[Paddlewise] Cobscook Trip Summary

Hi gang,

Just dropping in and out to say hello and post a quick trip summary:

Hello?
Howawya?
G'bye!

Here's the summary:

Dateline: July 7th, 1999 - Jonesboro, Maine

Well, the Newfoundland trip fell through.  Major disappointment.  Major!  I
got my act together pretty quickly though.  I have no goals, no deadlines,
no commitments, no responsibilites.  My life is free and unencumbered and I
can alter course at any moment and be happy in doing so.  Maybe Newfoundland
next year.

So, I've been hanging out in Down East Maine.  The prevailing winds here are
from the southwest.  This pushes sailing vessels downwind, to the eastward.
Hence the term Down East.  Down East is usually considered (by me) anything
north of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, more than halfway up
the Maine coastline.

Yup, that's the place I left my PFD and my car keys out on an island; below
the tide line with the tide coming in; in the fog and didn't discover it
until nightfall when it was too late to go back and look
(http://cisler.com/Kayaks/Reports/970912MountDesertIslandME.htm)

And would'ja believe it?  I did it again!  Yup, I'm sitting in the middle of
a bay off Mount Desert Island and look down and I ain't wearin' no PFD.  And
my keys are in it.  I touched my chest with both hands in total disbelief
and shock just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.  Fortunately, as it
turns out, I had placed the PFD on the aft deck while launching in some
small surf and fortunately it didn't fall off on the way.  But still…Geeze!

The Cobscook Bay area is in the extreme northeast of Maine and covers an
area about 20-30 miles along the New Brunswick border.  There's not much up
there except peoples, gas stations/mini-marts and a few motels and
campgrounds.

Cobscook means boiling waters in the Passamaquoddy Indian (I think) tongue.
I think this comes from the area's predominant natural feature, which is a
reversing falls with about an 8 foot drop and 10-14 knot currents.  This is
such a spectacular sight they've set up a special park for viewing it from
shore.  Two smaller bays both ebb and flood into the Cobscook Bay.  The only
way the water can flow is around either side of Falls Island.  One side has
a huge ledge right in the middle of the channel and the only thing the water
can do is back up on one side and then flow over the top creating the falls.
When the tide is coming in (flooding) the falls are on one side of the rock,
when it's going out (ebbing) it's on the other side.

This is a place of soaring bald eagles, barking seals and wilderness
paddling, all in a protected, inshore setting.  I had 7 eagle sightings the
first day and stopped counting after that.  I've had as many as 15-20 harbor
seals, both adults and pups following behind my kayak, yakkin' and
splashin'.  I saw not one powerboat, not one jet ski, not one other kayak on
the water the first week.  I did see a couple of canoes, one sailboat and a
couple of fishing boats.  People were out clamming at each low tide but they
paddled rowboats.  Lots of peace and solitude.

Note: When I said protected I didn't mean without danger.  The tide averages
24 feet here and goes up to 28 feet and the currents are as strong as one
might associate with tides of that size, plus the water is very, very cold.
I was caught in some 2.5 waves coming from different directions on South
Bay, caused by conflicting wind and tide actions.  Another day the wind was
so strong it took me over an hour to go less than a mile.  For my first
time, there were gusts where I made no forward progress at all and at times
when I had no control as the wind pushed me sideways at will.  That was a
workout.

Cobscook Bay is a central bay with East, South, Whitting, Denny and Straight
Bays as well as the Pennamaquan River flowing into or out of it.  The whole
area is made of these bays and necks or peninsulas and each has it's own
unique geographic features.

Whitting, Denny and Straight Bay are almost lake like in their fairly flat
shorelines.  Leighton Neck, between East Bay and the river has (what I take
to be) red sandstone cliffs and beaches with some interesting formations
caused by erosion.  South Bay and Cobscook Bay on the way to Eastport are
more of the typical Maine coastline with jagged granite rocks and cliffs.
There was some development on the river and more on Cobscook Bay on the way
to Eastport.  There were also a lot of fish pens along that route too.

There is a pair of nesting eagles in East Bay with two large chicks, less
than a half mile from where I camped most of the time while in the area.  A
second pair are nesting on Fred's Island at the end of Whitting Bay which I
couldn't find and a third pair, which I did find at the other end of
Whitting Bay.

