Muscongus Bay, Hog Island, Day 1

We’ve explored Casco Bay and we’ve paddled Stonington. We decided to split the difference and check out Muscongus Bay. There are easily 100 square miles of bay to get lost in. And as you’ll soon hear, we tried!

Bob and I, Becca and her sister Laurel, and Carole and Rick all went up. Bob and I headed up first with intentions of getting the lay of the land regarding the launch point etc. As we drove up it was overcast and there was an occasional mist or drizzle, especially when we were near the water. While standing at the launch it was clearly a fog. But the visibility was about 1 mile.

We talked with the staff at Broad Cove Marine for a bit and paid for parking. Then we headed up the road a bit to pick up some bread for Bob. While in the store B&L showed up, presumably noticing our boats. We did our greetings and they searched for a ladies room. It was then that Bob noticed that Becca was missing one of her hatch covers. In hindsight they remembered seeing a sponge fly out back in Providence. Apparently the hatch cover had blown off hours ago. Meanwhile C&R showed up and we all started phoning around for an open kayak shop (on a Sunday evening) that might have a replacement cover. No luck of course but fortunately Bob carries a small piece of tarp and a bungee just for this purpose. We decided to go ahead with the temporary cover.

It took us our usual hour and a half to load the boats. At 4:30 we pushed off. Our destination was to be Thief Island. As we passed around Oar Island we could see just how foggy it was. Visibility was less than ½ mile. There were a few possible camp sites within a mile of the launch but a half hour paddle was not what we were looking for. We stayed along the shores of Oar and Hog Islands. At one point we could barely make out some people on the end of Crow. ¼ mile visibility. We had the island to our right but all we could see was fog. As we neared what might have been the end of Hog we thought we could just make out Louds Island, including trees. This was to be our first real crossing of about ½ mile. Then suddenly the island turned into a rock a mere 50 yards away! Visibility about 100 yards.

The Muscongus Bay chart at 1:40,000 scale is about 3 feet by 4 feet. I’ve marked the various camp sites on it but it’s folded into my “large” chart case which fits about 12 inches by 18 inches. I usually try and fold it so that the compass rose is visible somewhere. In this case there is a corner showing somewhere on the back side of the fold. I’m an engineer, I love maps, I’ve taken a seamanship class, I’m all over plotting courses and doing current corrections etc. But I don’t have an Eldridge tide and current book and I’m not sure it would show the fine detail I need even if I did. We are about to traverse the Hog Island bar. This is an area that’s not navigable for many boats. We’re in kayaks. We don’t need a route. We hop from one pretty island to the next based on what we see. How would I plot that route ahead of time? On the water? Am I to plot on the deck of my boat? On a wet rock? My chart would turn into a wet paper towel almost instantly.

I do have GPS. Mine includes topo maps of the area. Bob’s is old school and simply shows a track and GPS coordinates. My attitude about the GPS is it is for emergency use only. It’s the back up. If we’re counting on it and I drop it over board then what? (How many pairs of glasses have I lost over the side?)

We do know that if we paddle anywhere but south we’ll hit land. West is the appropriate fall back. We’re not in danger in this fog. It would just be inconvenient. I can picture setting up tents in the fog and waking up in the 16th fairway of some golf course!

It’s now about 5:30. The wind has picked up a little as we’ve entered the more open portion of the bay but it’s still no more than 10. We’re about ½ way and not making particularly good time. Laurel is a new paddler and although competent, she has yet to develop an efficient stroke. I mention that Hog is a possible camp site but I don’t strongly suggest we should stop and no one else seems to want to stop.

Now we’re sitting at the end of Hog Island. I’m looking at the chart estimating by eye that it’s about 15 degrees more than 180 true. I add 15 for magnetic (It’s really 17). 210 magnetic is our course. (It’s really 214.) Becca suggests we head out until we are just losing sight of Hog and see if we can see Louds. We try this and then we stop and discuss what to do next. The vote is pull out the GPS and keep going. Meanwhile we’re drifting and meanwhile we see our first boat in the fog. Somehow in all this we end up with an actual course of 250 magnetic. Almost 40 degrees off our desired heading. I assume this was the wind (beam) and flooding tide (same beam?) affecting our route.

We’re now at the northern tip of Louds Island. It took us 20 minutes to cover what should have taken about 8. We went a little further; it was getting to be about 6pm. We had at least an hour to go. We had another crossing closer to a mile and in an area that I expect might have boat traffic. And Laurel is slowing down. We decide to head back to Hog. The return crossing takes us the expected 8 minutes.

We were out of our boats on Hog about 6:20. No sooner had we landed and the fog lifted. We could see Thief Island in the distance. We talked about going but it was 2.25 miles away. We would be setting our tents up and cooking in the dark. We agreed to stay put. The visibility had gone from 100 yards to 5 miles in less than 20 minutes, it could go back to zero just as fast.

The island was soggy. I was happy as a clam in my knee high Chota’s but Becca was losing her Croc’s left and right in the mud. Fortunately there were wooden tent platforms to pitch on. We erected our tents. It rained "just a little". We cooked dinner and sat around and watched the LED lantern while telling stories. (No fires on this Audubon owned Island.)


And so went day one. We woke up to a beautiful sunny calm day, almost hot. We cooked a delicious breakfast and packed our boats for our “real” destination.



8/2 5.4 miles, Air 68, Water 60