Kayaking Through History - Volume II - Maine Paddles

By Richard Fleming and Stephen J Pavlidis

This is Volume 2 of 3 of Kayaking Through Historycovering the Maine Paddles of Deer Isle and Stonington.  For more than 40 years, author Richard Fleming has sailed, rowed, and kayaked along the Maine Coast.  As a professional sea kayaking guide, he has shared his vast knowledge of some of the most

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seaworthy Publications, Inc.
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781948494151

Richard Fleming

Richard Fleming has degrees from Northwest Missouri State and Florida State University, including a doctorate in mathematics. After forty-two years as a professor of mathematics at the University of Missouri, the University of Memphis, and Central Michigan University, he retired and began to indulge a lifelong love of history. He lives in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, with his wife, Diane.

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Introduction

As a professional sea kayaking guide it has been my privilege to share with my clients some of the most beautiful parts of the Maine coastline. During these trips I was often asked about the history of the places we visited. Attempting to answer these questions I developed a deeper appreciation of Maine’s maritime heritage and hope to share this information. This book uses a series of kayaking trips to explore the history of the islands and coastline. As you kayak along the coast and visit the offshore islands you will truly be paddling through history.

The Organization of This Book

This is the second volume in my three - volume series Kayaking Through History. The paddles in Volume II follow the coastline from Naskeag Point on the tip of the Blue Hill Peninsula, northwest to Cape Rosier and the Brooksville/Castine area.

All of the trips in this second volume can be completed in a single day, but the Swan’s Island Paddle should be planned for at least two days so that paddlers can enjoy an overnight stay on beautiful Marshall Island. All of the paddles assume that the kayakers are competent paddlers and properly equipped. Even with the best equipment, sea kayaking can be a hazardous sport because conditions on the water can change so quickly.

Volumes in this Series

Kayaking Through History is written in three volumes, each volume containing paddles around the islands and coastline surrounding their general areas.

Volume I - Stonington, Deer Isle and Little Deer Isle

Volume II - The Blue Hill Peninsula, Cape Rosier and Castine

Volume III - Mount Desert Island/Acadia National Park

Summary

Each trip begins with a Trip Summary giving the name of the trip, the launch point, the approximate length of the trip in nautical miles, and which charts are needed. Unlike with many kayaking guides difficulty levels are not assigned; so much depends on weather conditions and the expertise of the paddler.

The Trips

Following the Trip Summary is a brief description of each trip. The overall route for the paddle is shown and historical events that occurred at each location are described.

When planning the paddling routes, I have avoided long, exposed crossings in favor of shorter, more protected hops that provide multiple take-out points. Many kayakers will wish to camp out on the islands or explore alternate routes and I encourage this. The coast of Maine offers so much that it would be a mistake to rush through the trips without taking the time to enjoy the beautiful scenery and visit the historical locations mentioned in the book.

The Charts

The charts and tables in this book are for general guidance only and should not be used as the only sources of navigational information (See Disclaimer). The numbers of standard NOAA and other approved nautical charts are shown in the introductory section of each paddle.

A chart of the proposed route is included at the beginning of each paddle. The charts show which islands are public and whether camping sites are available (see Chart Legend). The arrows on the path show possible landing sites. In their shallow draft boats kayakers may find other landing sites more to their liking. The legend attached to each chart shows the symbols used for campsites and the coloring used to designate the public from private lands as well as other information.

Chart Legend

On most charts, I have indicated the approximate distances and general headings where the legs are long and the headings might be helpful. All distances are shown in nautical miles. A nautical mile is 6,076 feet. To convert standard miles to nautical miles multiply by 1.15, to go from nautical to standard divide by 1.15.

In the nautical world speeds are most often given in knots. A knot is one nautical mile per hour. Although some kayakers can travel four to five knots for brief periods I have found that most paddling groups average around two knots. At that speed it takes half an hour to travel one nautical mile.

