Casco Bay 7/18

[bazzert]

A nice day out on casco bay. Thanks to Rob for setting it up and to the great company (Florrie, Peter, Doug, Bob, Glen & Frenchie).

It was a classic Maine day; what started out as merely overcast became socked in fog by the time we hit Crows. After some vigorous trail clearing we headed over to Bangs. Visibility was about 50 feet, but the chart and compass based navigation performed by the masters was impressive.

I always thought it was a joke that the lobstermen referred to us kayakers as speed bumps but as a lobster boat loomed out of the fog we heard over vhf "ay-uh... you have about 6 speed bumps crossing your way".

On Bangs we were supposed to dismantle a stone wall that was built by a visitor; but the workmanship was so impressive we couldnt bring ourselves to do it. Instead we took goofy pictures and MITA will have to recruit some locals to do their dirty work. Speaking of which, there was impressively little trash on either island. Despite being in a mostly enclosed bay the islands are really pristine.

After lunch we headed south around Hope island, by which time the fog had burned off and the sun came out. We crossed to Great Cheabeague and portaged accross the bar rather than paddle around Little Cheabeague, before the crossing back to Cousins and the put in.

15.5 statute miles, ~75% @ 4+MPH.

[bazzert]

Pictures in the gallery.

[Rob Hazard]

Thanks for posting the report and pix, Barry! Now you just need to photoshop yourself in next to Glen so we have the whole group in one shot!

Thanks, too, to everyone who came along and helped with the brush clearing on Crow. We made some big progress there! It was a lovely day on the water. Maybe we can do it again before summer's over?

Cheers,

Rob

[beckt]

Thanks to all for not dismantling the great wall of bangs. I was there the day before the trip with some fellow NSPNers and we were very impressed with the fine construction. I hope it is left to stand!

[glenster]

Thanks to all for not dismantling the great wall of bangs. I was there the day before the trip with some fellow NSPNers and we were very impressed with the fine construction. I hope it is left to stand!

Thanks to Rob, Peter, and all for a great day in the fog and sunshine, a real condition situation paddle all around, it was a "learnig moment" the entire time. The path and house are clear of overgrowth for the time... but the WALL remains!! Long stand the WALL!! Excellent pix by Barry.Thanks

g.

[PeterB]

I enjoyed paddling with this group. Thanks , Mr.Hazard, for initiating this trip, which seemed like a more or less perfect application of the common adventure model : a good group, decisions were made and information flowed amongst everyone, a good assessment of conditions as they unfolded . and how they matched up with group resources .

Dismantling that wall on Bangs Island seemed more like an act of desecration than preservation, so we let it be. Also, we felt that if that task fell upon a group from Massachusetts it would sully the otherwise sterling reputation that is enjoyed by our state in these parts . : Right y’all?

When we landed on Crow, an impressive array of gardening implements disgorged from hatches; loppers, shears, scythes, clippers, hatchets. We cleaned up Crows in less than an hour. This was a well-prepared crew.

Near the end of our trip, passing the power plant and heading north along the channel between the mainland and Cousins Island, about a quarter of mile south of the bridge, the water temperature changed from warm to cold in a stretch of a hundred yards or less. My dime store hydrodynamic theory for this dramatic phenomenon : the water flooding from the south had spent some time in the shallow areas of the large bay between Cousins/ Chebeague and the mainland , and had been heated by the sun, where the water flooding from the north flowed in from deeper Casco Bay ; this was where the flood tides from two directions met.