Paddling’s always a pleasure, but wouldn’t it be nicer to paddle for a purpose? That’s the big idea behind the annual Kayak Regatta, the on-water fund-raiser for Rippleffect. This year’s Regatta is scheduled for Aug. 18-21 on Penobscot Bay.

Paddling with a purpose: Participants in the 2004 Rippleffect Kayak Regatta navigate Penobscot Bay in the fog.
Both photos courtesy Cris Edward Johnson

Kayakers will launch from Castine and cross the bay to Warren Island. Warren Island, part of the Islesboro group, is an utterly unique state park that caters exclusively to water-borne adventurers. Another camp-out is on Butter Island, then the Regatta returns to Castine on Sunday.

Rippleffect events coordinator Sasha Johnson notes that there’s a motor launch for support. It will transport food and tents plus musical, massage and yoga artists. A lobster bake is planned.

Feeding hungry paddlers is part of the plan for the 2005 Kayak Regatta, slated for Aug. 18-21 on Penobscot Bay.

Participants -- up to 35 in some years -- need to raise $1,000 to join. Money goes to Rippleffect, a Portland-based non-profit which provides adventure-based programming to Maine youth via sea kayaking.

Check out their website for details on the program and the Kayak Regatta at www.rippleffect.net. Or call 791-7870.

If you’re looking for a few paddling pals, the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club is a great place to find them.

The July 28 after-work paddling excursion attracted seven MOAC members who circumnavigated Cousins Island in Casco Bay.

Counted among its 800-plus members -- including this blogster -- are many canoeists and kayakers whose experience ranges from wannabes to Registered Maine Guides to certified instructors. The club’s on-water activities range from newbie instruction to half-day paddle-and-picnic excursions to multi-day adventures in foreign countries.

Paddle-and-picnic group on Androscoggin River last June.

There are an average of two or three MOAC paddling activities per week. Among the most popular are the midweek after-work excursions.

Visit www.moac.org and click on “Event Calendar” to check out the club’s activities. Complete details on joining a trip require a password, but non-members can get an overview plus all the info needed to join. Membership cost starts at $15 per year, and most activities are free to those who join.

Paddle-and-picnic group on Presumpscot River last April.

Most people join by attending a meeting. Next one is Wednesday, Aug. 3. Details on the website.

I call them the Boothbay Backdoor Islands, but you won't find that name on any official chart.

The Boothbay Backdoor Islands comprise a pleasant archipelago in the Sheepscot River estuary located near the "backdoor" to Boothbay Harbor -- the passage through Townsend Gut, the narrow passage that separates the peninsula from Southport Island.

Paddling near the Isle of Springs July 26.

There are more than half a dozen islands in the group, and a circuit paddle around and through them makes an excellent excursion of between half a day and a full day.

Largest is Isle of Springs; its shoreline is dotted with cottages and camps. About half the islands have no structures at all, and a couple are in conservation ownership and open to the public. Several are popular stops for paddlers and other small-boat enthusiasts.

Spectacle Island, a popular stop for kayakers, is owned by the Boothbay Region Land Trust.

There's a pleasant campsite on the larger of the two Ram Islands, but it's not part of the Maine Island Trail.

Kayaker paddles between the two Ram Islands.

Today I split my picnic lunch into two 'courses' -- one for Spectacle and one for Ram.

Best start points are two public boat launches. On the lower half of the tide cycle, use the state launch on the Barters Island Road, a mile or so west of the monument in Boothbay. At the upper end of the tide cycle, use the town landing on McKnown Point Road, just east of the Southport Island Bridge. In each case, start a couple of hours before low or high tide and return on the flood or ebb.

Judge it by the views and you'll call it Fort Gorgeous.

And on a gorgeous summer day like today, it's simply WOW. I paddled out to Fort Gorges today, picnicked at the highest viewpoint and snapped a few digi-pix.

Situated in the middle of Portland's outer harbor, Fort Gorges dominates the seascape. This massive granite structure was erected to protect Portland from naval attack -- an imposing remnant of 19th-century history. Nowadays Fort Gorges is deserted by the military, but it's one of the most popular half-day (or much less) sea kayaking destinations in Maine.

Paddling between East End Beach and Fort Gorges.

Best launch point is Portland's East End Beach, just off the Eastern Prom. Launching from the beach itself is free. Just point your boat toward the big granite mass and paddle. Figure 15 or 20 minutes.

At low tide, there's plenty of room to land. At high tide, there's a tiny cobble beach with room for a few kayaks.

Fort Gorges is a popular destination for paddlers.

The fort is open to the public at no charge. Just walk in and you'll find an informational sign, located in what used to be a parade ground inside the walls.

The open space inside the fort was once a parade ground.

