Waterlines -- A Sea Kayaking Journal, Penobscot Bay, Maine

2-29-04 (Leap Day):
At a kayaker's open pool session today, I worked on the "pump and dump" technique that was described in a Sea Kayaker magazine article a couple of years ago. This technique is used following a capsize to rid the cockpit of excess water. Following a wet exit, the paddler moves to the bow of the kayak and turns to face the bow, with the point of the bow held in the left hand between the thumb and forefingers, and the paddle held roughly parallel to the boat in the right hand. (The right hand grips the paddle shaft with a pull-up type grip a few inches from the blade). The paddle is raised and then brought down firmly to slap the water. At the same time, a strong scissor-kick is performed with the legs and the left arm lifts the bow -- the pump. When performed well, the head of the paddler may submerge briefly as the boat is lifted. As it is lifted 6 - 8 inches above the surface and water drains from the cockpit, the overturned kayak inevitably becomes top heavy and rotates to one side or the other, so that it comes down right side up. Today's innovation was to use a paddle float on the near blade when performing the "pump and dump." The paddle float makes it easier to gain leverage for lifting the bow -- and then is already in place to perform a conventional paddle-float re-entry.

2-26-04:
We've come a long way from what I was taught in grade school in the 1960's -- that the first "Americans" came on boats from Europe and wore funny black hats. One of the latest theories holds that the first peoples to come to the Americas did not as previously thought cross the Bering Straight land bridge and migrate down between the Laurentide ice sheets and the Cordilleran Glacier, but rather moved southward along the coast in canoes or kayaks. Kind of cool to think that the first Americans may have come in kayaks. And now there is a bill in Congress to have the kayak replace the bald eagle as the national symbol. (Ok, sorry, that would be a bit much, but everything but the previous sentence is true.)

2-25-04:

Buoy F - W. Penobscot Bay

Last update: 02/25 5:00 AM EST Wind: NNW at 11.4 knots Wind gust: 13.2 knots Wave height: 1.4 ft Period: 2.5 sec Air temp: 24° F (-4.3° C) Visibility: 1.6 nm (1.8 miles, 3.0 km)

2-17-04:
The California Kayak Friends are sponsoring a "Rock Garden Race Dry Run" on February 21 in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. The club website describes the course as "challenging but doable." Among other things, [participants are required to paddle in teams of two, to wear helmets and elbow pads, and to be able to perform an eskimo roll. Participants will have to travel through a series of obstacles, with their final time based on that of the last team member to finish. Sounds like a fun event that hopefully will be adopted elsewhere.

Though when I think about it, racing and rock gardening seem antithetical. My own time in rock gardens have never lasted long enough -- when the tide and the wind and the waves are all just right, it is easy to lose the impetus to move on or to reach a destination. Why go anywhere else when sea and rock are dancing all around you?

2-15-04:
I'm setting up an open pool session for kayakers a few weeks from now. I look forward to these sessions immensely -- an opportunity to be a kid and play around with your boat! Experiments at last year's pool sessions included executing an eskimo roll with another person hugging the back deck of my kayak (success), capsizing and then swimming while still in my boat to retrieve a "lost paddle" (success), and hand-rolling (successful twice, drank pool water on other attempts). The clear warm water of an indoor pool invites experimentation in eskimo rolling, bracing, skulling . . . as well as tuning up that paddle float self-rescue and assisted rescue. Suggested gear includes a plastic boat (glass boats damage easily on the pool edges), goggles, nose and ear plugs (optional), and a nylon spray skirt. (Neoprene degrades in the presence of chlorine).

2-13-04:
There is an island not far from here that has sandy beaches, rock ledges, mature hardwood forests, rolling meadows, old stone walls, and winding footpaths. Situated at the north end of Penobscot Bay, the island has a commanding view of the entire bay -- from Fort Point to Castine and Cape Rosier to Turtle Head and Isleboro to Camden and its graceful hills to the bluffs at Bayside and Belfast Harbor. This 940 acre island and its surrounding waters is home to loons, cormorants, heron, eiders, scoters, and seals. It is home to gulls, jay, chickadees, and starlings. It is home to deer, racoon, porcupines, squirrels, and countless other forest and sea creatures. And it is a second home, a spiritual home, to the people who hunt, fish, harvest shellfish, walk, run, bicycle, paddle the island every day.

The island is Sears Island, Maine. It's my dogs' (Rugby & Tallulah) favorite place to dogpaddle, as they can run its 5 miles of undeveloped shoreline as I kayak around the island. As the largest undeveloped island on the east coast, Sears Island is a unique place. It has stayed undeveloped because it is owned by the state and was the site of a contentious (and unsuccessful) battle by the state to develop a major cargo port there. Now the state has a new brainchild -- they want to allow development of a liquefied natural gas terminal on the island.

Probably the world does need more liquefied natural gas terminals. But most definitely it needs to keep places like Sears Island the way they are today. In light of the present and future development taking place up and down the east coast -- and at an accelerating pace in Maine, Sears Island should be recognized for what it is, a rare gem, a tiny jewel amidst the monolith of development that stretches from Maine to Florida.





Waterlines Archives:
December 2003
January 1 - 15, 2004
January 16 - 31, 2004
February 1 - 15, 2004

lives a mile from the water in Belfast, Maine with his wife, 2 daughters, and 3 dogs. He is owner of Water Walker Sea Kayaks and also teaches English at a local public high school. Please write him with comments, questions, or suggestions.