I was headed for Idaho this summer but got called east to help a friend. Since I was here...
08/10/06 Paddling Whiting Bay:
I bought a 16+ foot Necky Eskia last week expecting to do some touring in Maine, the Everglades, Baja and Alaska in the coming years. Bought all new gear too, PFD, Spray skirt, paddle, cockpit cover, etc. I look just like some yuppie stepping out of the pages of LL Bean with everything all shiny and new instead of some faded out old geezer... well, kinda.
Took a short trip down the Ipswich River in Massachusetts with a couple of friends last week too but today was the first time I had it out alone. Handled OK for a 25 inch wide cockpit. I had to put the rudder on myself so it was questionable. Got it down OK but couldn't get it back up again so I paddled with it into some wind and against the tide. Seems ya gotta manipulate both cords and not just yank on one. I'll try it again tomorrow.
Been some time since I've done any paddling at all. Sure felt good. I paddled the lower half of Whiting Bay next to Cobscook Bay State Park, about 5.5 miles out and back. Not much wind and not much tide. I thought it was near low tide when I put in a 9am but it seemed pretty near high tide when I took out at 12pm.
This part of the bay is all boulders and rock rising up 20-30 feet much of the time. At lower tides everything is covered with sea weed. Thought I saw a couple of bald eagles soaring in the distance. Did see a couple of herons and a couple of loons. One popped up 20 feet from me, the closest I've ever been to one. I could clearly see all the black and white feathers on its back. By the time I fumbled with the camera and figured out it wasn't on automatic the loon was 200 feet away.
08/11/06 Paddling Whiting Bay:
Dead low tide at 9am this morning. Bright sunshine after some heavy rains last night. Upper 60's with a 5-10mph wind out of the NE. Several feet of mud beyond the end of the ramp. Unloaded the kayak and waited for the tide to come in some. It do come in fast. Found the shells to many sea scallops next to the ramp. They certainly didn't grow there. A small trawler with a heavy net hanging over the stern is moored nearby. Maybe they brought in a load and cleaned them and dumped the shells there? One shell had a tiny little starfish attached to it.
Had the naive expectation of paddling up to Dennyville and back today, some 8 or 9 miles round trip. Headed into the wind and against the tide. Saw one lone seal and several loons. Paddled myself out in an hour and 15 minutes or so bucking the wind and current. Pulled off onto a little gravel beach and took a nap. Tide rose about 15 feet in an hour.
The wind picked up some with one foot waves and some white caps. Decided to check out a possible camp site for the future and paddled across the bay. A strong current swept me towards some standing waves. I didn't have my spray skirt on and didn't really want to get caught up in them so paddled my butt off and barely avoided them.