The long wall (the one you walked through) once housed the soldiers. The cannon emplacements were in the other walls. You can walk through the interior. It's spooky.

You can walk through the interior -- here a long hall formed by several cannon emplacements.

Climb to the top and enjoy the incredible views. The city of Portland lies west, Peaks Island lies southeast, and Casco Bay Lines' yellow-bird ferries constantly shuttle between the two. Lots of other pleasure boats and shipping constantly moving about, too. I like a picnic lunch here!

When done touring the fort, re-launch your boat and either return to East End, or better yet, continue on to Peaks Island or some other destination.

When you're finished touring the fort, simply re-launch your kayak.

Continue or return, you've had a simply Gorges-eous trip!

Despite its name, paddling the New Meadows River is a sea kayaking experience: entirely saltwater, entirely tidal. Stretching eight miles from north to south, the New Meadows River is fairly well protected and has an abundance of islands, including several owned by the state Bureau of Parks and Lands and designated as part of the Maine Island Trail.

A friend and I made a half-day excursion here yesterday afternoon, starting at the Sabino boat landing in West Bath, crossing west to Three Islands, venturing south behind Long Island and crossing east to enter the Basin.

Portland kayak enthusiast Nadya Pearson paddles near an island in New Meadows River.

There are several good accesses for day paddlers. There's the official boat launch on Bath Road (Old Rte 1) east of Cook's Corner in Brunswick, and Sabino, a town-owned landing in West Bath. Some paddlers use Seaspray Kayaking in West Bath (rentals, tours, lessons, paddling supplies, etc offered). Seaspray also operates a satellite location out of Sebasco Estates, near the mouth of the New Meadows. Other access options include a boat yard in Cundy's Harbor.

Nadya Pearson approaches an island for a picnic lunch.

Because it's located so conveniently, I'd recommend that any first-time visitors to the New Meadows River stop at Seaspray first or at least check out their website, which is seaspraykayaking.com.

Despite its name, the New Meadows River is a sea kayaking experience.

The Androscoggin River morphed into a long, narrow lake for today's leg of the 2005 Source to Sea Canoe (and kayak) Trek. This morning's start, Center Bridge boat launch, is within the impoundment created by Gulf Island Dam and we took out within sight of the hydro facility itself. The impoundment, which stretches nearly 15 miles north to south, is known as Gulf Island Pond.

Grace Drown (in stern) and Pam Weeks (bow) enjoy paddling on Gulf Island Pond today.

Gulf Island Pond is the most contentious section of the Androscoggin, where dissolved oxygen levels drop too low and where algae blooms are troublesome in some years. A major legislative fight developed this past spring in Augusta over proposals to improve water quality in Gulf Island Pond.

The Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council of Rumford joined us again today on Gulf Island Pond.

We stopped at an attractive island for lunch. Mike Hoover, of FPL Energy (the dam's owner/operator) spoke about the current re-licensing application and associated water quality issues. Greg D'Augustine, of Maine Rivers (an environmental lobbying group), explained that his organization wants to accelerate improvements to water quality, primarily by mandating new rules on paper mills. Deano Gilbert, of the Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council (representing NewPage employees in Rumford paper mill), cautioned that a balance must be struck between environmental quality and jobs.

Deano Gilbert tries paddling a kayak for the first time today on Gulf Island Pond.

Despite its problems, Gulf Island Pond is an attractive place to paddle, with many inviting islands. It's also one of Maine's primo angling spots for smallmouth bass. Half a dozen fishing tournaments are held on the pond each season.

The Source to Sea Trek is in its final week, but there's still time to join. For a schedule and details on joining, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.

Two faces of the Androscoggin River were evident today as the final week of the Source to Sea Canoe (and kayak) Trek began a few miles north of Lewiston-Auburn at Twin Bridges and ended at Center Bridge.

The river was flowing quickly between rocks and boulders at the put-in, but a mile downstream, the current disappeared as we entered Gulf Island Pond, the very long lake created in 1926 by Gulf Island Dam, a major hydropower facility.

Androscoggin River flowed quickly during the first mile.

Judy Gervais of Lewiston relaxes in her kayak.

We spotted several eagles and ospreys while keeping a wary weather eye. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but none appeared.

The long impoundment progressively widened as we paddled south, and soon the river split into multiple channels that braided around clusters of attractive pine-clad islands. The biggest of these is about a mile long and a few hundred feet wide. There are several good spots for landing and lunch on these islands.

As usual, kayaks outnumbered canoes on the July 18 segment of the Trek.

The segment ended as we passed under Center Bridge, where members of the Androscoggin Land Trust greeted us with a cookout at the boat launch/picnic area. ALT co-founded the Trek 10 years ago, and still shares many common interests with the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, which runs the event today.

