Locating a place to park overnight is a bit of an issue. A couple of boat yards would allow it. But they were up the Royal River a few miles and seemed less than ideal. The 10 foot tides had me concerned about both lack of water and strong currents. EJ knew of a place on Harpswell Neck but that was an additional ½ hour of driving that we could do in our boats instead. I chose Winslow Park in Freeport but I couldn’t get confirmation that we’d be able to park there. Our destination was Bangs Island, about six miles straight line from the put in.
EJ and I carpooled up and left about 45 minutes ahead of BH and CC. Our plan was to scope out the launch and let them know where to go once we had settled on the spot. When we arrived at the launch it looked perfect. We made a call to the local Police department to confirm that parking was OK. In season it would be OK and there would be a fee. Off season, no one seemed to care.
We un-racked our boats and began the boat packing process. Fitting tents and bags and pans in our day tripping kayaks is an organizational feat. EJ’s back hatch and deck are so low it can hold little more than water. (And it has a habit of filling up all by itself.) We were mostly packed before the RI contingent arrived so we left them to guard our boats while we ran into town to pick up sandwiches for lunch. When we returned they were almost packed so we ate our sandwiches and headed out to sea.
EJ navigated with the chart. I confirmed with the GPS. We paddled out in relatively calm conditions with a warm sun and a gentle headwind. The temperatures were in the upper fifties so most of us were in dry suits and perfectly comfortable. I choose the farmer john route and was comfortable also but it just doesn’t breath as well as Gore-Tex. We were treated to views of about a dozen islands spread out with about a mile between them. Most were lightly or totally un-inhabited. A couple were clearly vacation spots serviced by ferry. Within a couple of hours we arrived at Bangs Island. I suggested we do a circumnavigation to see what it was like. There was one small site on the south side which would not have fit our 4 tents. The middle site was large enough but was a bit damp due to a heavy rain the preceding day. We settled on the north site which had just enough room for us all. We drew straws to decide where the snoring campers would locate and who would get the flattest spot. We had our tents up comfortably before dark and began to snack and prepare for dinner.
EJ and BH got a fire going while CC and I worked on spaghetti with sausage and meat balls. Cooking meat with out burning it on a camp stove is a chore. I basically had to hold the pan a comfortable distance from the flame the entire time.
After dinner it was stories and marshmallows by the fire. I saw about a half dozen shooting stars. The others saw one but it was a good one. Moving much slower than the usual streaks.
During the night the wind shifted and freshened a bit. This was the second strike of weather not equal to forecast. (Our head wind on the way over was supposed to be a tailwind.) I woke up about 15 minutes before sunrise and was treated to a cloud bank that was glowing red from the sun’s illumination from below the horizon. I watched it rise and then “un-rise” as it passed above the clouds. A small island about a ½ mile away had a few dozen seals on it. I saw numerous heads popping up and watched one pair frolic on the surface for a short time. (The others only saw one!)
We relaxed over an oatmeal and fresh fruit breakfast that BH assembled. The wind died down and it was comfortable. Slowly we gained a sense of purpose and we planned a route back that would allow us to explore 6 more islands that we hadn’t passed the day before.
Just about the time we had our boats loaded (CC was done first) the wind picked up again. This time straight out of the NW which was exactly the path we wanted to take. Strike three for the weather. We headed to the lee side of Whaleboat Island. This was an Island EJ had camped on before. CC and BH got out and did some exploration. Meanwhile the sky was becoming mostly cloudy and the winds were stiffening to 20 with higher gusts. We decided to head into the wind a little before stopping for a lunch break. This half mile crossing was enough to know that we needed to dress a bit warmer and that we were going to have our work cut out for us. We were slogging into a 2 foot chop and taking a lot of spray.
After lunch we had 4 more miles to go. We basically made four 1 mile crossings each to the lee of an Island so that we could rest without being blown back ½ the distance. It was an exciting paddle that was never unsafe but certainly not relaxing. I was ready to be done by the last leg and beached my boat as soon as I reached the put in. EJ performed a nice onside roll of his heavily loaded boat and then followed it up with a perfectly smooth offside roll. The water was in the upper 50s so a couple of rolls were plenty.
We re-racked out boats and headed into Freeport for dinner. We settled on a Turkish restaurant and had a relaxing meal and some more great conversation. The weekend was everything I had hoped for. Casco Bay was prettier than I expected and the un-expected wind made it fun.
10/13, 10/14, water and air 58, wind Sat 10-15 , Sunday 15-20, gusts to 25.
No comments:
Post a Comment