I would also like to start paddling sections of the MIT. With our 2 year old I can no longer get away for more than 4-5 days at a time, and even that's pushing it, but hopefully enough to start getting a bay or two in every season. I'm not a big fan of point to point paddling, instead prefer paddling closer to shore and checking out scenery as I go, although might just have to island hop given the layout of the bays and points. MITA isn't true wilderness paddling, lots of commercial and boat traffic and private residents out on the islands, but it is serious exposed ocean paddling. The points also make things trickier as points tend to do. But it's convenient for me as a flatlander without the luxury of being able to travel days to get really out there.
I've paddled out of the Stonington area a bit, great place to start getting a feel for Maine paddling, while having the resources of Old Quarry Campgrounds to steer you in the right direction. Lots of options out of Old Quarry, from close in and protected to a circumnavigation of the exposed Isle Au Haut, although can get a little busy on the islands mid summer. I also get the impression Old Quarry has the ability to pick you up off an island if things don't go well, which is always a nice option to have in your back pocket. Don't mind paying a bit more to park my car there knowing I'm supporting a choice group of folks, also nice to be able to take a shower before driving back to the flatlands. Would be a great spot to base camp and day paddle as well. http://www.oldquarry.com/
The online app I'd use for at home planning, wouldn't want to rely on it out on the islands where reception can be spotty, always opt to get a copy of the MITA handbook and drag it out along with charts of the area. Good to do a bit of homework and mark off the available island campsites and major compass bearings so you don't have to deal with those things on the water in case a campsite is being used or the fog rolls in.
Couple of things you don’t expect One is that for some carriers the cell phone reception is significantly better on the islands than in the same area on the mainland. Line of sight to cell phone towers is often better a little bit out.
The other is that the smaller private islands tend to have no one on them except for if there is another MITA campsite. On all those I have camped on, we were a kayak trip across some water away from any help if we needed something like medical aid. Would likely have involved a call to the Coast Guard.
I actually work in Gwaii Haanas so I'm really familiar with a lot of these areas. I think Benjamin Point is the area you are talking about. I've been scared for my life there driving a power boat once before. Not a fun place to be in most situations.
My work schedule only allows for about 5-7 days between shifts so I'd likely not make it that far south. I'm beginning to lean towards a kayak now with all this information. I may just wait for the right one to show up used and then buy some beater canoe for the odd hunt later down the road. It's just so hard to find any paddle boats around here and I can't exactly test any to see what fits. I'll just have to be patient.
Easy Rider not a solo, but a decked tandem that has a center cockpit that you can use to paddle solo from
a good stiff boat in fiberglass - Seattle company, so you might find a used one in your area - $3900 new. The boat has been paddled thru the Grand Canyon, so if it can take on lava falls, I’d guess it to be fairly suitable for ocean swells - always depending on having good hatch covers. You would need to add a foam block for a seat, or rig like a ww saddle
you would need to get different hatch covers for bow and stern positions to keep the water out, and a kayak like center hatch cover
Why… Sea canoes are not in major stock for two reasons -
NOTHING in the way of a major seaworthy craft is selling for shat right now.
Most paddlers can’t paddle them anyway, at least in their intended environment.
It has NOTHING to do with whether they are apt boats in the right hands.
And I had a Solstice series boat for my first sea kayak. I paddled her somewhat overloaded at times against the ideal loaded weights. Given half a chance I pack as inefficiently in a kayak as in suitcases.
If you have an overloaded Solstice series boat that dies not feel like pushing a log thru the water I assume either you are not really overloading it (the capacity of those boats is huge), or you like paddling a boat that feels like getting a semi truck thru its lower gears to get up to speed.
Freya's Epic vs Kruger's Kruger ? give me a break wudja ?
Mr. Experience should total the load going into his sea canoe and I should read the sea canoe piece.
I assume the canoe goes into an area of wonder, wondering how Kruger traveled where when and how he did that. For paddling a sea canoe around the point in a stiff wind is wondrous.
The Solstice does not store enough eligible camping weight for depth beyond depth for keel control...that is no anvils, no bags o'bean cans.
But the sea canoe offers unlimited anvil storage ? I think not. The idea immediately wades into the same loggy yawing motion against forward travel. Wallow.
The equation is human power/hull drag against sea friction. More hull drag is not an advantage, more storage is a long distance advantage ( see the CF trans ocean rowers ). Question is where's the limit, does either hull offer an advantage in the equation ?
I can't remember Kruger getting a ride with the Chilean Navy. How much stuff did Kruger pack ?
I hear Experience is in the Keys ? He should try the Boomerang. Weather is AAAAA
I have encountered far better paddlers than most on this board on the islands in Maine, doing the full run for usually the second or third time. Using one of those sea canoes you are comparing to a garbage truck.
Most of them are (in some cases were) your senior in age and experience. Your opinion is just nasty drivel against their years and knowledge.
I like the Schade boats, and have paddled with folks who took advantage of his free rolling sessions on a local pond near where he lives in CT. Everything I have heard is that he is a really nice guy.
I suspect he would not be pleased to have his information used to diss the work of folks like Verlen Kruger or the major guy (whose name I embarrassigngly forget) who did some work on radar reflection in a sea kayak. My husband and I ran into him on Thief some years ago, he had just come around Pemmaquid Point in a Sea Wind on what was probably his last time doing the full trail.
This kind of attitude is why some of the older hands hate kayakers. Moments like this, they are right.
Didn’t have a choice of boats? Native peoples paddled everything from thin, light hunting kayaks to family sized big SOF’s to canoes, depending on which craft best suited their purpose. And of course which group of native peoples, since different environments demanded a different fit.
It has got to be very tiring for people with native heritage to keep hearing white folks propagate the myth that their ancestors were too stupid to design the correct craft for their needs.
First, the native folks did just fine in their traditional canoes offshore. The reason the early Maine settlers moved their livestock to the islands when things were particularly dangerous was not because the Indians couldn’t get to the islands in canoes. Nor because they were entirely unable to steal the livestock. It was because it took longer for them to steal the livestock if they were on an island. And the livestock was a secondary target compared to the settlers who often stayed to defend their farms on the mainland, unless it was going to be too bad.
Second, if the native populations found a better idea they were willing to give it a try. At one point in some of the early battles in midcoast Maine, the dominant Indian tribe stole a good sized sailing ship and had a great time using it to raid other settlements, both other native populations and European settlers. They abandoned it eventually, whether it was because the tide had turned in the wars or they did not have the means to maintain it long term is unknown. Perhaps they made the same decision as many of my sailing friends - at some point they are too much bother. I know of two very nice boats for sale right now.
It’s so nice to load the Monarch Tomorrow and leave the troll to his computer. I’m not worried about meeting him on the water. Hel will still be bullying on the keyboard
Had some good paddles in the Apalachicolla area it’s been a bit breezy the garbage scow behaves just fine