Month: May 2007

Some Like it Rough: New Book on Rough Water Paddling

Post author By Ray
Post date May 27, 2007

Alex Matthews’ new book, Sea Kayaking Rough Waters, is intended for those who end up paddling in tough conditions either by design or by chance. Either way, it will help you improve your confidence, your ability, and — hopefully your enjoyment — of kayaking in challenging conditions. The book is highlighted by awesome photos that just make you want to get out there.

Among other things, the book includes a section on the High Brace Lean Turn, a stroke I have not seen described in many other places. Other information new to me included “The Rule of Thirds” — a method of determining tidal currents at different stages of the tide cycle. (O% at slack, 50% at 1 hour after slack, 90% at two hours after slack, and 100% at 3 hours after slack).

Following is an excerpt from a section on landing in surf: “Once you’ve made the decision to go, you really have two options. You can ride a wave right into shore. This means following on the heels of the last wave of a set. To chase a wave in, you’ll let the last wave of a set pass and then sprint in behind it all the way into shore. If timed correctly, this approach negates the need to control a dynamic surf ride, or at least it will allow you to avoid the worst of the impact zone . . .”

Sea Kayaking Rough Waters and other books from Heliconia Press area can be purchased online from our website.

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Belfast Harbor Tours This Summer!

Post author By Ray
Post date May 25, 2007

In addition to our day tours to the Muscle Ridge Islands, Camden, Rockport, and Jonesport, we’ll be offering tours of Belfast Harbor this summer.

These 1.5 hour late afternoon tours are ideal for those new to kayaking, families, and those wishing to explore a beautiful midcoast Maine town from the water.

As always, instruction will be provided — and we’ll carefully choose a boat suited to your size and ability. Discounts available to those who decide to sign up for another tour with us. Belfast features a picturesque harbor filled with sailboats, views of the Camden Hills, Islesboro, and Sears Island, and opportunity to paddle either out the harbor or up the Passy River. Depending on weather and tides, tours will be offered in the mornings, late afternoons, and occasionally for sunset and moonrise. Details coming soon.

Belfast, population 6870, has been named one of the top 5 “culturally cool towns in America” by USA Today. Come find out why. More on Belfast at the Belfast Area Chamber.

kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Passy in the Spring (Passagassawakeag River, Belfast, Maine)

Post author By Ray
Post date May 20, 2007

The 2 most local rivers here (the Passy and the St. George)are relatively small Class I and II rivers that go dry by summer. So each time I paddle them, I do so thinking it may be the last trip of the year. On the other hand, if we have a rainy June, you know where to find me.

kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Rain or Shine

Post author By Ray
Post date May 20, 2007

After being an ocean paddler who only dabbled in rivers, I’ve crossed over to the point where I consider myself a river paddler as well. I started paddling the rivers earlier this year and have kept right on paddling them. Maine ocean waters are cold this time of year and the rivers can be more inviting, especially on a cool rainy day in May). The two inches of rain we’ve had this week has extended the local whitewater paddling season — and now I find myself wondering if I can stretch it out a little longer. I’ve begun keeping an Excel spreadsheet on reported and actually experienced river conditions. There no USGS or NOAA streamflow reports on the rivers I paddle most frequently, but my hope is that I can correlate the USGS data for other local rivers with what I observe on the Passy and St. George Rivers and thus be able to have a good idea of what conditions will be like before I pull out of the driveway.

Just in case you want to try this at home, the USGS streamflow data — both gauge height and flow — is at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/rt
The chart for the Ducktrap River shows a nice peak flow for May 19th. Happy paddling!

kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Surfing Belfast U.S.A. (Well, not quite).

Post author By Ray
Post date May 18, 2007

Inspired by the inch of rain we got since yesterday, I thought I’d try my new pro-deal Riot Boogie 50 surf kayak on the Passagassawakeag River. Prior to this, the only time I’d ever been in a whitewater kayak (or any kayak less than 12 feet long) was during a rolling session in an indoor pool. The flat hull of the Boogie 50 (think surf board flat) made me initially think I was back in the cardboard box boat I built a few years ago. (You haven’t paddled hard chines until you’ve paddled a box, but that’s another story). A bit unsettling! Within a few minutes, however, I began experimenting with using the boat’s sharp edges to grab the water and carve aggressive turns.

The whitewater sections of the river were bony; waves were scant. Probably more suited for a creek boat. The flatwater sections were sluggish and made me long for the powerful glide of my usual sea kayak. But mostly I got what I wanted — a couple of hours on the water and a chance to get to know the Boogie 50 a bit before trying it out in the surf.

The Boogie 50 is described as being high in launchness and planing speed, low in bounceness and looseness — just as a good surf kayak should be. Guess I’ll have to work on my vocabulary as well as on my paddling. Mostly though, it’s all about the fun-ness.

kayaking maine paddling St. George

Different Day, Different River (Again down the St. George)

Post author By Ray
Post date May 12, 2007
1 Comment on Different Day, Different River (Again down the St. George)

“You cannot step in the same river twice,” says Heraclitus. I would add that you can never paddle the same river twice. Six weeks ago the St. George River was a shining filament amidst a winter forest stamped with deer trails. Four weeks ago, the St. George was a muddy torrent roiling with the weight of spring rains. Yesterday, the St. George was a glassy passage through a forest newly soft with spring buds.

Not just the river changes. At the put in, I am a bit tired and world weary, purpose-driven, edgy, wanting something I know not what. Just six and a half miles downstream, I have forgotten almost all of that. Time has folded over into a new dimension. Whatever it was, that was pressing on me is gone somehow. It is not the same man who pulls the kayak out of the river. And from the moment on, my life will never be the same, because in subtle ways I have changed. I am different for the time I have spent on the river.

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Making You Fall in Love with America All Over Again

Post author By Ray
Post date May 6, 2007

–Image from Skypic.com

After a day of outside projects, went for a bike ride (instead of paddling for once) in the late afternoon light. Rode down to the waterfront and through our several waterfront parks, then crossed both bridges and worked my way back through neighborhoods and woods before returning home.

Belfast, Maine is a good place to live in the wintertime — but I sometimes wonder — in spring, summer, or fall — why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

Belfast has a combination of natural beauty, genuineness, progressiveness, friendliness, and outdoor opportunities that is hard to beat. Where else can you mountain bike down a logging road through a beautiful pine forest less than half a mile from downtown? (It’s not an official trail yet, just a place you can ride). We’ve got a colorful an active waterfront complete with tugboats, a real old fashioned main street that includes the oldest shoe store in America, a new $4 million dollar footbridge you can stroll across (or fish for mackerel from), some great restaurants, an active art scene, a healthy mix of natives and people from away, great hiking, skiing, paddling opportunities all around, and the best pear-almond muffin I have found.

For paddling enthusiasts, we are within day trip distance of Acadia National Park, Deer Isle, Isle au Haut, Camden-Rockport, the Muscle Ridge Islands, and Muscongus Bay. Or you can paddle from the Belfast waterfront, either up the Passy River or north along the coast to Moose Point State Park. Y’all come visit this summer. You won’t regret it. And, as Marion Betancourt says in her article by that title, this town may make you “fall in love with America all over again.”