Ladies Camping Trip

[Katherine]

Trip Report ~ Katherine and Janice's Most Excellent Adventure (aka The Ladies Camping Trip)

Eight ladies were eagerly awaiting our camping trip to Warren Island, Maine. One bowed out a week before due to a family emergency. The Monday before the trip concerns arose with the weather predictions and it began to feel like a repeat of the Memorial Day Jewell Trip. All ladies were encouraged to make their decision to participate or not based on their comfort level and skill ability. The forecast changed frequently bouncing between seas of < 1 and 20 knot winds and 20 knot winds with 6 seas. By Friday 2 had bowed out, 2 others decided to make separate plans, one was on the fence and Janice and Katherine had agreed to continue to watch the weather carefully, pack a civilian bag in case of a motel stay and attempt the trip if the forecast made it possible. Extra safety gear was borrowed including tow belt,radio and a massive fog horn.

Late Friday night the seas were predicted to be 1or less with the wind @ 10 knots. Saturday morning the forecast remained the same. Janice was at Katherines @ 5:00 and after a protein smoothie and loading Katherines boat, the two white Avocets LV and their owners began the adventure.

Along the way the forecast was watched and remained consistent while we munched on homemade maple scones. As we approached the ferry we made the decision to board the ferry and forgo a weekend in a Belfast motel. Although there was rain during the ferry ride it magically stopped as we drove off the ferry. We unloaded, packed (with all of our gear and enough food for 7 people for two days or two people for N days),and made the 1/4 mile trip to our site on Warren Island on calm seas with great visibility.

Camp was set up including a beautifully rigged tarp over the picnic table and we had lunch while a light drizzle bounced off of our tarp. After lunch, the drizzle moved away and we meandered around the island, flirted with sailors and collected water. The fog had lightly rolled in and we decided to stay put and watch a pair of loons fish right off our campsite. We transitioned to appetizers, brie and crackers followed by homemade soup followed by dessert. The sky brightened and we took an evening paddle around Warren Island and the nearby neighborhood. We returned to camp, had some wine and decided to not go have Tequila with the sailors and went to bed.

Sunday we were awakened very early (4:30ish) by a very loud fog horn as a very large boat made its way somewhere. We rolled out of our tents around 5:30 and had a breakfast of homemade wild blueberry scones made with almond flour and honey and gourmet coffee mixed with hot chocolate. We watched the fog lift, the sun arrive and left camp at 8:00 with snacks and a thermos of more coffee and hot chocolate. We had carefully selected our route based on tides, wind and general weather predictions.

We paddled around the northern tip of Warren Island, crossed over to Seven Hundred Acre Island and meandered down its far shore, assessing the weather and seas at each change in direction. We stopped for a break and had some custom designed snack-packs along with the thermos of coffee. After our break we were in awe when we sighted a mature Bald Eagle perched high atop a pine tree. We made our way up the east coast of 700 Hundred Acre Island and stopped to play in Cradle Cove. We crossed over to eastern side of Spruce Island and crossed over to Islesboro to have lunch (heirloom tomatoes with goat cheese, fresh basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar). While we were having lunch we consulted the weather and our charts and planned an afternoon adventure of paddling up the western coast of Iselsboro to Seal Harbor. We took a break on the beach there, saw another bald eagle and returned home while watching a bank of fog cover the mainland. We planned our arrival at camp to coincide with high tide to make our landing and securing of the boats extremely easy. While we sat on the rocks enjoying wine, crackers, brie, sliced apples and grapes (and more loons) we reviewed our charts and estimated that we paddled 19 miles although Byron, our friendly ranger, assured us that we had paddled at least that many. Appetizers on the rocks was followed by dinner on the rocks (open-faced tuna salad sandwiches, the tuna salad was made with currants, apples, celery and cilantro and was excellent) and was followed by dessert. We strolled around the island (Hey, who doesnt want to go walking for an hour after paddling all day?) We discovered the sailors had departed and it had rained while we were away. While strolling we made our only seal-sighting but it was worthwhile as we watched her float on her back looking as though she was thoroughly enjoying herself. After deciding that the stars were not going to make a visible appearance we retired.

Monday morning we rose at our customary time and leisurely took down camp and ate breakfast, more scones and peanut butter on bagel slims. The fog had lifted and we decided to paddle a short ways up into Broad Cove to work out the kinks from Sundays paddle. Our ferry ride back to Lincolnville was uneventful and our Maine adventure concluded with lobster rolls.

Interestingly on our way home both of our phones were advising us of the tornado warnings. As we made our way south we encountered rain, heavy a times. Magically the rain stopped 5 minutes from Katherines home. Her boat was unloaded and Janice continued on her way home. Not a single raindrop fell on our fair heads from 5:30 AM Saturday to 6:30 Monday evening. We were blessed. This trip report was written with the same spirit as the trip ~ collaboratively!

PS: I will attempt to post pictures tomorrow.