The charts themselves are aligned to true north (north is up), but if bearings are shown on the charts in the book they have already been converted to magnetic (compass) north. To convert the headings on a nautical chart from true degrees to the magnetic headings so that you can use your kayak’s compass, you need to correct for magnetic variation. For the paddles in this book the magnetic variation is 17° 30’ W west. For general purposes in this book we will round this up to 18°’ W. To convert from True to Magnetic you would, therefore, add 18° to the true bearing as taken off your nautical chart. A simple mnemonic aid to help you remember is:

EAST is LEAST (subtract), WEST is BEST (add)

On most charts, I have indicated the approximate distances and general headings where the legs are long and the headings might be helpful. When not obvious, distance markers are shown on the charts by the bar symbol separated by the path line, ie: | --->|. Where the route is complicated, distances and headings are not shown.

The charts are aligned to true north, however, bearings shown on the charts have been converted to magnetic (compass) north.

The Tables

Following each chart is a table containing additional information. The tables show the names of islands and coastal landmarks, GPS coordinates in Decimal Degrees (DD) are shown and their Latitude and Longitude in degrees, minutes and seconds (DMS format) are also given.

Each table also shows whether the island is public or private. If public, the name of the organization holding the easement or responsible for the land is shown. If camping is permitted the number of campsites and the total number of allowed campers, as well as other camping information is shown.

In most cases, no landings are permitted on private lands. Some owners are the exception to this general rule and do allow public use. If so, this information is shown on the table. Here is an example of a typical table.

Directions and General Instructions

Instructions for each leg of the trip are shown in bold, underlined italics and are centered on the page. For example, a typical instruction might read:

Launch your boats and paddle out of Naskeag Harbor towards Smutty Nose Island

Preparing For Your Trip

In addition to providing historical information, the books are a useful tool for kayakers interested in planning a nice paddle. Here is the basic way in which you can use the book to prepare for your trip:

1) Before setting out read the entire chapter about your trip.

2) If you are planning to camp, decide on primary and alternate campsites and possible bailout points. Each trip contains numerous possible landing points on publicly accessible lands. If you have a GPS you can use the tables in the book to enter the GPS coordinates of each of your waypoints into your devices. Review the overall route to be sure that everything looks correct.

3) Print the chart and associated table and place it in a waterproof chart holder (One side with the chart up, the other side with the table up).

4) Bring along at least one compass (preferably two), and practice on land until you are sure you know how to use it. A boat-mounted compass is useful, but a hand-held compass with a base-plate and rotating bezel is even more important. I always carry both.

5) Take along a fully charged VHF radio for communication and weather information.

6) Use the information in this guide to complete a detailed float plan (see Appendix A) and leave a printed copy with someone who can be counted to request help in the event of an emergency. Leave a second copy in your car so that it can be seen through the windshield.

7) Check the weather and expected sea conditions before leaving the launch site. As I always tell my clients:

It is better to be on the land wishing you were on the water than to be on the water wishing you were on the land!

Note: Do not underestimate the effect of Maine’s frigid waters. Even in the middle of summer capsizing in offshore waters will take your breath away. I strongly recommend investing in a good quality drysuit. It will certainly increase the number of your paddling days, and increase your comfort on the water and perhaps save your life.

A drysuit is one of the best investments a paddler can make

The Paddling Region

The paddles covered in Volume II of this series comprise Blue Hill Bay as far north as Morgan Bay, the Blue Hill Peninsula, and the Penobscot River region as far northwest as Castine.

The Area in Ancient Times

The last Ice Age began 2.6 million years ago. As the earth’s temperature plummeted, vast sheets of ice, in some cases more than a mile thick, formed over North America - expanding, thickening, and gradually pushing their way south. At its peak, the ice sheet extended nearly out to the continental shelf, and as far south as Manhattan.

Twenty-five thousand years ago, the Penobscot River region was buried under what geologists call the Laurentide ice sheet. The enormous weight of this frozen water compressed Maine bedrock by nearly five hundred feet. The rugged coastline of Maine was created by glaciers that carved out the bays and smoothed out the mountains of Maine. At their peak, the ice sheet extended nearly out to the continental shelf and could be seen all along the coastline.

