brambor Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 First the maps and pictures. Words later. Paddle to Bangs Paddle From Bangs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Perfect weather, great company and a great campsite combined for a wonderful weekend on Bangs Island. I launched from Falmouth Foreside in the morning and headed towards Litte Chebeague island. On the crossing I encountered a lively fetch that made the crossing more interesting. From Little Chebeague to the point of Big Chebeague the conditions were benign. From then on the paddle to Bangs was against a headwind. I first landed at the middle campsite where I had a muffin and good thermos of coffee. Then I paddled to the Northern Site where I was to meetup with the rest of the group later. Upon landing I checked my trip odometer and mistakenly thought I paddled 12 miles (later at home I realized the odometer was in Kilometers). The total trip was 7.1 miles. I spent the rest of the time collecting wood and examining the condition of the island for a cleanup. Rob, Spider and Marilyn arrived about 3 hours later. After a short settling down we all grabbed a trash bag and proceeded to hike the island in search of garbage, flotsam or jetsam. We managed to fill several trash bags, had a decent time hiking the rocks around the perimeter of the island. Rest of the evening was spend cooking, comparing gear and sitting around a campfire which we built below the high tide mark. The night was unseasonably cold. I woke up around 5am and then slept until about 8am. After breakfast we packed our gear and waited for another paddler to join us at 10am and accompany us to Cousins island. The return trip was aided by favorable wind and following seas. Nice meeting Rob, Marilyn and Spider. Hopefully we'll camp again this season. Thanks for the good times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hazard Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Great Pix, Rene! Thanks for posting them so soon! It was a lovely weekend and I enjoyed paddling and hanging out with you all! Now we'll have to go back and clean up the south end!Cheers,Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Yes indeed the gods were smiling on us , two days of excellent weather and fine company to enjoy it with. After such a soggy start to spring these,, sunny days are like a burst of spring and summer all rolled into one. The island was full of life, birds bustling about, flowers in bloom, beach pea, cow parsnip... bees a buzzing.Nice pictures Rene and nice video as well...had we known we could've perhaps tried saying intelligent things... but lost in the moment of a wonderful evening, fireside at the Chatterbox Cafe..fire out compliments of Curfew de Mer...Seals splishing and splashing in the morning light.. Very nice !Thanks Rob for putting the "clean up" together. The clean up went well, mostly styrofoam and plastic.Nice paddling with all !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hazard Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 A few details about what we found on Bangs:Since our crew of stalwart stewards totaled 4, we chose to focus our efforts on the northern half of the island. We'll get back out and hit the southern half later this summer.The island seemed cleaner in general than we have found it on past visits. There was, however, quite a bit of large driftwood lumber, mostly too large for us to handle safely or collect on a single visit. The flotsam tends to collect on the western side, facing Chebeague Island. So we concentrated on plastic trash, leaving behind anything that resembled fishing gear, lest we incur the wrath of the local lobstermen. We managed to fill 4 large bags.Hey, remember those little plastic discs that escaped from the sewage treatment plant in Hooksett, NH? Well, at least one of them found its way to Bangs Island! The island is teeming with Warblers this spring. We watched several Yellow Warblers working over the exposed seaweed in search of tasty creepy-crawlies. I never knew they did that. We also learned that Laughing Gulls are loud and rather shameless when it comes to lovemaking. A totally tasteless display! Being a day paddler by habit, I have much to learn about kayak camping, but I got some good pointers from Spider and Marilyn. Thanks!All in all, it was a memorable weekend.Cheers,Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the first hand pic & video look into your nice trip. You certainly captured the mood.I would love to try kayak camping one day. It appears as though I am missing out on some great adventures.I'd love to join you some day. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 I have a family of 4 = plenty of gear. If there is an upcoming overnighter where we both go and if you are in any need to gear then I would gladly help out. Thanks for the first hand pic & video look into your nice trip. You certainly captured the mood. I would love to try kayak camping one day. It appears as though I am missing out on some great adventures. I'd love to join you some day. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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