Can you believe it’s July already? Where’d June go?

Local ponds and lakes are warm already, and the ocean? It’s the ocean and it’ll never warm up, but it’s providing part of the engine for generating fog.

I ventured afield to Milbridge last Saturday evening after taking a few hours to paddle on Branch Lake (the sand beach at the narrows was mobbed, but south of there it was people-free and enjoyable, save for the hot temperature and high humidity). I headed for my favorite stopoff, a little campsite that has a short, sandy beach. It was getting well past lunchtime and I needed to stop, eat, and cool off. Tree pollen coated the tiny cove’s surface, so I used my paddle to swoosh it out of the way and waded into the cool water. After a drink and a bagel I was ready to take on the western shore – at least for an hour or so before I had to head home.

My wife arrived home from her trip to New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts about the same time I got home. We decided the air-conditioned coolness of the car was far superior to the awful heat and humidity of the city, so we headed to the coast to open my parents’ summer home in anticipation of their arrival any day now.

There are certain rituals associated with opening the place up for the season, as I’m sure there are with anyone’s seasonal chore. First off there’s the installation of the screens. You can’t air the place out unless they’re in place (unless you’re immune to mosquitoes and black flies – such a crop this year!). It didn’t take all that long, and inside an hour we had the stuffiness out, replaced by fresh, ocean breezes. It took a lot longer (and a couple of beers) for the temperature inside to drop to a comfortable level.

Then there’s the ritual of the well. We had to pump it out to get rid of all that rusty-colored water that sat there all winter. The pump was a little finicky, but eventually it did its job. After an hour most of the red had cleared up. While I wrestled with the pump, my wife chased fly corpses, leaving for me the mousetrap and its cargo.

Cool temperatures and the steady rhythm of waves breaking quietly on the rocks below contributed to a good night’s sleep.

Sunday we dusted, cleaned windows, wacked weeds, thoroughly swept the deck and retrieved the water filter from a neighbor’s house where it resides for the winter. There was time left over to visit a bit with cousin Fred Strout over on the Ray Point road before we called it a day and headed back to the sticky city.

And sticky it was. The view across Frenchman Bay from Dunbar’s Store in Sullivan was occluded by haze, although slightly less on Sunday than on Saturday evening when we came through. On Saturday as I paddled on Branch Lake I noticed my eyes were burning. I kept thinking I needed to get some more sleep, but later realized it was the lousy, pollution-saturated air that was causing the burning. Wouldn’t you know it, we finally get warm weather and it’s hazy, hot, and humid with an overdose of crud thrown in for good measure.

Orland River Day redux

After reporting last week that I’d been a participant in the Orland River Day celebration, I got a reminder from Sharon Bray of Orland that surely I didn’t mean to say that it was the third annual event. Surely, Sharon, I must have lost my head. It was the 28th annual event. It was my third annual appearance at the event. To all the organizers, past and present, I apologize for compressing your longevity, and I hope your success continues for at least another 28 seasons!

Rispy business

On a numerous occasions I’ve mentioned the importance of being seen while out paddling. Bright or reflective colors are one of the ways of being seen in daylight hours. While most of us are the type of people to nod and say, “Yeah, bright colors!” and not think twice about it, Jon Hyjek of West Enfield sat down and thought real hard about being seen on the water when he’s out paddling. Actually, he told me, he got the idea after seeing a newscast about lobstermen complaining about the relative invisibility of kayaks on the water.

That thought process started about two years ago and today in at least two local stores, Epic Sports and The Ski Rack, you can purchase the fruit of a compressed marketing and manufacturing education Hyjek received.

The product, called RISPY (Recreational Independent Signaling Product for You), is a 12-inch florescent orange triangular pennant on a bright yellow, 3-foot mast which is affixed to the stern of your kayak and makes it more easily seen. The mounting kit is technically the most complex. It’s an interlocking system providing a secure mount to the deck that allows easy removal and stowage, yet has breakaway capabilities when set in position. The mast and pennant have a retainer so you don’t lose them overboard.

Hyjek said he took pains to use quality, durable, salt water-friendly materials (all made in the U.S. and the plastic molding is done in Sanford at Shape Global Technology), and he wrapped up his retirement funds in the project to see it to fruition.

