Warren Island provides many paddling opportunities

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Yikes! Summer is fast disappearing – gone like yesterday!

I just got back from a couple of weeks of vacation. The second one I spent mostly on Warren Island off Islesboro with fantastically clear weather, crisp starry nights that were introduced by fiery sunsets and punctuated by sparkling phosphorescence in the tidal currents down by the dock.

One evening we ate early just to be able to walk to the western shore and watch a magnificent sunset.

If I’d planned on great weather, it wouldn’t have happened. As it was, my wife, Kathy, and I headed out on Aug. 21 under gray skies with the intention of spending a night in a motel in the Lincolnville area, then catching a Tuesday morning ferry to Islesboro. However, the weather Monday afternoon showed signs of improvement and we arrived at the ferry terminal just in time to catch the 3 p.m. ride. Off we went.

Aside from a passing dark cloud, the weather was perfect. We packed our kayaks on the beach next to the Grindle Point ferry terminal, parked the car just up the road, and paddled the short crossing to Warren Island to sign in with Sunshine, the park ranger.

Our site, No. 2, was huge. It afforded a great view of the lighthouse and ferry terminal at Grindle Point. There was a winter’s worth of split firewood stacked right there. Drinking water was available from a spigot at the landing (including several seven-gallon water containers you could borrow), and big-wheeled carts were available to haul our gear to the site, one of 10 spread over the 70-acre island. For $14 per night this was heaven for a couple of kayak campers.

An added amenity was a small camper’s pantry just behind the registration kiosk. Its shelves offered items such as instant coffee, sugar and sweetener, spaghetti, powdered milk, marshmallows, matches, games, charcoal, etc. And there were three folding armchairs you could borrow.

The coffee and sweetener came in handy since we hadn’t planned on staying four days and ran out after day two. We borrowed some for Thursday morning’s breakfast and later replaced it after making a trip to the grocery store on Islesboro.

Having handy access to Islesboro, by the way, makes this island state park a gem. If you are a small-boat owner, particularly one who propels said boat by arm power, being able to take the ferry from mainland Lincolnville to Islesboro and then making the short crossing to Warren via your boat is ideal. The distance across is about a half-mile and it’s mostly sheltered.

If you’re not into wide crossings (three-plus miles from Lincolnville), this makes Warren very attractive. And from the island there are many paddling opportunities – from benign to behemoth. There’s Gilkey Harbor and Dark Harbor in the relative shelter of Seven Hundred Acre Island and Islesboro, or you can go south “outside” in western Penobscot Bay down to the Ensign Islands or Job, Lime, Lasell, Saddle, and Mark islands.

My wife’s not an avid paddler, so having the option of a relatively sheltered area to explore was great. We ventured into the upper reaches of Gilkey Harbor one day, hugging the shoreline into Broad Cove and then south past the mansions of Dark Harbor before crossing from Thrumcap to Spruce and back to Warren. The six-mile loop was just long enough to satisfy my paddling urge yet not too long a challenge for my wife. We broke the voyage up with a paddle up Mill Creek and later a stop on the southern end of Warren Island for a dip in receding tidal waters and a walk on the gravel beach to look for unusual rocks.

Should you have questionable weather for paddling while camping on Warren, there’s always the option of a hike around the island’s perimeter path or heading over to Islesboro for a bike or car tour around the island’s winding roads (another good reason to take your car across on the ferry). And don’t forget, there is a store or two on the island to restock your provisions. (We made a couple of visits because we hadn’t planned on staying as long as we did.)

Warren Island is the first state park in Maine developed exclusively for the boating enthusiast. It was a gift to the state from the town of Islesboro in 1959. While there are 10 “official” sites (including two large Adirondack-type shelters) there is usually someplace you can pitch a tent in an emergency, Sunshine told me. Otherwise it’s best to make reservations by calling (in state) 800-332-1501, (out of state) 207-287-3824 or fax: 207-287-6170. Or you can write to: Warren Island State Park, P.O. Box 105, Lincolnville 04849.

