Wasn’t last Sunday a gem? It started off a tad on the frosty side, but the sun shone and as midday approached, the breezes fell off and the temperature settled in the mid-40s. It turned out to be perfect for a late-season paddle.

Wouldn’t you know that would be the case just days after I delivered my kayak to Wiscasset, where it could be picked up and delivered to its maker in Quebec for some maintenance? I knew if I were boatless there would be at least one or two good paddling days this fall.

Being boatless was only a minor problem. I have friends who have their own fleets of kayaks. One, Karen Francoeur of Orono, literally does have a fleet. Another, Dr. Robert Causey of Glenburn, has two boats, and his are on the shore at his Pushaw Lake pad, the Bunny Hutch. The three of us had agreed to meet lakeside at 10 a.m. and celebrate Sunday morning in Mother Nature’s church.

At the appointed hour (and with the appropriate fanfare -none) I arrived. Francoeur was already present and nearly ready to launch. But the good doc was nowhere to be seen. The lights were off, the door was locked and there wasn’t even a car in the yard.

We never did see Causey (he must have gone to a different church), but I borrowed one of his boats anyway, and we set out for a couple of hours during which we tried out some new, yet primitive, navigating tools we’d made under the tutelage of another guide friend, Mark Goff. This simple string on a stick is a quick way to triangulate your position, so we had fun stopping along the shore to consult the stick and a topographic map to see how accurate the tool is. Turns out it’s not pinpoint accurate, but it’ll get you in the neighborhood. And many times, the neighborhood’s just fine.

We didn’t try out our other craft project, the kamal, but we’ll save that for another outing. The kamal is hand-held measuring device that also has a string and a stick with a table of numbers that will tell you how far away an island (or object) is, based on the angle it makes in your field of view. All you need to know is the width of the island (you can measure it on your chart). It’s quite accurate and useful in determining your position or estimating how long it’ll be getting to your destination.

And speaking of destinations…

Part of last Thursday’s trip south to attend the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors meeting in Wiscasset at the Chewonki Foundation involved a stop in Freeport. I had the opportunity to check out Lincoln Canoe and Kayak, where they make sea kayaks practically next door to the DeLorme offices. Not only do they make boats, they’ll repair glass fiber boats as well as doing minor repairs on Kevlar hulls.

Francoeur’s Kevlar Dagger Meridian had developed some lateral cracks in the hull, and Lincoln’s owner Sandy Martin agreed to tackle the repair. The fix came out excellent, by the way, but the white repair areas in the gelcoat do not perfectly match the original white gelcoat of the rest of the boat – something that would take some artistry to accomplish.

While we were there, Martin gave us a tour of the shop where he’s developing a prototype hull for a new model kayak that will be a scaled down version of his Eggemoggin, a 17-foot, six-inch day tripper/expedition kayak for medium to larger paddlers. The shorter version will share the same array of hatches (two main, one day and a small, easy-to-reach hatch just ahead of the cockpit) and the shallow-V hull shape, but it’ll be around 16 feet.

Lincoln’s claim to fame is a construction process they call Paddle-Lite, which involves infusing resin into a dry layup using a vacuum. This draws the vinylester resin through all layers of the glass fiber or Kevlar. Lincoln’s claim is that its canoes and kayaks are “stronger and lighter than any other” boats built today. The Eggemoggin in Kevlar layup in the Paddle-Lite process tips the scales at 45 pounds, which is quite light compared to 55 to 65 pounds of many other boats of this length.

After loading Francoeur’s boat atop the Jeep, we headed to Wiscasset for the MASKGI meeting. President Paul Travis of Bangor, who does some river guiding, and guides Bob Myron and Greg Shute had set up camp under tarps and prepared a feast for supper. Myron fixed lemon-garlic shrimp and tomato scampi over a wood fire. He also baked up a scrumptious lemon cake in a Dutch oven. Travis cooked up a mess of tortellini soup and apple crisp, while Shute concocted enough chili to feed an army. No one went away hungry.

This being the annual organizational meeting of MASKGI, there was not a lot of time available for chowing down, so Travis reigned in the gang and got everyone on task.

Al Johnson, recreational boating safety specialist with the First Coast Guard District, briefed the guides on a kayaking outing in Massachusetts this summer, where two young women died. He reasoned that heavy fog, an outgoing tide, inexperience and the fact that the two were not wearing life jackets and were likely factors contributing to the deaths.

Recreational boating fatalities in the Maine have been running between seven and 10 annually for the past six years, Johnson’s statistics show. Since 1998, Johnson’s said there have been four kayaking fatalities – three in 2002 and one this year (at Sebasticook Lake dam). None of the fatalities were recorded on guided trips. Since sea kayak guides are taking people out on cold ocean waters, they constantly have to be aware of the dangers and are well-versed in rescue techniques involving capsized boats. And no clients are allowed on the water without a lifejacket.

Paddle sports fatalities are not going unnoticed by the politicians. There already has been talk by a legislator of introducing a bill in Massachusetts, Johnson said, to require kayakers to wear lifejackets and have a compass aboard. In Maine, there are rumblings about requiring licenses on all recreational boats.

Much of MASKGI’s mission is aimed at safety, and the organization has been active in a number of seminars and training sessions throughout the year. Part of what the membership will decide at its next meeting is just how many of those events it can squeeze in next year.

The education and outreach committee presented a list of topics for consideration including: Wilderness First Responder classes, instructor training, VHF radio training, ongoing search and rescue training, history and natural resources seminars, group dynamics, working waterfront interaction and safety demonstrations with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Upcoming shows where you may see MASKGI include the Maine Coast Seminar, New England Paddle Sports Show at UNH, Paddle Smart at the YMCA in Bangor, the Sportsmen’s Show at the University of Maine in Orono and L.L. Bean’s seminars. Last year, MASKGI members were active in Leave No Trace training and providing feedback to the Department of Conservation for updating the 10-year plan for Maine’s public islands. That plan should be out sometime in December, according to Steve Spencer, recreation specialist with the Bureau of Public Lands. He thanked members for their contributions.

In other business, the membership re-elected Travis as president for the coming year, as well as Robert Shaw of Bar Harbor as treasurer and Dave Mention of Bowdoinham as vice president. Mention was one of the guides who founded MASKGI. And everyone present got a chance to see and hold the 2003 Governor’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Maine’s Natural Resource-Based Industries awarded to MASKGI on Nov. 17.

Here’s a notice for you folks who get your kicks doing the wild thing: There’ll be a discussion at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in Delano Auditorium on extreme adventures. It’s part of the Common Book Program at the academy, in which first-year composition students and a number of people in the college community read “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer. Panelists for this discussion include Antarctic climatologist Paul Mayewski, sea kayaker Peter Kalajian, hiker/biker Leslie Clapp, hiker/climber and MMA student Charles Perry, and sailor and MMA professor Andy Chase. The discussion is open to the public and free. For more information, call David Gilbert at 326-2374.

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