Besides using his own Yankee ingenuity on the project, he got a wealth of coaching and business acumen from Maine Technologies Institute in Orono. It all came together and Hyjek has a patent pending on his product. Now he’s taken off his inventor’s hat and adopted a salesman’s, taking his product on the road.

You can check out the product in person at the above stores, or go to North East Visions’ Web site at www.northeastvisions.net and take a look. If you’re looking for another effective means of being seen while on the water, this may fit the bill, and at under $40 the bill won’t be too big.

Human-powered activities strong

The following dispatch came to me via e-mail the other day. It’s a report by the Outdoor Industry Foundation of Boulder, Colo., a nonprofit foundation established by Outdoor Industry Association to encourage active outdoor recreation for all Americans.

According to the OIF’s Seventh Edition Outdoor Recreation Participation Study released last Monday, 159 million Americans age 16 and older (71 percent of the population) participated in at least one of 22 human-powered outdoor recreation activities in 2004.

The OIF began tracking participation among Americans age 16 and older in outdoor recreation in 1998 measuring 13 core activities: backpacking; bicycling on paved roads, dirt, and single track; car camping and camping away from car; canoeing; cross country/Nordic skiing; hiking; rafting; snowshoeing; Telemark skiing; and trail running.

Since the study began, OIF has added nine additional activities: bird watching trips; climbing on natural rock; artificial wall climbing; ice climbing; fly fishing; nonfly fishing; sit on top kayaking; touring/sea kayaking; and whitewater kayaking.

“Despite stiff competition for the attention, time, passion, and resources of Americans, the 13 core human-powered activities were more popular in 2004 than in 1998 – by a wide margin. However, they were down from their high in 2001. A comparison of 1998 and 2004 participation levels reveal an increase of 6 percent and a net increase of nearly 15 million people as the participant population for the 13 core activities grew to 141 million people.

“Over this seven-year period, participant levels were up for canoeing, snowshoeing, Telemark skiing, and trail running. Three activities saw a decline over this period – backpacking, paved road biking and car camping. Consistent with prior years, the majority of participants recreated by biking, fishing, hiking, or camping.”

Here’s the part I found interesting:

“The popularity of the 13 core human-powered activities is being fueled by two key segments – females and young adults. Among females in 2004, participation in at least one of the 13 core human-powered activities has grown 10 percent from 1998’s benchmark level and the overall Enthusiast incidence among females has grown 27 percent over the seven years. Young Americans (16 to 24) have also contributed to the increases in core activity Participant and Enthusiast levels since 1998 – increases of 4 percent and 18 percent respectively.

“From a long-term view, key changes in the Participant and Enthusiast populations are evident. In 2004, both populations are increasingly composed of males, the family-friendly nature of the activities is reflected in the increased number of Participant and Enthusiast households with the presence of children, and human powered activities have made very modest movement towards being more ethnically inclusive. While the overall number of participants recreating in outdoor activities is up over seven years, participation levels are down from the high in 2001.”

A full copy of the study “Outdoor Recreation Participation in the United States” can be downloaded of the OIF Web site at www.outdoorindustry.org/pdf/2005ParticipationStudy.pdf.

Audubon moonlight cruise

Judy Markowsky of the Fields Pond Audubon Center dropped me a line to pass along an invitation to paddlers for sunset/moonlight paddles at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, and Aug. 17 at Fields Pond. Audubon volunteers will lead the evening excursions. The cost is $5 per person with your own canoe or kayak; $10 per rental canoe with life jackets & paddles, plus $5 per person. Preregistration and prepayment is required. Preregister early at 989-2591 as the number of rental canoes is limited. Those going should meet at Fields Pond Audubon Center at 7p.m. sharp and be prepared to float along the lakeshore as waning day becomes moonlit night. Loons, an eagle or osprey, bats, or frogs may grace your trip. Trip size is limited, so register early by calling 989-2591. Heavy rain or thunder would cancel the trip, and your payment would be refunded.

Jeff Strout’s column on outdoor recreation is published each Saturday. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.