MARK AND KATE VISIT DOWNEAST
MAINE
July 2009

Downeast
Maine is only a 6 hour drive from our home but Mark and I had never sea
kayaked there together. We were looking for an inexpensive, easy
getaway. I'd paddled the area once some years ago before I lived in New
England, and remembered it as beautiful and challenging. We decided to
spend 9 days there.

This
is the area we chose, ranging from Bois Bubert to the west, to Machias
Bay on the east. There were enough islands to please me, and enough
rocky splashy cliffs to please Mark. The Maine Island Trail runs
through here, with designated camping islands that we could use.
We thought we'd start in the middle, at South Addison, and let
the weather and our inclination choose the route.

Here
was our launch point. It had rained during nearly the whole drive
there, and it was cold. We decided to go easy on this first afternoon
and just paddle to Stevens Island, about 5 miles away. It always amazes
me that sea kayaks can hold everything one needs to survive for a week
of ocean travel. They are very well-designed craft.

The
view as we left the cove and headed out to the ocean. This island is
known as the Ladle. We had some light fog which made for beautiful
light. We were no sooner past this point than we watched a pod of
harbor porpoises pass just in front of us, fishing and paying us no
attention.

The
red line shows our route to Stevens Island. We passed a large group of
seals on the rocks off Stevens, and bald eagles glided overhead as we
entered the cove. The yellow line is a side trip we did later in the
evening to explore the Sands. There we found more seals and many pups.
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