prudenceb

On Saturday morning, I left damp, gray, murky Massachusetts for heavily overcast Maine to meet up with Warren and a friend of his, Dave, for our first overnight of the season - on Muscongus Bay. On the way up, I passed from late spring back into early spring with forsythia blooming and trees just beginning to be covered with a haze of soft green leaves. The week had been rainy and gloomy, and we'd worried that we would be faced with a choice of camping on a cold, wet island or staying home. I chose this time not to pray to the weather gods, reasoning that it was better to leave such invocations for longer and more adventurous trips, when the conditions would really matter. For this trip, we'd planned to visit some islands in the northern part of the bay that we hadn't gotten to last fall, when Warren and I closed out our camping season with a glorious three days over Columbus Day weekend, when the weather was most unseasonably warm. We wouldn’t be far from the mainland at any time, and reasoned that the forecast, which promised at the least gradually improving conditions, would allow us to proceed.

Warren, Dave and I met at Muscongus Harbor. Temperature was in the 40's but there was no rain. We loaded up and were launched by 10 am. We paddled across to Hog Island, rounded the south tip, then paddled up the east side. It wasn't flat calm, but it was pretty darn close. We hugged the shoreline, looking down into the weather and over at the rocky shore. The moss hanging from the trees looked lusher and greener than it had last fall. The thick evergreen woods were very dark and gloomy. Our destination was Crow, where we planned to set up camp. Last fall, we had stopped at Crow just for a visit, and there were a number of other people camping there. This time, there was no one. And indeed, that was the theme for the weekend: We had the entire bay entirely to ourselves, or so it felt.

We landed at Crow and searched out campsites on this open and hospitable island. Because we had it all to ourselves, we spread out across the island. I found a nice spot toward the south end, Warren in the middle, and Dave at the prettiest site right at the north tip, with a view over the rocks out across the water and to the mainland to the left and other islands ahead and to the right. But this was the most exposed site, and if there were north winds, they would blow right into Dave's brand new tent.

We headed out again at around noon, a bit past high tide. We paddled over to Strawberry, the little island that you can't see on a chart, but which Warren and I had found before. I remembered what it looked like, and Warren had the waypoints in his GPS, so between the two of us - my conviction that it was Strawberry and Warren's GPS - we knew we were in the right place and pulled ashore to check out the island's campsite and to have lunch. Sweet spot! Although I suspect that the grassy enclosed little camping area might be bug heaven come summer. We walked along the rocks on the west side until we found a nice spot to sit for lunch. It felt cold, and it was still completely cloudy. Warren's lunch provided proof that a Nutella wrap is not improved by the addition of grape jelly.

We launched into a lowering tide, pushing our boats over seaweed-covered rocks. Our next destination was a private MITA island that we reached by passing south of Bremen Long Island and then heading north again. This island, for which Warren expressed disdain ("You don't even know it's Maine, this could be anywhere, it could be Gloucester!"), but which I rather liked for its numerous large, still bare, trees, featured the fabulous Equilateral Rainbow One Holer, the nicest privy I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

From there, we headed north to Hungry Island, another spot that Warren wanted to check out for camping possibilities. We encountered our first currents, but they were entirely manageable. Warren and Dave disembarked at Hungry while I stayed in my boat to spare my poor aching knees the out-and-in strain. I dangled my feet in the water, and looked at the rocks and shells in the shallow water. Warren and Dave discovered that it was a muddy slog of some distance to get to solid ground, only to find a not particularly nice campsite that had not been worth the effort to find. Warren's pronouncement on Hungry was that he would never go back there again.

We debated going up the Flying Passage against the outgoing tide, but it had been a long day, and we decided it would be nice to be back at camp. So it was southbound again, around the tip of Bremen Long Island. Then the weirdest thing happened: It had been completely cloudy all day. We had seen perhaps three tiny peeks of blue sky all day. There had been no wind to speak of. But as we rounded the end of Bremen Long Island to make a fairly straight shot back to Crow, the sky was suddenly, and rather magically, more blue than not. How did that happen? We had no answer, but blue sky and sunshine were an extra gift.

In fact, the whole day had felt thus far like a blessing. Other than two lobster boats, we saw no other signs of human life all day. We saw lots of seals. Poking their heads up, staring for a bit in what I could only think was alarm and annoyance, they ducked back down again. I imagined that they were thinking, "@#$%$!*, those #$%^%ing kayakers are back again!" They had had the bay all to themselves for months, and now, the invasion of the scary long skinny boats had started up once again.

We, on the other hand, were happy to see them, and to share this still and magical world with loons and various other seabirds that I wish I knew enough to identify accurately.

By the time we got back to Crow, it was near low tide, and our beach was - as we knew it would be - now some distance up a long but not terribly steep or treacherous stretch of seaweedy rocks. Warren and Dave carried the boats up to the camping area. Warren and I, remembering from our WFA training that most kayaking accidents happen on shore, were glad that everyone survived this process without need for using our newfound skills. Open heart surgery, anyone?

