Paddle Smart Safety, navigation tips and gear highlight annual kayaking symposium

The first time Laura Carter saw kayakers in the waters off Bar Harbor, she was amused. The boats looked like colorful dots bobbing in the vast panorama. Not long after, Carter found herself in the cockpit of a kayak heading up Somes Sound.

“I fell absolutely in love with it my first trip out,” she said.

These days, Carter spends a good portion of her summer as a part-time guide for Aquaterra Adventures, which offers kayak expeditions in the Porcupine Islands. “It’s popular with tourists and locals,” said Carter, who works on land as an earthwork construction estimator on Mount Desert Island. “It’s about seeing the wildlife and getting out to the islands. There’s nothing like a porpoise showing up, or seals or an eagle.”

Carter was one of more than 200 Maine kayakers and canoers who participated in last week’s sixth annual Paddle Smart Safety Symposium at the Bangor Y on Hammond Street. The four-hour event included demonstrations and interactive workshops on safety, navigation and gear, as well as an exhibitors hall.

As one of the half-dozen sponsors of the gathering, the U.S. Coast Guard provided a table of brochures about safety standards and practices in Maine, where water temperatures can hover around freezing and, even in summer, rarely go above 60 degrees F. Those temperatures are the cause of nearly all paddling fatalities, according to Al Johnson, recreational boating specialist for the Northeast’s First Coast Guard District.

“Most accidents occur when people fail to be properly prepared for cold-water immersion or are not wearing any flotation equipment,” said Johnson, who manned the Coast Guard table in the exhibitor’s hall at the Y. “I’ve heard people say: ‘I don’t plan to get wet.’ So they don’t wear a life jacket. Well, I’ve been involved in over 400 fatalities. I don’t think any of them planned on getting wet.”

In the last two years, Maine’s boating fatalities increased from six in 2004, to 14 in 2005, or 130 percent, said Johnson. Since 1998, more than 56 of the fatalities in Maine occurred in nonmotorized boats. Ben Crowell of the U.S. Coast Guard gave a presentation on emergency communication on the water. He and Johnson were on hand throughout the evening. Their hope is that events such as the paddling symposium reduce the number of accidents and fatalities in Maine.

Johnson’s often humorous but nevertheless serious admonishments about learning safety and emergency skills and wearing a life jacket were sacrosanct rules repeated time and time again during the night.

“The water is cold,” said Johnson. “If you don’t think so, take off your shoes and socks and stand in the ocean for 30 seconds and think what’s important in your life. If not for yourself, wear the life jacket for the loved ones you don’t want to leave behind.”

In the pool area, demonstrations emphasizing Johnson’s point were taking place. Karen Francoeur of Castine Kayak Adventures and a team of experienced paddlers showed how to rescue yourself or a buddy who has gone overboard. Francoeur demonstrated the “rodeo rescue” (straddling the aft of the vessel), the “partnership rescue” (a rafting-up technique) and the “scoop rescue” (a rolling pick-up in the cockpit).

“These may look easy,” she warned, “but you want to practice, practice, practice. Read books. You don’t want to be figuring this out when you capsize in the ocean.”

Earlier, Kyle Duckworth, president of the Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society, showed canoe rescue techniques. He discouraged canoers, especially beginners, from paddling alone in rapids, from taking on white water in the wrong kind of craft and from being underprepared for extreme circumstances.

His advice: paddle with a buddy, scout difficult rapids before attempting them, practice emergency rescue techniques, and always carry a throw bag, a floatable safety rope. “There’s no finer sight I know of than the image of a throw bag coming at you and hitting you right on the numbers,” said Duckworth. “Don’t ask me how I know.”

Duckworth likes to play a game called “Smart or Stupid,” in which he describes scenarios from his less experienced days of paddling. He pointed to a small red canoe in the pool and said: “Me and Bobby Clark were going down the West Branch of the Union River in that canoe.” The audience called out: “Stupid!” Duckworth continued: “We got to Hell’s Gate, and pulled over to have a look.” “Smart!”

When he finished his routine, Duckworth offered one more bit of advice: “This is a great sport. You’re out on the rivers in the boonies, and you see a lot of stuff most people never see. The price is that you expose yourself to a risk. That’s what this Paddle Smart is about – minimizing that risk.”

It was also about gear. Shelley Johnson, who has written books on kayaking, spoke to novices and veterans about the water worthiness of three classes of kayaks: recreational, light or day touring and sea. Choosing the right kayak for the right waters, and having equipment tailored to your body size are vital. “We’re in a great place,” she said. “You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful place to explore. But it obviously has some challenges.”

In another room, Jeff Strout, an outdoor columnist for this newspaper and a Registered Maine Guide, displayed good habits of preparedness by pulling a seemingly endless supply of gadgetry from of his touring bag: sponges, lights, key holders, sunscreen, more sunscreen, snacks, water bottles, a tow line, VHF radio, lip balm, bug dope. He packs more equipment into the hollow parts of his kayak than most people pack in a suitcase for a two-week vacation. “When we guide, we have to look out for the needs of others and their safety,” Strout said.

Participants in the symposium included paddlers from all age groups, families, friends, couples and singles. Lynne Clark, who was with Laura Carter, the guide from Bar Harbor, said she was drawn to the independence of kayaking. “There’s no motor involved,” she said. “And I love water anyway.” She paddles primarily around Blue Hill, where she lives.

Denise Skonberg, a professor of food science, and her husband John Crocker, a carpenter, bought ocean kayaks last year. The Winterport residents came to kayaking from white-water canoeing because they wanted to be on the water longer into the season than white water allows. Rock climbers and skiers, they are strangers neither to intrepid athleticism, nor to the importance of informed caution when taking risks. They’ll stay close to shore this summer, they said, to develop their skills and their confidence.

“I’m a little nervous about white water,” said Skonberg, who is 43, “but going out in the ocean and having the weather change, that’s scary. I consider it much more committing. In white water, you can always portage. If you’re in the ocean, that’s committing.”

But “committing” is what it’s all about: to adventure, to safe practices and to honing skills.

Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.