The new Sea Kayaker has plans for an elegantly simple homemade sail rig. Looks like a great balance between simplicity & function. On the topic of kayak trails, here along the Maine coast in the late seventies and early eighties there were few paddlers and much coastline including a number of state-owned islands which were relatively underutilized (ie. "the good old days) In the interim with the increase in popularity of the sport and the advent of the Maine Island Trail, these islands are anything but underutilized. Case in point: There is one island in particular near Isle Haut which I used to frequently camp on in the past. Gradually as use went up in the summer months, I tended to camp there only on the off season. As use increased on the off season, I tended to paddle out there to camp in bad weather on the off season. Two or three summers ago, I paddled out in late October, in a cold rain and found the island empty. After setting up my tent and boiling a pot of tea, I looked up to behold the sight of almost two dozen kayaks converging on the place.....a gear-testing weekend for Outside Magazine complete with meals catered by the local kayak-touring outfit. That was the last time I tried to camp on the island. On the otherhand, I have been stimulated to find other pleasant, less well-known areas to paddle & camp. The islands of the Trail though well worn, are kept immaculate for the most part.....No black & white here. mark *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
> camp. The islands of the Trail though well worn, are kept immaculate > for > the most part.....No black & white here. > Many of the MITA (Maine Island Trail Association) members 'adopt' an island they can get to several times a season to clean up 'floatsam', etc. Some islands are 'adopted' by several members. An appropiate phrase they use however, is 'the islands are being loved to death'. I hope to get up to Muscongus Bay next month with the MITA 'Other-than-Maine' group for a weekend cleanup of the MITA islands in that area. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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