We changed out of drysuits into comfortable clothes, and sat on the rocks by Dave's campsite. By now, the sky was almost completely clear. (How did that happen??) We sat in the warmth of the lowering sun, celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a lovely meal of jumbled up courses: appetizers and wine, followed by dessert, followed by a hot meal that we shared from a freeze-dried pouch. Warren had been looking for eagles all day, without success. But as we sat, there one was! - shooting off to the east high above us. We had thought that we would never make it awake to see the rising of the full Flower Moon - the closest the moon will be to earth for some time, as I understood it. But we talked about this and that, about life passages and how fortunate we were to be where we were (another recurring theme, I have found, on these trips), and time passed, and we had the sun almost setting to our left and then the moon rising to our right.

It was a cold still night. It was the first time I've ever been cold camping out at night. I donned extra layers and slept well the rest of the night. Warren was up by six (three hours later, he said, than his usual rising time!), and Dave and I an hour later. We joined him on the rocks on the east side of the island. It was a bright blue morning, not a cloud in the sky and completely still. We ate. We talked softly. We sat. And heard a splash, and looked out to see a seal playing in the water - launching up out of the water and back in - splash! - up, out and back - splash! - and again several more times before he disappeared for good.

We packed up in a leisurely fashion and were launched by nine. By now, a wind from the north had begun to pick up, and we headed into it and across to see the wreck of the old ship. Warren and I had been shooed away last fall by an unfriendly lobsterman, but this time, we had no problem paddling right up to it and checking it out.

Then it was southeast toward home. We paddled to the mainland shore, rounding a small promontory and coming upon a cormorants' nest high up in a dead tree, and two cormorants who were very unhappy to see us. They swooped away and around, disappeared in the distance and returned, swooped away again until we had drifted, pushed by the north wind, away from their tree, their nest. When we were safely well past, they returned and both sat on the nest ("Those #$%^%$ing kayakers!").

From there, with change-of-weather clouds blowing in, and the wind at our backs, it was a short way back to the harbor, checking out the empty high-priced real estate along the way.

So…two days, one night, three lobster boats (two on Saturday, one on Sunday morning), numerous seals, two cormorants, one eagle, many loons, other seabirds that I can't identify and NO OTHER PEOPLE. We were the first to make 2012 entries in every MITA logbook that we found. Muscongus Bay was ours! We were the 100%. Come July, that won't be so…but for one weekend in early May, three people in skinny boats occupied a glorious piece of the Maine coast with some wild creatures, while the skies cleared, the sun came out, and a full moon rose and set. Oh, and there wasn't one wretched mosquito.

A splendid start to the camping season.

We will start the Walden Pond practice and stupid kayak tricks sessions probably after M day weekend. The sessions are on Wednesday night starting around 5 or whenever you can get there and stay until we get called off the water. The cost is 5 bucks for a night of parking or you can get a season pass for $35. The money helps support Walden Pond not NSPN.

Les

Actually, the $35 season pass is not just for Walden Pond; it gets you into all DCR lakes statewide as well - plus other places. If you sign up, they give you a handout that lists the many many places that you can then go to.

pru ps - looking forward to the start of the wednesday night sessions!

Planned when the forecast was for 50+ and sunny, 4 of us met before work Thursday at Magazine beach with weather being 45 and drizzly, perfect for hypothermia. A nice paddle down the Boston side of the river, crossing at Community Boating to the Cambridge side, dodging worried crew support boats on the way back up made for some quick before work exercise. All we needed were some duck boats to avoid. Lets see what next week brings

Phil

Are you doing your nice paddle at a high rate of speed, or at one that allows you to stop and smell the....whatever....on the Charles?

pru

Bob,

I'm glad you survived your entanglement. Cautionary tales about the stupidest-little-things-that-you-would-never-anticipate that might go wrong are instructive. But I always wondered why you feel the need to detach your hatch covers when you transport your boat; just leave 'em tethered in - especially when you're just driving a ways down the road to get to your launch spot.

pru

I would love to come. I've kayaked in fresh water, never in salt water and I went to the workshop for ""new to sea kayaking". This is my first post!

Welcome to nspn! Hope to see you on the water - and the message board! pru

Cathy, that recommendation of Dr. Carmody's is all well-and-good; but I am also certain that he would be the first to tell you to go and experiment on your own -- what I am saying is that you should not feel locked into zero feather in calm conditions. However, you already know this...

In 25-30kt of headwind, you <will> want that feather!

or a greenland stick...

pru

OK, some have back channeled me with interest. Current plan for this Thursday May 3 is to meet at Magazine Beach, Cambridge and be ready to paddle by 7:30am. Current weather forecast is for cloudy and 50degrees at that time of morning. Water temps have been warmish, but still dress appropriately. We'll pick a direction based on conditions wind, and keep to the right side of the river to minimize issues with rowing shells and other traffic. I'll post this as a "trip" as well.

See you on the water

Phil

Wish I could join you all, but 7:30, alas, is my arrival-at-work time. Maybe someday if I'm not working I'll be able to participate...

pru

John Carmody,kayak teacher to many nspn'ers, recommends NOT feathering the paddle at all - or that's what he told me.

pru

I'm looking forward to the trip and would be glad to help with some clean-up. We should decide on what equipment we all should bring to help out.

