Maineventure Part 3: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Admittedly, there aren't a lot of outdoorsy activities that I enjoy.  Of this smallish list, I would readily list kayaking as my number one.  I've been kayaking on the Allegheny River a number of times when I still lived in Pittsburgh, and when I was in the suburbs of Philadelphia, growing up, there was a local park where a person could kayak on the pond for a couple of hours.  But in each situation, conditions were always pretty placid, and I always had pretty good control of my vessel.  Not so this day.

A short backstory - when I told my supervisor at my new office that I'd be vacationing in Maine, he asked me if I planned to do any rowing in the ocean and I said that I might have an interest in it.  The next day, he emailed me 10 page word document about things to do in Maine (it's been his vacation spot of choice for years now), which included a warning about kayaking in the sea when you're a beginner.  DG had never really even seen a kayak before, and I had only ever really been on glassy water, so I took the cautions to heart, and DG and I decided to reserve a spot with a professional tour guide for a day. 

The company we settled on, Driftwood Kayak, was actually about an hour from the house, out by Deer Isles (which were the small islands we were going to paddle around).  We had to be at the site by 8:30 AM sharp, so we packed some sandwiches and water for the day and set out. When we arrived, we were greeted by Peter, our salty Welsh seadog of a tour guide, who gave us a very extensive overview of what to expect.  There is a lot of preparation that goes into sea kayaking, and rightly so.  It can be all too easy to drift out or get lost, as we discovered, bur I'll get to that later.

Ayyyyyy sexy lady

Anywho, after a 45 minute safety orientation, it was off to the docks. 

Once we got to the shore and lined up our kayaks, Peter gave us a short tutorial on how to actually paddle.  As it turned out, I had been kayaking wrong for years.  It's a little hard to demonstrate, but in short, you paddle using your core, not your arms, and that makes it infinitely easier on the body on a whole.  With that and a few tips on how not to capsize,  we were off.

Well,  sort of. 

It is surprisingly hard to control a kayak on the sea, what with the waves and the tide ebbing and coming in and out.  For the first half hour or so, I found myself having to correct my direction fairly often, paddling for dear life in one direction to keep from crashing into DG or a rock or from being swept out to sea.  At one point, DG even found himself drifting farther and farther from shore and had to be helped back by our instructor.  Scary.  Soon enough though, we were able to get a handle on our crafts and pilot with greater ease.  We kept mostly to the shallows and close to shore, partly because we were new,  but largely because there was a storm forecasted for later that day. 

An hour or so into the tour, we landed one of the small islands in the area for a break and to see some of the sights. Seriously, if you ever have the opportunity to visit Maine, I highly recommend a kayak or boat tour.  There are just some things that you cannot experience by traveling by land alone.

Also during our break, we got to sit down and just have a simple friendly chat with Peter.  As it turned out, he had worked as a pharmacologist for DuPont back in the 70s or 80s when it had a pharma department.  

"Yeah, I went to undergrad in Wales for pharmacology, and U of Maine for a PhD in marine biology."

...wut.

So, color me impressed.  He had his wife own a summer home in Maine, where she writes fiction novels, and he, a retired scientist, leads kayaking tours and hosts more experienced kayakers in his home for days-long kayaking trips in the sound.  What an amazing way to live.  

After our break was through, we pushed off from the island to begin our trip,  fresh.  Perhaps feeling a little complacent,  or maybe drunk off the newfound camaraderie, we experienced a bit of a doozy.  We were only a few yards from the shore when I heard a great splash.  When I turned to my side, DG's kayak was upside-down in the water.  I panicked and started shouting for Peter, who rushed back over to help DG.  Fortunately, DG was able to get back into his kayak without too much trouble, and being the resilient boy that he is, was amazingly no worse for wear and was more than eager to keep going. 

And that we did.

The rest of the day, thankfully,  passed without any other incidents.  By the afternoon, DG and I had comfortably picked up the basics and were cruising along the water like swans.  Of course, around this same time, it started to rain.  And not just a light drizzle,  either.  The storm that Peter had warned us about was starting to come inland,  directly for us.  After lunch, winds on the water were up to 15 mph, making for a rather choppy (but remarkably fun) paddle back to shore.  It did mean that our day was cut a little short, since, you know, none of us wanted to be fried on the water.  

And so we docked and helped Peter bring the kayaks back up to his truck before bidding him a fond farewell and thanking him for an amazing trip.  He in turn thanked us for being such great sports and invited us to come back again for another ride around the islands. 

Tomorrow:  Bah Hahbah and the trails of Acadia

Until the next.