as Saturday, it is level 2, but we didn't know that till we were paddling.

A crystal ball would be a valuable kayaking tool. So far, though, too many quality control issues.

I had paddled to Bangs about month ago, against wind and tide, and this time(no wind, push from the tides both ways: this was a well-planned trip) we got to Bangs in a fraction of the time, making me realize what an arduous trip that first one was!

I've now seen all three campsites on Bangs, and would recommend the one at the northern end of the island.

Great photos, Chris. I paddle without a camera and had been thinking that Bangs was a great place for a photographer with an artist's eye. Fine compositions.

[Kevin B (RPS Coach)]

Great writeup Scott. You captured the day perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of trash on the islands.

Here's some pics of the day: here

Hey Scott/Chris,

Nice report and pics...wish we could have joined you!

[EEL]

I had paddled to Bangs about month ago, against wind and tide, and this time(no wind, push from the tides both ways: this was a well-planned trip) we got to Bangs in a fraction of the time, making me realize what an arduous trip that first one was!

Just a quick comment...as Peter indicates, just because the tide current seems to be no big deal in places like that under discussion, it may still have a substantial impact on how easy/hard and long/short a journey might be. Good idea to think about it. Often that means looking at chart for hints in conjunction with tide tables.

I think the Sat. was about as benign as it gets in that area so thank you Peter for putting reports and my comments in perspective. I should add that having a nice day or a trying day on Casco Bay, as often the case, is more about seamanship in terms of planning, judging weather, tides, and route selection than it is about technical paddling skills.

Ed Lawson

[scamlin]

Thanks for a lovely report, Scott!

And now my usual hobby horse -- predicting swell. You got flat when NOAA said 4-5'. But the NOAA forecast is out 25 miles, and you were in among the Islands.

There are lots of ways to do it, but the important thing is to account for swell direction and shadowing landforms. In this case, a SW to W swell around Bangs and Crow would be almost entirely shadowed by Cape Elizabeth and the Casco Islands to the SW of Bangs. S swell would be shadowed by Cliff and others. I believe the prevailing winds in the area are from the SW this time of year, so too probably is the typical swell direction.

But thanks to our super high-tech world, there's a direct way to get a pretty accurate swell prediction that takes all that into account. Look at...

http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/wfo/secto...ineDay.php#tabs

Well, the resolution on that isn't very good on this map, but I think you can figure out where Chebeague and hence Bangs and Crow are. Right now, it looks like 7-8' swell outside will translate into 4-5' W of Chebeague. And WetSand.com says the current swell is 6-8 from straight E, which I think can partially get through to that area. If it were S or SW swell, the drop from NOAA's 25 miles-out forecast would be even greater. So I'm not surprised you got flat conditions despite the forecast.

When I get my iPhone, this will be one site I personally bookmark! Of course, there may not be an AT&T signal on the beach, but there should be one somewhere in the area.

David:

Thanks for the input and the link. Not sure if your SW swell scenario was an example or an analysis of last Saturday. If I read the forecasts correctly, the predictions were for swells from the SE. Looking at the chart, Broad Sound--which opens to the ocean--lies along this axis. So eyeballing it, I expected some swells would travel up past Eagle and Cliff islands to reach up into the Chebeague area. I'd seen some serious swells come through Whitehead Passage (between Peaks and Cushing) and through Hussy Sound (north of Peaks), so it seemed to make sense.

In rechecking the chart, Eagle Is. pretty much blocks the mouth of the sound: at best, there is a quarter mile shot up the sound for an intrepid swell which would have to travel 3.5 NM to reach an area off the northern tip of Chebeague. Apparently too much to expect. Also, the sound is almost due north magnetic or about 340 degrees true. So Broad Sound is closer to a NNW-SSE orientation. Guess that's why the northern points on Cliff Is. were taking the hits, not us.

As for the current, the NOAA station for Broad Sound is off Eagle Is. At that location, it was predicted for a peak of 1.3 KTS on the ebb. Not a raging torrent, but with a headwind, it adds up to a slog like the one Peter describes.

Scott

[scamlin]

Here's another surf forecasting site, slick interface, very well done.

http://www.swellinfo.com/surf-forecast/glo...sachusetts.html

Scott

[djlewis]

David:

Thanks for the input and the link. Not sure if your SW swell scenario was an example or an analysis of last Saturday. If I read the forecasts correctly, the predictions were for swells from the SE. Looking at the chart, Broad Sound--which opens to the ocean--lies along this axis. So eyeballing it, I expected some swells would travel up past Eagle and Cliff islands to reach up into the Chebeague area. I'd seen some serious swells come through Whitehead Passage (between Peaks and Cushing) and through Hussy Sound (north of Peaks), so it seemed to make sense.

In rechecking the chart, Eagle Is. pretty much blocks the mouth of the sound: at best, there is a quarter mile shot up the sound for an intrepid swell which would have to travel 3.5 NM to reach an area off the northern tip of Chebeague. Apparently too much to expect. Also, the sound is almost due north magnetic or about 340 degrees true. So Broad Sound is closer to a NNW-SSE orientation. Guess that's why the northern points on Cliff Is. were taking the hits, not us.

As for the current, the NOAA station for Broad Sound is off Eagle Is. At that location, it was predicted for a peak of 1.3 KTS on the ebb. Not a raging torrent, but with a headwind, it adds up to a slog like the one Peter describes.

Scott

It was just an example. I don't think any of the swell sites (and thanks for the new one) can show prior forecasts, or better yet, actuals, the way buoys can.

Your analysis makes sense -- looks to me like SE swell would be pretty much blocked from Bangs, but swell more to the S might sneak through, the way Ed analyzes. In any case, Ed's good local knowledge from experience is obviously the best data to combine with general swell and wind forecast to predict local conditions.

My main point was to keep hitting the theme that the general NOAA 25-mile-out forecast is not nearly enough data by itself -- it needs to be combined with swell direction, which NOAA does not forecast, and landforms to get local swell predictions. How many times have you seen paddles canceled because of, say, 5-6' swell forecasts or even 3-5', when in fact, it's going to be a lot less than that in the planned paddling area, perhaps even flat. The most common example of that is S or SW swell totally shadowed by the Cape Cod and/or Cape Ann. And, in the other direction, you've got to add wind to the equation, not only for its direct effect on paddling, but also for kicking up chop and wind waves.

I know you know all that, but your remark on the flat conditions off Bangs was a good "teachable moment" for another tutorial on the subject. But maybe I've made the point enough times, and folks are now saying, oh no, there goes David again on swell forecasting. I just hate to see paddles canceled for big swell when they would be fine. Course, some folks like the big swell and all that comes with it.

--David.