Here are three photos taken from the bridge:

Three kayaks paddle head under Center Bridge.

Canoeists head under Center Bridge.

Barbra Barrett and Chuck Knox paddle under Center Bridge.

For a schedule of the Trek's final week and details on joining, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.

Two short segments of river separated by a short portage defined the overall experience for Day 12 of the 2005 Androscoggin River Canoe (and kayak) Trek. Today's group paddled eight canoes and 15 kayaks from Riley Dam to the Spruce Mountain ski area.

Distance was listed as eight miles, but it felt like far less. The most notable landmark of the day was the International Paper Company's Jay mill.

Two experts spoke to us. First up was Van Blauvelt, a Registered Maine Guide and fly casting coach from Windham, who gave a demo on a sandbar on an island in the river. Smallmouth bass are the key sport-game species in this segment of the Andro, and Blauvelt often guides paying customers on this section plus several others. He's also a licensed New Hampshire guide and works the Andro upstream of the state line in Gilead.

Blauvelt showed us the basics of fly casting and caught one small bass on a Woolly Bugger, which he regards as sort of a jack-of-all-trades among the seeming infinite variety of flies. Blauvelt was paddling a canoe today, but he normally uses a drift boat for his paying customers.

Next up was Tom Saviello, environmental manager for IP's Jay mill. He spoke on pollution control efforts undertaken at IP since 1991, which greatly reduced color, odor and foam discharges to a tiny fraction of previous levels.

IP's Jay mill is the newest of four on the river, built in 1965. Others are in Berlin, NH, Rumford and Livermore Falls. Saviello says Jay's discharges are normally far below legally mandated levels.

Saviello also serves in the state legislature. He noted that IP's Jay mill employs 1,100 people at tiptop wages -- a factor that defines many attitudes in this community. Mill worker opposition to a recent legislative proposal to accelerate anti-pollution efforts -- opposition motivated by fear of job losses -- was a key factor behind the bill's unanimous defeat in committee.

For details on joining the Trek, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.

Below are a few pictures I took of today's Trek segment.

Paddling the Androscoggin July 16

Kayaker Debra Sager of Amesbury, MA

Van Blauvelt (right) speaks to group

Van Blauvelt casts a fly

Close-up of Woolly Bugger

Ten canoes, 21 kayaks, 40 paddlers, three bald eagles and one minature papermaking machine. Those were the key numbers from the 10th day of the 10th anniversary Androscoggin Source to Sea Canoe (and kayak) Trek.

We started from the Mexico boat launch and ended at the Dixfield boat landing -- both hand-carry sites. Distance was about nine miles, and with a strong current, we easily paddled it in about three hours.

As always on this segment, lunch was a freebie, supplied by the NewPage paper mill in Rumford. The educational presentation was by the Pulp and Paper Workers Resources Council, which represents the plant's employees, and included a four-foot-long paper machine (a real one is a city block long) and a demo where kids could make their own sheet of paper.

The P&PWRC has been a fixture on the Trek for several years, and they even have a canoe lettered with their name. They represent active outdoors enthusiasts -- skiers, fishermen, paddlers, etc. They ran a big trash cleanup on this section of the river a couple weeks ago.

P&PWRC is committed to keeping the Androscoggin healthy, but they're also very obviously concerned about keeping the NewPage mill running. Their logo is a balance scale with the opposite sides labeled "environment" and "jobs."

Two adult eagles plus their offspring provided the day's avian excitement.

For details on joining the Trek, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.

Below are a few pictures I took of today's Trek segment.

The 2005 annual Androscoggin Source-to-Sea Canoe Trek is underway, and the organizers hope that as many paddlers as possible will join them.

Sponsor is the non-profit Androscoggin River Watershed Council. The Trek is organized as a series of one-day excursions that average 10 miles. Most participants join for a day or two, although there's at least one guy from Millinocket who's doing the whole distance.

Nearly every day there's an on-river program conducted by a naturalist, biologist, sportsman or historian.

First launch was July 5 and the Trek ends July 24 at Fort Popham.

Participation is free (NOT a fund-raiser) and despite its name, kayaks outnumber canoes on most days. Organizers also take care of the shuttle with a 15-passenger van.

I've participated for nine years, generally joining for 4-5 total days. I'm also the section guide for July 14, 18 and 19.

Three decades ago, the Androscoggin was ranked among America's Top Ten Dirtiest Rivers, but today it's a beautiful place to paddle. Joining fellow outdoor enthusiasts makes our sport more enjoyable and this 20-day event is a great place to meet new people.

Here are a couple of photos I took showing the Source-to-Sea Canoe Trek in previous years.

For details on joining the Trek, logon to www.avcnet.org/arwc.