Kayaking in Maine I

Recently I was sitting on our patio enjoying the view and breeze. But there was an annoying creaking sound coming from behind me.  It was our kayaks, swinging in the breeze.

It got me thinking about the only overnight kayaking trip we have been on. That trip was back in September 2020.

Since we had not made this type of trip before there was extra planning to do. The first planning item was where to go.  We were living in Connecticut at the time so the obvious place to kayak was the ocean. We looked around on Gaia.gps and found the Maine Island Trail. From the 200 plus islands on the trail, we picked a couple that might make good campsites for us i.e. not too far from the mainland. We choose our food and clothes and other gear. The only other problem was how to pack our kayaks! That took some trial and error.  I came up with a packing plan, which I just happened to still have!  

 You might think this level of planning was excessive. Maybe, but empty kayaks are heavy. To load them on top of our truck, we didn’t want our gear in them making them even heavier. This meant we had to load them when we got to the trail head and reload them to get off the island. Then there is weight distribution to consider.

Something we never had to worry about with backpacking was water.  When you’re on land, you can find a creek.  But we were going to stay on a small island in the ocean.  Water adds even more weight.

With the planning finished, we loaded our gear into waterproof stuff-sacks, moved our bags into the vehicle then headed north.  Hours later, we arrived at a crowded parking lot. With so many islands to choose from we were not concerned about finding a campsite. At the waters edge, another group was finishing packing their gear before pushing their kayaks into the water. We consulted our packing plan before carrying our kayaks to the shore.  Then began transporting all our gear to the kayaks.  Soon we were following the other kayakers into the ocean.

Being on the water you can see islands far into the distance. It was a little disorienting because one island in front of another can look like a single island. This disorientation caused us to unnecessarily paddle on the far side of Harbor Island, but we had a good view of the cliffs worn by ocean waves. 

Finally, we reached the island we had set out for, Sellers Island. We beached our kayaks on the sand and got out.  We easily found a trail that climbed to the highest point of the island. Climbing up the trail was a bit difficult in water shoes, as it was steep with exposed roots. The single campsite at the top was surrounded by dense trees which blocked the sun, so the camp stayed cool and damp. The trees also blocked the view. But my strongest memory, of that potential campsite, was the smell.  Clearly it was a heavily used spot, and the smell of ammonia was strong. Obviously, we moved on.

From the beach, we could see two other islands: Hog Island, and Little Hog Island.  We headed for the larger one, mainly because it was closer.  We entered a small cove that was choked with seaweed.  This would be hard paddling with our rudders pulling at the vegetation.  Backing out of the cove, we headed on to the smaller island.  It was much smaller.  A small house could not have fit on it, but it had a good beach, trees, and a great view.  After a quick tour of the entire island, we decided this would be our spot. Returning to our kayaks, we pulled them up the beach well beyond high water. After securely tying them to a tree, we unloaded our gear and made camp.

Soon we were exploring the beach; looking for plants, and animals, as boats of all type passed

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) native

Large-Bract Eyebright (Euphrasia pectinata) a Foreign Invasive

It was a great break from the pandemic, and we were most definitely socially distanced on our tiny island.

As it grew darker, we noticed movement along the shore of the Hog Island. We watched to see who had found a way to shore. Soon we discovered it was a deer.  It wandered out into the ocean.  We were fascinated.  It walked, then it turned, then turned again eventually making its way to the island we had needlessly paddled around. We were stunned.  Who knew that deer would wade across the ocean to another island.

Once it was dark enough, we made our way out onto some rocks along the shore and set up our cameras for astrophotography. Eventually we grew tired and cold, so made our way back to camp.

Next Sunday, I will tell you about the rest of our kayaking adventure.

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