A group of 10 kayakers from the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club gathered at East End Beach Sunday morning and headed out to Fort Gorges and Peaks Island. Organizer was Judy Gervais from the Lewiston area. Their plan was to spend the afternoon at the big reggae bash at Jones Landing.

I was too busy to join them, but snapped a few pix:

Maureen Griffin, a paddler from Freeport, gets her act together.
Scott Andrews photos

Carrying the kayaks to the beach.

Getting ready to launch.

Pushing off.

Paddling toward Peaks.

The Maine Outdoor Adventure Club has a very active paddling contingent. For info on joining the club, visit their website: www.moac.org.

Lani York, a stalwart member of the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club, joined last weekend's group paddle to Beal Island, and she's offered to share some of her nice pix with PaddleME visitors.

Like most MOAC trips, food was a high point of the weekend. "No dogs and burgers!" Lani emphasizes.

MOAC is a great place to find paddling pals like Lani and the others in the following paddling pix.

A few photos from last weekend's trip to Beal Island, in Hockomock Bay, in the Bath-Wiscasset area.
LANI YORK PHOTOS

The trip was organized by the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club.

Joining MOAC is a great way to meet new paddling pals.

Two paddlers navigate through Hockomock Bay in the area of Beal Island.

Boats are beached for lunch stop.

Lani York has decorated her kayak with wildflowers. THANKS LANI!

To learn more about MOAC and its roster of activities, including info on joining, visit their website at www.moac.org.

Kayakers like to play in a liquid environment, so we should all be paddling pell-mell for a liquidation sale that's going on at Maine Mountain Works.

Todd Forsyth poses with some of the kayaks he's liquidating as Maine Mountain Works closes its 311 Marginal Way shop in Portland.
Scott Andrews photos

Owners Kelly Fernald and Todd Forsyth are locking up their outdoors shop at 311 Marginal Way in Portland and will henceforth concentrate on selling soft goods from their 100 Commercial Street location.

"We're closing the doors and simplifying our lives," Todd told me when I checked out the sale on Tuesday.

Big savings on kayaks and paddling gear. Figure boats themselves running in the $500 range for rotomolded poly to $2,000 for hand-laid fiberglass.

Kayaks are among the hundreds of items being liquidated as Maine Mountain Works closes its 311 Marginal Way location in Portland.

Big discounts on little stuff too, from tents and sleeping bags down to bailing sponges.

Check out their website or call 879-1410.

I finally did something about a nagging little problem with a loose foot brace in my kayak. I took it to the place I'd bought it five years ago, Seaspray Kayaking in West Bath. There manager Steve Shea (brother of owner Scott) worked wonders with his little Leatherman tool-gadget and re-secured the loose part.

Steve Shea, manager of Seaspray Kayaking in West Bath, fixes a loose foot brace on my boat.
Scott Andrews photos

Steve Shea poses with his Leatherman tool-gadget.

Steve Shea's wonderful Leatherman tool-gadget fixed me up.

Seaspray is one of those go-to kind of places, essential establishments that sell, service and rent kayaks. Plus they stock charts, accessories and run guided trips on the New Meadows River. The dock is just a few yards from the office.

Seaspray is also a popular put-in spot. Steve says they don't charge for launching or parking. Just a great way to meet kayakers and customers.

Check out their website or call 888-349-7772.

In terms of numbers of paddlers, the sandy Saco River is tops in Maine. In fact, it has a reputation for sometimes being too popular, especially midsummer days with drenching sunshine. Like yesterday. But when I took my kayak down the Saco yesterday, I saw only three other boats.

The Saco River is tops in Maine for popularity among paddlers.
Scott Andrews photos

Canoeing the Saco yesterday.

In fact, on the 14-mile stretch between Route 160 in Brownfield-Denmark and Route 117 in Hiram, I didn't see any other paddlers.

I enjoyed hours of solitude with a northwest wind mostly at my back, helping push things along.

