A guided tour open to intermediate and advanced paddlers. Conditions permitting, we will paddle the stretch of coast between Bailey’s Mistake and Lubec.
The 12:24 PM high tide at West Quoddy Head on Saturday, Aug. 13 makes for an ideal day to launch from the MCHT ramp at Bailey’s Mistake at 9 AM, paddle the 8 miles to West Quoddy Head by slack tide, and then (conditions permitting) ride the ebb tide back to Bailey’s Mistake in the afternoon.
Contingency options include taking out at West Quoddy Head, South Lubec, or Lubec.
If fog or sea conditions make the trip inadvisable, alternatives include exploring Baileys Mistake Cove and nearby Sandy Cove or paddling the cliffs and rock gardens between Bucks Harbor (Machiasport) and Jasper Beach.
Please contact us with questions or to make a reservation. Discounts are available for paddlers bringing their own boats and gear.
A photo from our recent paddling adventures in Sitka, Alaska.
Our tour offerings are greatly expanded this summer — in hopes you’ll tour more with us. In addition, our website has been re-organized so that it is now either to search for kayak tours by date or by geographical area.
You can now search for our sea kayak tours in the areas of Rockland (including Muscle Ridge), Belfast, Stonington, Schoodic (including Acadia National Park / Mount Desert Island), and Jonesport.
If the dates of our scheduled tours don’t work for you, please contact us as we still have many open dates and are eager to provide custom tours.
Our July coastal Maine sea kayaking trips have featured Frenchmen’s Bay south of Sorrento, the archipelago of islands south of Cape Split (South Addison), and the Bold Coast near Lubec / Quoddy Head State Park.
Life circumstances and weather conditions came together to allow a February afternoon paddle out of Bucks Harbor in Machiasport (downeast Maine) and toward Jasper Beach.
We had paddled this cliff-lined section of Maine coast a number of times before — and for a number of reasons, it has become a favorite. This short section of the coast offers a picturesque working harbor, views of photogenic Yellow Head, craggy high cliffs, rock gardening opportunities, and the unique volcanic rhyolite stones of Jasper Beach.
Cliffs on the western shore of Bucks Harbor.Cliffs on the eastern edge of Jasper Beach.Jasper Beach.Jasper Beach.
Despite a winter that brought 100 inches of snow, the 2015 spring whitewater season in midcoast Maine was all too brief. Our annual transition to the bays and islands thus came a little sooner than usual. Based on demand, our summer featured day tours out of Belfast, Rockport, and Camden harbors as well as Stonington. in 2015, for the first time, we offered stand up paddle board rentals and instruction. Our own paddling included racing in the Whitewater Nationals in Old Town/Bangor and sea kayaking forays further Downeast to Cutler, Lubec, and Campobello. Early dawn paddles seeking out whales in the fog has become one of our passions. We plan to offer tours out of Lubec and Campobello in summer 2016. Thanks to all those who joined our tours in 2015. We hope to see you all again next summer!
The hottest summer on record has meant an increase in the number of guests from states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
It also has meant a lot of great weather for kayaking. While summer is not officially over yet, the approach of Labor Day and the start of the school year means it’s time for our annual slideshow — a celebration of some of the summer’s best moments — so far.
There’s still time to get out and enjoy the lakes, rivers, bays, and islands. We hope you soon have the chance to do just that.
(To view the slideshow is larger format, click the slideshow and then click the text link “Full Screen” in the upper left hand corner of your screen.)
This time of year I trade my downriver kayak for a sea kayak. Rather than a wing paddle, a flat-bladed Euro paddle occupies a place in the backseat of my car. Instead of monitoring stream flow data, I keep an eye on the tide charts. The bays and islands, not the rivers, become the target of my afternoon and weekend plans.
River paddling is linear. We drive upriver and then make the trip down, sometimes repeating the trip on the same day. The days are still short. Daylight is at a premium. We look at our watches and paddle harder to make sure we can get to the take-out by sundown. The river itself is a line, albeit a living and moving one. In sections where rocks interrupt the river’s smooth surface, we seek to run the ideal lines, following the current, avoiding the rocks and holes. As spring advances, we move from the first rivers to ice out to the ones that hold their level longer, due to upstream dams or large watersheds. This migration, too, is a line, a sequenced progression repeated from one year to the next.
Ocean paddling is more about arcs and circles. The days are longer and warmer and we shed the sense of urgency that kept us in continuous movement. We linger in quiet coves or pause for a moment to bob in the waves. The number of put-ins and take-outs is almost infinite — as are the routes between them. Getting from point A to point B is about possibilities. The tide rises and falls. The winds swing from north to south and back again. We skirt shorelines and trace the gentle arcs of pocket beaches. We circumnavigate islands for the sake of doing so. Destination becomes less important. There is no end to get to. Just a vast sea to experience and appreciate.
It’s a very human thing to resist change and to mourn it. The time to ride the rivers on the flood of snowmelt and spring runoff is always abbreviated. The brief season of running rivers is one of thrill and urgency and a little bit of danger. And then the rains slow and the rivers subside, and we make the transition back to the sea. We go reluctantly at first, but then, after arriving, we are glad to feel waves rise underneath us, glad for the early light and the islands, glad for the seal pups and eider chicks, glad for the island blueberries and wild roses, whose own time is even now growing closer.