Weather permitting, I would think Friday would be the better day - particularly if we can get launched on schedule and etc.

pru

The NTSKW was a great success! A beautiful day (despite three raindrops as we were setting up at 7:30) and a really good program that I think inspired a number of attendees to think about moving from fresh water to salt water. Al, Leslie and Kevin's presentations were informative, funny and engaging. Al, with his high school teacher experience, managed to manage a bunch of opinionated NSPNers (herding cats!) to get the the formal educational part of the day organized. Blaine went above and beyond in taking care of tons of stuff. Ernie, Lisa, Rene, Jeff, Doug and Doug, Peter, Glen - oh dear, who am I forgetting! I'm sorry! - brought a willingness to work, boats, gear, and knowledge. The attendees had lots of good questions not only during the presentations, but at the break and lunch afterward, when we were able to chat with them at greater length, and folks looked at and sat in the many boats.

And if any of you attendees are reading this - either as new members of NSPN or not - thanks for coming and hope we'll be seeing you out on the water!

pru

Hi Folks-

Lorrie and I have been getting out on the Charles river (Magazine beach and Brighton ramp) a few mornings before work and I was wondering if there was interest to make this a regular event through the summer? A quick hour before work with a 2-4 mile paddle and maybe some stroke work? If you're interested, post here expressing your interest, which day of the week you'd prefer and what time works for you.

See you on the water.

Phil

What does "before work" mean in terms of actual time?

pru

If you're new (sort of) to kayaking, you may enjoy going out with others and learning from/with them. I'm glad to see you've joined NSPN. Keep track of the "trips" message board. As the ocean temperature warms up into May and June, more trips will be posted. All of us are wearing dry suits (or maybe wet suits) at this time of year because the water is so cold. There will be trips to join almost every weekend through the summer. So join us on the water! You can check out everyone's gear, learn about new places to paddle, meet new people, and have a good time.

pru

Thanks everyone for your advice. I will check when I got camera, and in any event send it back to Panasonic for whatever they need to do with it. Hopefully it will be back and in working order for many scheduled events in May!

pru

What model do you have? How long have you had it? I have the DMC Ts1, in my fourth year. I baby it, but so far no problems. Just clean and dry it every time. When it dies, I guess I'll feel like I got my money's worth, but I hope it doesn't die for a while. It was in the $450 range (from Hunts), which is way more than they are now...

Not sure exactly which model (I'm at work now) but I know it's the same one that Phil A has. I'll have to look to see if it's still under warranty - I bought it around a year ago. Definitely not my money's worth if it is dead and not replaceable...

I have - and have been happy with - my (supposedly) waterproof Panasonic Lumix (same one that a lot of nspn folks have and have liked). Happy until I went to take some pictures of a huge tree that was just taken down behind my house and the camera was completely frozen up. While it turned on, none of the important buttons (shutter, zoom etc) worked. So no pictures of the cool downed tree. I was recently on vacation in the Virgin Islands and took a lot of underwater pictures, cleaned it (I thought) faithfully with fresh water after every use etc. Took it out this past wknd for a paddle and took some pix and everything was fine. But three days later, it doesn't work. So....does anyone have suggestions about best place to have camera diagnosed/repaired? Hunt's camera? Send it back to Panasonic?

Thanks -

pru

Count me in for a Saturday evening after a paddle supper/talk/slideshow.

pru

What a beauty - can't wait to see her when she's all dolled up and ready to ride!

pru

Barry, that is a great photo taken during a great trip. But my favorite photo from the trip was the picture Pru took on the island we camped on that second night. Pru, you know which one. You should enter it as well.

Warren

Shameless request for a vote

https://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/192520/voteable_entries/47417616

thanks,

Barry.

Done! I'll vote for any picture that has my boat in it! pru

And it sure was fun walking down Bearkskin Neck in Rockport (in search of facilities...ahem...) among the tourists - many of whom in shorts and t-shirts - in our HOT dry suits, looking very much like visitors from another planet. Beautiful day, and a perfect rites of summer paddle indeed.

pru

Have never paddled in this area, so would be interested in the theoretical "harder" of the paddles...

pru

If I can get my act together, me too!

pru

Just as a matter of curiosity... Has anyone ever had gear stolen when they've either pitched their tent or left gear to be dealt with later and then gone out for an afternoon or a day paddle?

(Maybe my even asking is a reflection of living in the wrong part of the world for too long - you know, where people lock their car doors and houses even during the daytime...)

pru

Hi,

Are we supposed to be keeping the names of the MITA islands confidential ~ not mentioning them in public posts??

I finally understand the rules about talking about MITA islands from asking this question a number of times myself:

Public islands can be named.

Private islands can't.

The MITA guide makes clear which is which.

pru

Re: Exped Synmat pads. Comfortable for the sleeper, maybe, but, man...those things are NOISY!

You'll need a lot more than one benadryl and a shot of your favorite whatever to get through the night if you're next door to someone who has one. When I'm camping with someone who uses one, I want to pitch my tent as far away as I can!

pru