You can find out what the availability of sites is by checking out the state’s Web site. It’s easy simply to do a Google search on “Warren Island State Park.” One page will show you pictures of campsites, another will show you a calendar and availability of campsites, and another will give you a general description of the place.

Northern neighbors clean up

While I was on vacation, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick held its fifth annual Quoddy Isles Beach Cleanup, which is modeled after Maine Island Trail Association’s annual fall and spring island cleanup. I helped out one year and had signed up for this year’s effort, but events conspired against my going. I asked that the group keep me posted on their efforts, and I’ll pass along what Caroline Lee, conservation assistant with the Nature Trust and this year’s organizer of the cleanup, sent me.

The 31 volunteers (including several from MITA) collected more than 1,000 pounds of trash this year, including large pieces of Styrofoam half the size of a person, fish netting, rubber tubing from salmon aquaculture pens, and several bags of recyclable bottles and cans.

“Less debris was found this year than ever before, in fact previous cleanups have collected over one ton of waste each time, more than double what was found this year. This bodes well for other initiatives, of which the Nature Trust is a part, targeting marine debris minimization from the source,” Lee wrote.

To me that’s good news. A few years ago when I participated, we nearly filled a small barge with debris we wrestled from the shores of a few islands.

“Although it is difficult to pinpoint the cause of the reduced waste loads found on the islands, it is likely that the remote location, combined with this campaign, both played a part. The islands were also cleaned two years back, by the Nature Trust,” says Lee. The Nature Trust is also represented on the board of the Bay of Fundy Cleanup Campaign.

“There is, however, certainly plenty more work to be done in reducing marine debris, considering we nonetheless collected a substantial load of garbage,” Lee added.

The volunteers met at Lime Kiln Bay and were transported on a barge and skiffs to the Park Islands and Cochrane’s Island in the L’Etang Estuary, which make up the L’Etang Islands Nature Preserve, located south of St. George.

Cooke Aquaculture donated the use of a barge and skiff, and the New Brunswick Salmon Growers Association donated the use of their building and wharf facilities for the cleanup. The Department of Environment and Local Government covered the tipping fees for the garbage collected during the event.

Tips for boaters

In the batch of e-mails that wound up on my computer while I was away was one on tips for power boaters or personal watercraft operators and how they could “tread lightly” in the water, much like the Leave No Trace ethics on land. I’ll pass them along in abbreviated fashion. They come from the nonprofit Tread Lightly! Inc.

1. Avoid traveling in shallow water where your craft can suck up objects into the pump and harm the engine as well as coral, plants, and animals and the bottom of waterways.

2. If you are in shallow water, travel slowly. Maneuver your craft slowly when launching and coming ashore to avoid impacting sensitive habitats and damaging your vessel.

3. Try to fill up with fuel and oil before leaving. If you do need to fill up while in the water, take every precaution to avoid spills. Clean up spills immediately.

4. Never throw trash in the water. Pack out what you pack in, and if possible, pick up litter left by others.

5. Launch crafts only at designated launching ramps. Backing a vehicle on a river bank or lake shoreline can damage the bank and cause erosion.

6. Be aware of the noise your craft produces and remember that sound carries farther on the water. Noise complaints are one of the leading reasons authorities are called.

7. Wash your craft after every ride and be sure your jet nozzle and intake areas are clear of debris. Checking this after riding is especially important because harmful, “exotic” plants and animals like Eurasion milfoil may spread by boat from one body of water to another.

8. Obey all posted signs, symbols, and markers. These include speed limits, no-wake zones, underwater obstructions, and the like.

9. When fishing, dispose of unwanted or tangled fishing line, nets, and other plastic items properly as they can be lethal to fish, marine mammals, birds, and reptiles.

10. Know the fishing regulations, including the limits and legal length of the fish you intend to catch. Return undersized, oversized, or unwanted fish to the water as soon as possible.

For more information, contact Tread Lightly! at 800-966-9900 or on the Web at www.treadlightly.org.

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.