Planning therapeutic for kayaker

It’s been a month since I’ve been on the water. I’m still having paddling withdrawal tremors, but thanks to planning sessions for next spring’s Paddle Smart symposium in Bangor and the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors meetings, I have regular fixes to keep me centered.

Although it seems eons away, next year’s paddling season is really only about three, maybe four, months away (if you don’t count the rest of this month). Hey, I can dream a little, can’t I?

Wednesday was my paddle-support group therapy session. First thing in the morning I attended a planning session for the third annual Paddle Smart from the Start Safety Symposium that will be held in May at the YMCA in Bangor. I’ve played a small role in the planning and execution for the first two and look forward to the third one, which promises to be bigger and better yet. We’re looking to attract more than 300 folks.

Castine Kayak Adventures CEO Karen Francoeur, the Y’s Lydia Morgan, Cadillac Mountain Sports’ Brad Ryder, and the Coast Guard’s Al Johnson, recreational boating specialist, form the nucleus of our elite group. Wednesday we were joined by Penobscot Bay Power and Sail Squadron representatives Dick Jacobs and Al Eggleston, and fellow sea kayak guide Mark Goff. Coast Guard Group Southwest Harbor spokesman Gabe Somma, a regular as well, will be leaving us for the sunny skies of Pensacola, Fla., to attend flight school, so we’ll be meeting a new Coast Guard representative soon.

The symposium is shaping up. Mark your calendar for May 9 from 5-9 p.m. at the YMCA in Bangor. We’ll share information on safe paddling, navigation, rescue techniques, communication on the water, what to wear, and how to pick a boat that’s best for your needs. The upcoming symposium will be structured so attendees can go to each of the three talks/demonstrations and still have time to wander through static displays and discussions in the gym to learn about such things as packing a kayak or clothing selection. The talks/demonstrations include in-pool safety and rescue, navigation and knowing when to launch safely, and how to communicate effectively from your boat. The last would include how to signal others and radio communications, as well as dressing to be seen by other mariners.

Again this year there will be booths set up where you can get information on such organizations as the Maine Island Trail Association, the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club, Audubon, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Coast Guard, the Marine Patrol, and others. And don’t forget there are great door prizes, which in the past have included PFDs, a Paddleboy kayak/canoe cart, a Thule car rack, a kayak paddle, an autographed kayaking book and a paddling lesson, gift certificates, and Y memberships. Names are drawn at the end of the activities and you’ll need to be there to win.

Later Wednesday evening I continued paddling withdrawal therapy at a meeting at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast where the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors met. I went with the intent of catching Natalie Springuel’s Power Point presentation on her recently completed Gulf of Maine Expedition. Springuel is president of the organization, a Maine Sea Grant extension associate, and a familiar figure in the kayaking community, especially in her home port of Bar Harbor.

From the Gulf of Maine Expedition Web site, here’s the stated mission: “… a sea kayaking journey organized to raise awareness and caring about ecology and cultural legacy of this vast international watershed and to promote low-impact coastal recreational practices, safety, and stewardship principles.”

The expedition’s seeds were planted during a paddle around Nova Scotia six years ago that Springuel did. Two years ago she talked it over with her now-fiance Rich MacDonald and the pieces came together last winter. In May, the two and two Canadian friends, Sue Hutchins and Dan Earle of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, launched in Provincetown, Mass., to explore the Gulf of Maine Coast all the way to Cape Sable Island. Five months and 1,200 miles later, on Sept. 28, their voyage was over – 86 days of paddling and 18 or so spent ashore grounded by weather. They had stopped in 23 communities along the way to share their experiences and data collected along the way with some 2,400 people. They counted 199 species of birds along the way.

Here’s some factoids I gleaned from the presentation: The Leave No Trace ethic has a great untapped audience north of the Maine border (lots of fire rings and commercial fishing debris); ozone was more prevalent closer to urban centers; New Brunswick has a long way to go to eliminate sewage disposal into the Gulf of Maine; north of Maine it was legal to land just about anywhere on the coast (in Maine and Massachusetts landowners have title all the way to the low water point).

The Web site says, “A final report, due out in January, will document observations and report on all aspects of the Gulf of Maine and the Expedition. Several team members hope to paddle the length of the Gulf of Maine again in 2010 to document the changing coast. In the meantime, a new organization, the Gulf of Maine Expedition Institute, will provide kayak-based educational programs to teach about the Gulf and recreational stewardship and safety skills.”

If you have a chance and want to learn more about the group’s paddling journey, check http://www.gomexpedition.org.

Still haven’t an idea of what to get your favorite outdoors person for Christmas? Why not consider a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio? I find that I tune in my VHF radio to the weather broadcast whenever I need an accurate and current forecast.

I received a press release from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Gray the other day reminding me that “efforts by Maine’s congressional delegation, Maine Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service have led to a major expansion of NOAA weather radio transmitters” in our state. We now have transmitters located in Frenchville, Meddybemps, Mars Hill, Ellsworth, Milo, Dresden, Springfield, and Falmouth and three more are due online in the next several months. They are Sugarloaf, Greenville, and New England’s first all-marine weather radio on the Down East coast.

New model weather radios can sound an alarm when a weather warning is broadcast, many for your specific county. Weather radios are available at most electronics and discount stores as well as on the Internet. Check out this Web site: http://205.156.54.206/nwr/, it’ll give you more insight as well as a map of station coverage area.

Jeff Strout can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.