Fifteen thousand years ago, the earth began to warm. As temperatures increased, the glaciers began a slow but steady retreat. As they melted, glaciers shed the rocks and soil they had scoured from the land and carried along with them as they pushed south. Millions of tons of rocky rubble ranging from sand and pebbles to boulders the size of houses formed debris fields known by geologists as terminal moraines. The boulders, smoothed and rounded by being rolled along are known as glacial erratics and can be seen all along the coast.

The glacial erratic shown in the photograph below is approximately twelve feet high and fifteen feet wide. Note the rounded shape and how the stone’s composition differs from the surrounding beach. Geologists believe that this particular boulder was carried from around the Bangor, Maine area before finally being dropped at Bar Harbor.

A typical glacial erratic seen all along the coast

Maine’s earliest known human inhabitants, the Paleo-Indians, arrived in the Penobscot area between twelve and thirteen thousand years ago.¹ At that time, Maine’s shoreline was slowly rebounding from the weight of the glaciers, but the coastline was still nearly two hundred feet below its present height. The sea levels at the time were also low because huge amounts of water were still locked up in the remaining ice sheet. The entire Penobscot Bay area would have been a broad lowland extending to Matinicus Island, nearly twenty miles from today’s coastline. The bones of mastodons and mammoths suggest that these huge beasts roamed grasslands which today are now submerged deep under the Gulf of Maine. But recovered bone fragments suggest that caribou was the most important prey of the early Paleo-Indian hunters.²

Over thousands of years the land continued to rebound, but sea levels also increased as meltwaters from the ice sheet ran into the ocean. Rising temperatures enabled forests to gradually replace the open tundra of earlier years. As the forests took hold it became easier for the early Indian tribes to travel along the rivers and streams than push through the forests; the lakes and rivers that crisscross the Penobscot region became their highways. During the winter months they could walk across the frozen waters, and during the summer months they could paddle their rivers, first in crude dug-outs and eventually in elegant birch-bark canoes. According to the linguist Fannie Eckstorm, in the Algonquin language the word Penobscot means at the descending rock and refers to the series of ledges and falls between Bangor and Old Town. Descriptive place names were often taken from paddlers working their way upstream. The Indians gave special attention to anything that would affect a canoe, such as rapids, falls or rocky areas.

Majabigwaduce and Castine

The area at the junction of the Bagaduce and Penobscot Rivers was called the Majabigwaduce by the Terratine and Abenaki tribes living in the area. The town is known today as Castine was first visited by French trappers in the early seventeenth century.

Castine is the oldest town in New England. It was founded in 1613 when the Frenchman Etienne de la Tour established a small trading post to conduct his fur trading business with the local Indian tribes. The French later fortified the post and European families settled in the area more than seven years before the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts was founded by English settlers. Castine is named for the French trader and soldier Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint-Castin who led the local Indian tribes in their struggle against English control. From 1670 until 1674, Castine was the capital of French Acadia. Due to its strategic location, the original French fortifications, known as Fort Pentagoet, were attacked at different times by the English, the Dutch, and the Indians.

During the American Revolution, colonial naval forces attempted to take Fort George, the battlement that the British were building on the hill overlooking Castine harbor. They would have succeeded if British naval forces had not arrived and destroyed the American fleet. It was the worst American naval defeat until Pearl Harbor. Following their victory, the British reinforced, the fort and the Castine area became a refuge for British loyalists, After the Americans won the war, the English abandoned Fort George and the victors forced any remaining loyalists to abandon their homes and flee to Canada.

During the War of 1812, Castine was occupied by naval forces from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The British made the town into a fortress, constructing extensive earthwork batteries for their cannons, and digging a canal connecting the Bagaduce River to the Penobscot River. The English hoped that at the end of the war Castine would be the capital of a region they were going to name New Ireland, but when the peace treaty ending the war was written the Saint John River became the border of the United States and Canada, and the Castine area became part of the United States.

During the early nineteenth century, Castine became one of the wealthiest towns of its size in the United States. The town’s wealth was based primarily on fishing. Walking down the shaded streets you will pass the white mansions built when the town was a major port. Historical markers tell of the town’s history. Today this scenic, historic town is the home of the Marine Maritime Academy and the Wilson Museum.

Blue Hill Peninsula

The Blue Hill Peninsula is home to the towns