Lots of flowers too. Wish I knew what these are!

Lots of flowers were blooming along the river and its banks.

A pair of canoe rental companies/campgrounds are located on either side of the Route 160 bridge. River Run is on the Denmark side, while Woodland Acres is on the Brownfield side. Phone numbers are 452-2500 and 935-2529 respectively.

Bruce Napolitano, a paddler from Waterville, was among dozens of trash men and trash women out on the Androscoggin River this weekend.

Bruce Napolitano, a canoeist from Waterville, was among dozens of trash men and trash women who were out this past weekend cleaning up the Androscoggin River.
Scott Andrews photos

On Saturday, Bruce and I picked up litter on a section of the river between Worumbu Dam and Pejepscot Dam in the Lisbon-Topsham-Durham-Brunswick area. This was our second trash collection of the season. Back in May, Bruce and I picked up litter on a section of the Saco River in Biddeford-Saco.

Numerically, plastic items were our biggest haul on Saturday. Shopping bags and other everyday plastic items were ubiquitous. A truck tire was the heaviest and the detached door of an office safe aroused the most curiosity.

Plastic items were Bruce's biggest haul, ranging from shopping bags to lengths of PVC piping.

Several other larger items were on an island and surrounded by lush beds of poison ivy. Eschewing the rash impulse to charge into the woods and haul them out, Bruce and I chose the Falstaffian strategy (discretion trumps valor) of waiting till next spring, before the itchy perennial has sprouted.

This past weekend's Androscoggin clean-up was organized by Communities Getting Involved. The clean-up continues through the paddling season, and there's still time to get involved and help out.

Later, I'll try to get a more complete report on what's been accomplished.

Plans are coming together for this weekend's clean-up of the Androscoggin River, an effort spearheaded by Communities Getting Involved, a non-profit organization based in Turner. Yesterday I paddled along one section of the river with CGI head honcho Eric Goodwin for a preview and preliminary survey.

Eric Goodwin of Turner is the head honcho of Communities Getting Involved, the non-profit organization which is spearheading this summer's Androscoggin River clean-up.
Scott Andrews photos

We paddled together for about two hours, and I got a chance to chat with Eric and get to know his plans and goals.

Beyond the obvious and laudable goals of picking up trash and improving the appearance of the waterway itself, Eric also made it clear that getting people out on the river and committed to making it a positive part of their lifestyles was another objective of his three-year-old organization.

That's also the nearly identical mission of the Androscoggin River Watershed Council, which sponsors the annual Source-to-Sea Canoe Trek.

The Androscoggin River Watershed Council and the Communities Getting Involved share the goal of getting people out on the river and making it part of their lifestyles. Above, Pam Weeks and Grace Drown paddling a section near Turner on last month's Source-to-Sea Canoe Trek.

There are several other organizations that are working to improve the Androscoggin, but these two are the most active and have the biggest presence on the water.

With its vast expanse of open water and huge number of high-speed boats, Sebago Lake can prove a daunting experience for canoeists and kayakers.

But the Dingley Islands, an attractive and intimate archipelago in South Casco, is a corner of the lake that can be enjoyed by most paddlers on most days.

Two kayakers cruise through the Dingley Islands on Sebago Lake yesterday.
Scott Andrews photos

The put-in is Kettle Cove, about 25 miles north of Portland via US Rte 302. Use the tiny hand-launch site (reached via the road to Point Sebago Resort) and head out toward the lake. And you’re there. Right in the middle of the Dingleys.

There are about two dozen islands in Sebago Lake's Dingley archipelago. Some have undeveloped picnic spots.

I’d guess there are about two dozen heavily forested islands spread over a couple of miles. The largest boast several acres, while the tiniest are barely big enough to support one or two trees.

The Dingley Islands are an attractive place to paddle.

A couple of islands have decent picnic sites, though don’t expect any facilities. Just a pleasant place to chow down a sandwich with a fine view.