I had many bald eagle sightings at the end of Crow Neck between Whitting and
Straight Bays and many more at the head of Denbow Neck near the river's
mouth and in East Bay where I was camped.  I had a couple of great sights
when an eagle swooped down to land in a tree near me with its legs and
talons extended, two others where an eagle swooped down to grab a fish and
crab.  The fish got away but the crab was dinner.  And me without my camera
ready each time.

There were 2 colonies of seals in South Bay and several colonies in Straight
Bay with the occasional head popping up out of the water at frequent
intervals at other locations.  With an incoming tide, I saw dozens of heads
bobbing around as the tide brought in fresh runs of herring.

It's a long drive from the southern regions for those folks 'not from here'
but a drive well worth it.  Overnighting somewhere on the way might make it
easier on everyone.  Once here, you have to take a few days to fully
appreciate the area.

About 25 miles from this region is probably one of the most beautiful spots
on the east coast.  Rouge Island is about a mile offshore from the Rouge
Bluffs State Park just east of Machiasport, ME.  The majority of this island
is large granite cliffs and bluffs.  Smaller islands clustered together at
one end with more cliffs provide a beautiful wilderness setting that will
make you believe you're living in colonial times.

The outside passage of Rouge Island must surely be the place they come to
take pictures for all those postcards of rugged Maine coastlines.  It is
fantastic.  It is exposed and you can expect large swells and refracted
waves to occupy some of your attention.  Rouge Island has to be included in
everyone's 'Must do' trips.

Two more examples of Maine's rugged coast line are West Quoddy Head and the
Cutler Coast, both within 20 miles of Cobscook State Park.

West Quoddy Head is a large bluff on a very rugged coastline and has the
eastern most (candy striped) lighthouse in the country.  I hiked the 4 mile
loop trail and it offers some really rugged views of the coast.  I checked
out a tidal put in but there was a yellow "Keep Out" sign painted on a big
rock.  This is a small sandy cove with several clammer boats in it.  I
suspect the launch is public and that some disgruntled local painted the
sign.  I chose not to contest the issue.  This would be a great half day
paddle, maybe combined with the hike.

The Cutler Coast is a stretch of 5 miles or so along a Maine Public Reserved
Land area of very rugged and picturesque coastline with a good town ramp in
the town of Cutler.  The conditions were such that this tired old guy only
ventured up the coast about half a mile before turning back and opting for
the more staid hiking trail.

I think both of these would be truly excellent trips.  I would love to do
them but in the company of others as bad things could happen to the unwary
out there in that cold water.

The weather has been iffy.  It seems every other day is sunshine while the
other days are rain, wind and fog.  When it rains, it's torrential.  When
the wind blows, it has been very strong.  The fog, in the bays, has only
been so so.  Last night was really cold with a strong, wet south wind
blowing.  I had a fleece sweater on, followed by a windbreaker followed by a
winter shell.  I doubt if we've had more than of a few hours of temperatures
in the low 80's so far.  Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Who says them down'easters are tactrin? I've met lots of interesting folks,
some from 'round here', some 'not from here' and they've all been great.

I've already developed 2 rolls of film.  I've got a couple of little tiny
pictures of big monstrous chicks (what do you expect from a 90mm zoom?) and
some great coastal shots from the trails plus a few other good pictures.  I
don't have my scanner with me.  I'm hoping to get it shipped General
Delivery in the next week or so.

I haven't been doing any offshore touring/camping.  I brought too much stuff
with me and as much as I try to convince myself I own my stuff, I'm afraid
it still owns me and I'm afraid to leave it un-attended.  I'll dump quite a
bit of it when I return to civilization in October.

The bugs have not been ferocious, at least not for the most part.  There
have been different occasions when  the gnats, the mosquitoes or the no
see-ums have ganged up on me.  The mosquitoes like to hang out in the
chemical toilets and wait till you're really vulnerable before attacking all
those freshly exposed parts in force.

I'll be camping in Steuben, Maine for the next few days (while waiting for
snail mail and hopefully the scanner to catch up with me) and will be
paddling the Harrington/Adison areas in the meantime.

All of the places I've mentioned are easily seen on Delorme's Maine Atlas as
are the campgrounds.  There's also camping at Cobscook State Park and there
are several motels in the area as well as a couple of B&B's.  More than
casual shopping is 30-40 miles away in either direction.

For more detailed trip report information see http://cisler.com --> Trip
Reports.



Clyde Sisler
http://csisler.com




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