[prudenceb]

Wow! Great trip and really nice report. As one of those who bowed out due to weather concerns, I thought of you all wknd and monitored the weather, thinking that after all of course I should have gone! But as it turned out, a productive wknd at home - selling my Avocet among other things, which has been a priority as I downsize my fleet.

As I said before, maybe we should think of Ladies Camping Trip II sometime in the fall!

pru

[gyork]

Very nice report Katherine (I'm hungry!). Smart to ride the ferry over and spend the weekend in a safe location, allowing for numerous paddling opportunities, all the while keeping one eye on the weather. Good to commit to the trip, even though original numbers dwindled to just 2 of you. Looking forward to pix!

[Katherine]

Sigh.... I transferred my pics from my camera to my tablet, but can't figure out how to transfer pics from tablet to here. Pics from my phone are on FaceBook. Now to figure out how to get pics from phone to tablet... and then, of course, tablet to NSPN.

Pru, sounds like fun! Let me know if you decide to post and plan

[prudenceb]

I still would like to see Warren Island and Isleboro, so maybe as the summer progresses, I'll see about coming up with a weekend in September - assuming that there is a free one (seems there's a lot on the nspn calendar this year!) - and then see if there might be any takers.

pru

[jwhipple]

TRIP REPORT -- POD B

Katherine and others carefully laid plans for this trip, which was very much appreciated by us paddlers. But Mother Nature's lack of sympathy for these plans led to anxious forecast-watching and considering of options as Saturday approached. With the forecast persistently including possible thunderstorms throughout the weekend, three of us decided we'd be more comfortable forgoing Warren and staying instead at Camden Hills State Park on the mainland, which would offer a variety of day paddles (or alternative entertainments) according to the conditions we found.

So Liz, Florrie and I headed up to Maine late Saturday morning, set up camp (including Liz's amazing featherweight tarp) at Camden Hills, then did some exploring on foot down in Lincolnville before returning for dinner. Yum! Salmon for appetizer, then tortellini, salad and fresh veggies, washed down by Lincolnville's finest sirah, followed by strawberry shortcake with whipped cream! We also discovered a new way of getting damp wood to burn in a campfire.

Sunday, after fortifying ourselves with breakfast (including leftover shortcake), we settled on the Friendship/lower St. George River area for the day's paddle, putting in between the two; there's a ramp at the end of Bradford Point Road off Route 97, just before Friendship Harbor, which was recommended to us by a local guide, and gave us a variety of options depending on conditions. Conditions turned out to be foggy but relatively calm, so we set out around Garrison, then around the north tip of Friendship Long Island. Fog flirted with us all day, moving in and out, so we kept land in our sights and there was much consulting of charts, compasses and buoys to stay on course. And this being Sunday, the Friendship lobster fleet was quiet, so we had very little company on the water. We elected to paddle down the west coast of Friendship Long Island, where we encountered an increase in wind and waves, with the long southwest fetch, but not enough to be challenging. We briefly considered following the chain of islands down as far as Black for lunch, but decided against it after encountering increasing fog and conditions as we reached the south end of Friendship Long Island, so we cut across between it and Cranberry, stopping for lunch on Cranberry's northern end. Then we paddled back up the eastern side of Friendship Long Island and back to Friendship Harbor. Passing by our put-in (which had meantime transformed from a clam flat to a tiny beach), we explored up in the lower St. George River a ways before returning to our starting point.

Another good dinner, featuring local crab cakes, clams and haddock, with salad and veggies, and seasoned with some amazing balsamic vinegars from Fiore's in Rockland. Late Sunday night Florrie headed back home, taking advantage of light traffic at that hour.

On Monday, with the forecast now calling for possible thunderstorms later in the day, Liz and I opted for a half-day paddle out of Tenants Harbor. Again the conditions were relatively calm but fog flirted with us; the outer sides of the several islands outside Tenants Harbor were invisible, so we stayed on the inside, exploring these islands and stopping for lunch on Clark. After which we paddled up Long Cove as far as low tide would allow (which was pretty far), finding mudflats, blue herons, and an entirely different environment from out in the harbor. Finally we retraced our steps, returning to the put-in ramp at Tenants Harbor. As we loaded boats, it began to sprinkle, and it rained much of the way home. Except for a few drops on Saturday, this was the only precipitation we experienced all weekend, and not a single thunderstorm. We may owe it to Liz's magic umbrella, which has a reputation for preventing the wet stuff during paddles.

In sum, Pod B also had an excellent weekend. It just goes to show, once again, that forecasts need to be respected, but can't be trusted. Our two pods of paddlers both made prudent choices, and a good time was had by all. Just not all together!

Edited July 5, 2013 by jwhipple

[eneumeier]

The wet wood was immune to being coated with fuel. However, soaking a roll of tp in fuel made for an effective fire starter. :-)) Liz

[Katherine]

Nice trip report, Pod B. Although it made me homesick... I lived in T Harbor...