I am generally a conservative paddler, preferring not to be out in tight tall waves. I have been unexpectedly out of my boat, and I do not like it. For that reason, I tend to choose my days to paddle somewhat carefully. I also practice rolling. The sea is unpredictable, however, and so inversion and immersion are inevitable.

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I had successfully avoided encounters with poison ivy for many years. This was due, in part, from having lived far from New England and the east coast for much of that time. I had the impression that it would be a mildly bothersome thing to get, but tolerable. I was mistaken.

Poison ivy is amazingly uncomfortable and even dangerous. My own encounter was relatively minor, but difficult nevertheless. During a typical lunch stop during a paddle, I wandered into some foliage and noticed that it touched my legs below my shortie wetsuit. Hmmm, that plant has three leaves. ........I wonder...... Oh, well...

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Again this year Bob Arledge, club president, has organized a series of 5 paddles with Maine Island Trail Association. Last year these trips provided a chance to meet fellow paddlers and to also help MITA with conservation and clean-up efforts. 

This is an opportunity for newcomers to SMSKN to discover Maine's tremendous resource and beauty along the labyrinthine coastline, and also a chance for all members to join in an effort of conservation and to support our local kayaking community. Here is a description of last weekend's trip:

This will be the first of five joint trips with SMSKN and the Maine Island Trail Association. It is open to paddlers who are members of either organization. The plan is for an easy paddle at 2 knots including four breaks with a lobster bake at the last stop on Ft. Gorges.

It is 0.9 nm to Ft. Gorges for a short break, then 2.5 nm up Diamond Island Pass to College Island for a quick look around, then 0.9 nm to Cow Island. It will be 2.2 nm back to Ft. Gorges for the lobster bake, then 0.9 nm back to East End Beach. The schedule will be somewhat loose, but we should be back to East End Beach 17:00 and 18:00. The total distance will be about 7.5 nm.

The next trip is planned June 11th, so check back for more details about upcoming joint trips with MITA, as well as other paddling trips planned by our members. Check the Events Listing Page now for current trips, events, and meetings.

Due to a forecast of high winds on Saturday, 16 October, the bittersweet cleanup on Little Chebeague Island has been rescheduled to Sunday, 17 October. The launch site is still Sandy Point Beach on Cousins Island, and the departure time is still 10:00.

This is a description of the paddle:

SMSKN is going to be working with MITA to help remove invasive bittersweet vines off of the trees on Little Chebeague Island in Casco Bay. We may receive some grant funds from the American Canoe Association for doing this work. We will schedule several trips next year to attack the bittersweet, but we want to do this one just to get an idea of how to approach the task.

The plan is to leave Sandy Beach on Cousins Island at 10:00 and paddle 3.8 nm to Little Chebeage we will spend two or three hours cutting bittersweet vines and then have lunch. After lunch we can go for a bit of a paddle, depending on how tired we are from cutting bittersweet vines.

When we get back from the paddle, everyone is invited over to Nananda's and my house for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

It will probably be a good idea to wear long pants and bring some work gloves. If you have hand pruning shears or limb lopers you can bring, that would be good too, but we will have some extra tools.

Let's get out there and defend the island from bittersweet vines. We'll land on Little Chebeage like the CIA landing in the Bay of Pigs; we'll set up our own Marginot Line; we'll route them off the island like french ran the Russians out of Moscow in 1812. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the SMSKN fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. Let's win this one for the gipper.

Just to remind you, we have the Picnic and Kayak Rodeo coming up this weekend.

10:00 to 17:00, Saturday, 31 July at Winslow Park in Freeport

SMSKN holds its annual picnic and kayak rodeo every 2 to 6 years. There will be events such as a race around a course without a paddle, standing up paddling, cowboy reentries, most rolls in 60 seconds, and any other embarrassing or degrading events we can dream up. The venue will be Winslow Park in Freeport. Low tide is at 09:00, so you will have to get there early if you want to compete in the mud wrestling event.

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