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Kayak Trip: Muscongus Bay, Maine - August 21 - 23, 2001

Never having been in a kayak before, I signed up for a 3-day kayak trip offered by Maine Sport Outfitters of Rockport, Maine.

To go straight to pictures, click here.

To see a map of our route, click here. To see a larger map (slow download on a modem, approx. 580 KB) click here.

Day 1 - Pictures 1 to 17

We arrived at Maine Sport and organized our equipment. This primarily involved weeding unnecessary items (I always pack too much stuff!) and depositing our belongings in "dry bags" for the trip. Introducing ourselves to each other, our group consisted of a couple who were teachers from New Jersey, two sisters who were school librarians from New York, myself (a database programming guy from Massachusetts), a junior employee from Maine Sport, who was invited to assist with the trip and to fill the 6th spot in our capacity-of-6 trip, and our guide, Jen.

We loaded ourselves in a van and towed a trailer with kayaks and our equipment to our put-in point. The drive took about an hour and we were deposited at a grassy staging area by the water somewhere near S. Waldoboro.

We assembled our equipment and were instructed in the basic operation of a kayak and loaded our stuff in the kayaks along with the food for the trip and food preparation items, tents, etc.

At about noon, we set off, paddling around a couple of small islands. Jen told us about some of the many birds inhabiting this maritime world. We stopped on Gay Island for lunch. A couple of us jumped into the water for a brief rinse. Our guide, Jen, set out a fine lunch for our consumption. Throughout the trip, she prepared an abundance of succulent victuals.

After lunch, we circumnavigated Gay Island to arrive at a permanent Maine Sport facility, with pre-erected tents on platforms and a screened cooking-and-eating shed. The fog rolled in, precluding star viewing, but the dinner was excellent and then everyone retired to their tents for a good night's sleep.

Day 2 - Pictures 18 to 29

After breakfast, we packed ourselves back into our kayaks and headed out, stopping at a small charming beach before heading on a long straight traverse following a compass bearing across open water. We tried to remain together to minimize our impediment to the lobster boats that were zipping back and forth, stopping to haul the lobster traps from beneath the zillions of brightly colored buoys that densely peppered the waters through which we paddled.

We arrived at Thief Island, a scenic little island with several designated tenting spots. Our guide, Jen, was pleased that noone else had arrived before we did to lay claim to Thief Island for the night. We all set up our tents and Jen set out lunch for us on the conveniently situated picnic table. After lunch, a few of us went for a short paddle around Killick Stone and toward Louds Island and Marsh Island. Returning to Thief Island, Jen fixed dinner and then we sat around the picnic table chatting and looking at the patches of stars that were intermittently visible through holes in the low irregular fog layer that rolled in. There were some sounds which Jen identified as seals, but we didn't see any in the daytime.

Day 3 - Pictures 30 to 44

After another fine breakfast, we packed into the kayaks and took a long easy ride past Louds Island, Hog Island, Oar Island, and up the Hockomock Channel. We stopped at Crow Island, where a couple of ospreys were nesting. Jen had planned our route to take advantage of the incoming tide. Despite the fact that we were paddling against the river current, it was dominated by the tidal inflow, so we were cruising! We stopped at Hardy Island, which was recently put on the publicly-usable list, and Jen fixed us a final excellent lunch. We then paddled to the boat ramp which marked our final egress from the water. The Maine Sport van was waiting for us when we arrived. We loaded up the stuff and rode back to Maine Sport.

Everyone helped unload and deposit the equipment to be rinsed and serviced before use on a subsequent trip. I snapped a couple of photos (photos 42 - 44) of the "deli" where staging of the foodstuffs, dishes, utensils, etc. for the various Maine Sport trips takes place.

If you're considering a kayaking adventure, I highly recommend it. Any concerns I might have had about being uncomfortable sitting in a tiny boat for three days, or about abusing unfamiliar muscles by trying an unfamiliar sport, were quickly dispelled. We had a nice bunch of people on our trip, which made it very pleasant. The food was great; the scenery spectacular. Try it!