Charts can be purchased at Richardson's Boat Yard in North Windham. Telephone is 892-9664. Purchase or rent canoes and kayaks at Sebago Outfitters in North Windham. Telephone is 892-9228.

I've been paddling Big Squam Lake in New Hampshire this past summer, and I find it's got a lot to offer, including a canoe-kayak trail with 15 "backcountry" campsites -- most located on islands.

Situated north of Winnipesaukee and south of the White Mountains, Big Squam Lake is a large, sprawling waterbody with many long coves and perhaps two dozen islands. Much of the movie "On Golden Pond" was filmed here.

Big Squam Lake is a large, sprawling waterbody with many long coves and perhaps two dozen islands.
Scott Andrews photos

Best place to start is the Squam Lakes Association, which owns the 15 campsites on Moon Island, Bowman Island and one remote peninsula. SLA has an office and boat launch site on US Route 3 in Holderness where they offer charts, guidebooks, campsite reservations and canoe and kayak rentals. You can also call them at 603-968-7336.

Kayaker approaches Moon Island campsite, near the middle of Squam Lake.

There are other launch sites, the nearest is a hand-carry landing that's exactly 80 miles west of Portland.

Detail of Squam Lake chart, showing Moon and Bowman Islands in lower left hand corner.

Not into camping? Check out the Squam Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce for a huge range of accommodations and amenities -- which are many. Or call them at 603-968-4494.

The impressive scope of the upcoming Androscoggin River cleanup, currently being organized by Communities Getting Involved, shouldn't eclipse the work that's been done by others who got involved picking up trash earlier this canoeing and kayaking season. While Communities Getting Involved boasts the biggest scope -- see my Aug. 3 posting -- it's not the only group of paddlers out there collecting trash.

Raft Maine's 2003 Presumpscot River cleanup (above) won a national prize.
Photo courtesy Raft Maine

Raft Maine, the trade association of 15 whitewater companies, cleaned up a section of the Presumpscot River in Windham-Gorham in May. Raft Maine, led by Joe Christopher of Three Rivers Whitewater, supplied the inflatable boats and other gear, while Windham Christian Academy and the Helen King Middle School of Portland supplied boy- and girl-power.

The Maine Outdoor Adventure Club cleaned up a section of the Saco River a few days later. Other organizations that have devoted volunteer time and effort include the Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council from the NewPage mill in Rumford and the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay.

Paddlers from the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club pose with trash collected on the Saco River.
Scott Andrews photo

Some of these organizations were assisted by Tom's of Maine, which served as the Maine coordinator for National River Cleanup Week.

Eric Goodwin wants paddlers like us to get involved in Maine’s biggest river trash collection, planned for the Androscoggin next week. The scope of the project is daunting: 102 miles from the Maine-New Hampshire border to tidewater in Brunswick. It will include 20 different sections along the shores of 21 different towns. The cleanup will require approximately 300 people and 140 boats. The biggest push is planned for Aug. 13-14.

Paddlers getting involved: Cleaning up the Nezinscot River last year
Both photos courtesy Communities Getting Involved

Eric’s the head honcho of Communities Getting Involved, a Turner-based non-profit that is organizing the effort. The organization has spearheaded several recent cleanups in the past two years and plans to expand greatly this summer.

To date, Communities Getting Involved has run two cleanups on the Nezinscot River, an important tributary of the Androscoggin. In 2003 and 2004 volunteers pulled 4,200 pounds of tires from the Nezinscot -- plus several washing machines, stoves and “major parts of vehicles.”

A small navy of volunteer paddlers is needed for next week's cleanup of 102 miles of the Androscoggin River.

Although Eric envisions a broader scope for his group, river cleanups are its genesis and remain a high priority. “We try to do what our name says -- which is getting community members involved in things going on in their community,” explains Eric. “We have a special forte in river cleanups.”

To get involved, visit Eric’s website or call 577-0948 (cellphone) or 235-2591 (voicemail).