flipe8 Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Being that I've got a summer place on Deer Island, New Brunswick, I often look across the Old Sow and wonder about paddling in and around Eastport. From doing a bit of net research, I noticed there's a set of tidal rapids fairly close to Eastport. Have any of you paddled it in particular and what are your impressions of the area in general? I am looking for some different play spots I could hit and be back to Deer Island within a few hours. Thanks very much, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcohn Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Being that I've got a summer place on Deer Island, New Brunswick, I often look across the Old Sow and wonder about paddling in and around Eastport. From doing a bit of net research, I noticed there's a set of tidal rapids fairly close to Eastport. Have any of you paddled it in particular and what are your impressions of the area in general? I am looking for some different play spots I could hit and be back to Deer Island within a few hours. Thanks very much, Pete I've been diving in Eastport, not kayaking, and those currents are extreme. I'm pretty sure a kayaker will not be able to make headway against a full current there, so make sure you gtet good advice before attempting to paddle there. It is there best diving in New England for seeing marine life, but we onlydove at slack tide. Ralph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Being that I've got a summer place on Deer Island, New Brunswick, I often look across the Old Sow and wonder about paddling in and around Eastport. From doing a bit of net research, I noticed there's a set of tidal rapids fairly close to Eastport. Have any of you paddled it in particular and what are your impressions of the area in general? I am looking for some different play spots I could hit and be back to Deer Island within a few hours. Thanks very much, Pete Several years ago I was up there, primarily to go diving, but took my boat. A couple mornings while we were waiting for slack tide for diving, I took the boat out for a short jaunt, staying primarily in close to shore a bit south of the center of town. Typical of most of the Maine coast if you're near shore and/or near slack tide. I'm sure it's a different story when the current is ripping. I know when diving, if you overstay past slack tide by just a few minutes, you have to crawl back on the bottom. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyson Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 From doing a bit of net research, I noticed there's a set of tidal rapids fairly close to Eastport. Have any of you paddled it in particular and what are your impressions of the area in general? I am looking for some different play spots I could hit and be back to Deer Island within a few hours. I'm not sure what I can offer specific to exactly where you are talking about as I've not paddled there, but I have paddled most of Cobscook. My impression is that we read all sorts of dire warnings about death and dismemberment, but what we found was a lot of fun. Go here and search for Cobscook to find the relevant albums. Our experience was that some of the currents were quite strong but in the worst cases we were able to hug the micro-eddies along the shore and make head way. Experience and skill with currents, eddies and a bit of white water was required. However, most of what we paddled would be much more than a few hours paddle from Deer Isle. I'd be happy to try to elaborate more on what we did find if you are interested. Cheers! Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I'm not sure what I can offer specific to exactly where you are talking about as I've not paddled there, but I have paddled most of Cobscook. My impression is that we read all sorts of dire warnings about death and dismemberment, but what we found was a lot of fun. Go here and search for Cobscook to find the relevant albums. Our experience was that some of the currents were quite strong but in the worst cases we were able to hug the micro-eddies along the shore and make head way. Experience and skill with currents, eddies and a bit of white water was required. However, most of what we paddled would be much more than a few hours paddle from Deer Isle. I'd be happy to try to elaborate more on what we did find if you are interested. Cheers! Ty I would suggest getting an eye on things around Eastport before planning on just paddling in the location. You will find a few crux points that you need to get the timming correct or you will not make progress and can get swept into hazards that have consequences. Please don't think that you can depend on micro-eddies to get by as they don't exist near items such as the bridge from Lubec to Campobello Island. On the ebb the water north of the bridge is > 4' above the water south of the bridge. I can't vouch for this book, http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Guide-Maine...t/dp/0918752183 but when your in areas with large currents finding a cruising guide for the area is gennerialy a good idea. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipe8 Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Thanks for the replies, guys. I wasn't able to get over there this weekend, but did find a few good spots to play within a few minutes of my place on Deer island. Winds were up around 20knots with gust higher than that from the North on the flood. I found a spot to play between Pendleton and Mac's Islands where wind and current collided to create waves in the 4-6 ft range(estimate by where I was relative to crests). Some were pretty good, fairly green(if not a bit rough) waves for surfing. Behind, they were much more messy and mixed up. After watching one whale watching boat go through the channel while having to fight pretty hard to get out of the way of another whale watching boat, I decided it wasn't the best place to be alone. I was actually quite surprised at the wave height and speed, as it put me to mind of the smaller channel on the reversing falls in Saint John. Not really the best spot to be alone, but certainly worth going back to with some paddling buddies if similar conditions are present. Also went to one of my regular spots between Hardwood and Hog(I believe), where I played on the ebb working on seal launches off some rockweed-covered rocks and eddy crossings. Even worked on entering the eddy stern first. Looks like I might not make it over to Eastport this season, but will get there. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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