L.L. Bean’s adventures for novices

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As the sun began to set over the Harraseeket River, paddlers milled around the dock, reluctant to relinquish their borrowed kayaks.

Just 90 minutes before, our flotilla of novices had taken their first tentative strokes away from the same dock.

Minute by minute, we gained confidence, both in our ability and in the stability of our boats. Blue herons and osprey provided the entertainment, and the distant village of South Freeport served as the lone landmark on an unfamiliar river.

And while nobody in the group qualified as an expert when the journey ended, none of us seemed overly eager to head ashore, either.

“On the way out, people can be a little bit tentative and not really sure about what’s happening,” guide Barb Dunham said after we began turning in our gear. “But by the time you get back to the dock, nobody wants to get out of their boat. They just want to stay there.”

Welcome to L.L. Bean’s Walk-On Adventures, one of the more recent educational additions to the outdoor company’s well-established slate of classes and schools.

While L.L. Bean offers plenty of in-depth clinics and multi-day adventures for outdoor-minded folks, Walk-On Adventures are a bit different.

They’re quick. They’re inexpensive. And they’re a perfect way to introduce novices of all ages to four different outdoor pursuits. Classes in archery, sporting clays, and fly-casting – as well as kayaking – leave the Freeport store several times each day.

If the company’s two-day fly-fishing course provides a veritable buffet for the avid fly-flinger, Walk-On Adventures are, by contrast, more like bite-sized finger food designed to offer tasty opportunities to curious beginners.

“This isn’t a class for the experienced bow-hunter,” said Linda Whitney, an L.L. Bean archery instructor. “This is geared for learning.”

For $12 a session for clinics that last from 11/2 to 21/2 hours, Walk-On Adventures provide each participant a thorough safety briefing, some fundamental instruction, and plenty of hands-on practice time.

And the adventures are easily accessible. All you have to do is stop by the Freeport store, walk in the main entrance (that’s the one right next to the giant Bean boot) and talk to the first L.L. Bean employees you see (their booth is just inside the door to the left).

Arrive early in the morning, and you’ll be more apt to land a slot in the popular sporting clays clinic. But even spontaneous sports who don’t like to make advance plans, and who walk in the door unsure about what they’re seeking, are likely to find themselves an enjoyable same-day adventure.

Classes are open to children older than 8, and kids under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Those participating in the sporting clays adventure must be 12, and everyone under 18 in that clinic must have an adult present.

Earlier this week, I took my fiancee, Dawn, and her two daughters to Freeport to find a few adventures of our own.

While we expected L.L. Bean to run a first-class operation, I wasn’t entirely prepared for what would transpire.

Like this: Sarah, the 10-year-old, enjoyed the archery adventure so much that she immediately headed to L.L. Bean’s Hunting and Fishing store upon our return.

She needed a bow … or two. And a life-sized deer target … or two. And a tree stand.

“I think you and I ought to get into bow-hunting,” she told me after eyeing a nifty compound bow and poking a curious finger into a foam-filled deer.

This, from a girl who has shown no interest in hunting in the past, was nothing short of remarkable.

Things were similar across the Fogg Farm compound owned by L.L. Bean.

Eight-year-old Molly took readily to fly-casting … after a few early miscues … and after eventually switching to a smaller, kid-sized fly rod.

And on the kayaking adventure, which all four of us sampled, Dawn and I split up and accompanied the girls in a pair of tandem sea kayaks.

“You guys are doing really well,” guide Fran Waters told Molly and I at one point. “Tandems are tough at first. That’s why they call them ‘divorce boats.'”

Molly particularly enjoyed the bird-watching, and we ended up spotting three blue-herons and a few ospreys.

Eventually, we (more or less) mastered the tandem-kayaking skill of paddling in unison. At the very least, we didn’t clack our paddles together nearly as frequently.

And in the end, as Dunham had noticed, we did exactly the same thing that most paddlers do when they reach the end of their day’s adventures.

We sat there, bobbing on the gentle waves, trying to make the experience last a bit longer.

“[The Walk-On Adventures] are a great way to get people outdoors, to get them to explore lifelong sports that they can do with their families, and have a great time,” Dunham said.

Two other kayaking participants agreed with her assessment.

Barb Strom, who lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., as she finishes her masters work in forestry, is considering moving to Portland. She and a friend had heard about L.L. Bean’s Walk-On Adventures, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

The both loved it.

“I thought it was pretty great,” Strom said. “It was just long enough to try it out. If I hadn’t liked it, it would have been long enough. But as it was, I wanted it to last longer.”

Just like the rest of us.

For more information on L.L. Bean’s Walk-On Adventures, call 1-800-559-0747, extension 37772.

According to the original plan, our “Win a Deep-Sea Fishing Trip” invitees and I were going to spend today trying our luck off the coast of Southwest Harbor.

Ever since we announced the trip, I have been optimistically assuring everyone involved that the weather would be good, and the fishing even better.

Then came Hurricane Season.

Coastal weather forecasts call for the remnants of two storms to churn up the Atlantic today, and Capt. John Dittmar decided that a deep-sea adventure in those conditions wouldn’t be too enjoyable.

“The seas will probably be twice as big as they were last year,” Dittmar told me on Friday, referring to the trip we gave away last August.

On that trip, most of the people on board ended up more than a bit green around the gills, and fishing proved difficult.

So, the trip is off … for now.

Our lucky winners, David Black of Belfast and Bobbie Jo Benwell of Westbrook, will get their chance to fish next Saturday instead.

Weather permitting, of course.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.