ACK JULY 2021

ACK Home Page

Paddlers head into the sunset from Bowman Isl., Squam Lake, N.H. Photo by Tamsin Venn.

HARBOR SEAL PUPS AND HUMAN INTERACTIONS

July is a delicate time of year for Harbor Seal pups on the New England coast. They are born in May and early June and get weaned in about 25 days, a short time to learn the high stakes of ocean living. Those first few weeks away from Mom, they are still on a steep learning curve. Their foraging may still take some practice and they may be thinning out from not eating enough and are vulnerable.

SUMMER ON SQUAM LAKE
by Tamsin Venn

For a long time, we have reported on the Lakes of October, where one can paddle through firey reflective displays of shoreside foliage. Days are bright blue (but not always), water is cold, boats are few, nights are chilly, campfires welcome, and straggling migrating birds pass overhead. Winter is coming.

We decided to switch it up and try one of these lakes in the middle of summer to see what we were missing. Thus we arrived on Squam Lake, Holderness, N.H., the first week of July. To secure this campsite on Bowman Island, I joined the Squam Lakes Assn. (SLA) and signed up for a lottery in January.

NEW TO SEA KAYAKING WORKSHOP
by David Eden

It was 10:00 A.M., Saturday, June 26, one of those screechingly hot and humid days I usually associate with deep summer, and that invariably starts the 60s hit "Ode to Billy Joe" mindworming in my skull. I had traveled to the picturebook town of Topsfield, Mass., and located the historic Gould Barn, just off the town square. Today I would be off the water, but would spend the next several hours at the New to Sea Kayaking Workshop, presented by the North Shore Paddlers Network (NSPN).

PADDLING THE 'HOOD
by Tamsin Venn

It's time to reacquaint ourselves with our home kayak route after a winter off. The impetus is a visit from long-time ACK subscribers Paul and Laurel Foster-Moore who have made their way from western Massachusetts.

As tour guides, we are happy to show them the paddling neighborhood but have to do some homework on COVID-restricted put-ins still in place … and our local history. We fobbed off some questionable historic facts on them so herewith some corrections.

THURSEVE PADDLING : BEATRICE BLUES
by John Boeschen

"What's with Beatrice?" says Gandalf.

"Yeah," echoes Dragon, "what's wrong with Beatrice? I've never seen her behavin' like this."

"Who's Beatrice?" says Julia, new to the harbor and first-time Thurseve paddler.

WHERE TO KAYAK ON LAKE MICHIGAN
Courtesy of Aqua Bound

The Great Lakes, containing 84 percent of North America's fresh surface water, are a world-class sea kayaking destination. This article lists some of the outfitters ready to take you there.

If you're an experienced sea kayaker with the right gear for big, cold water, simply renting a boat will work for you. But if you've not kayaked the big lakes before, an outfitter will mean a seasoned guide to take you out with the appropriate kayak and knowledge of the area.

NOTICE: Please remember to check carefully all phone numbers, launch permissions, and any other information in these older stories. Much may have changed since these articles were written.

DECEPTIVE BUT'ORRIBLE OFFSHORE WINDS
by Paul Caffyn

Wind is the curse of sea kayakers. It generates the bulk of problems that arise — choppy seas, capsizes, wind chill, weather tide effects, surf, and so on. There is, however, an exception: A following breeze or one quatering from astern can be a real boon in aiding progress through surfing rides.

PADDLING AROUND NAHANT
by Mark Taylor

Nahant is a small town adjacent to Lynn, Massachusetts. It actually consists of two islands, LIttle Nahant and Big Nahant, connected to Lynn by a causeway and to each other by Nahant Road. Nahant Road is the continuation of the causeway and is the main road through the town. There is no shortage of put-ins in Nahant. However, if you are not a resident, three problems will limit your ability to fully and freely enjoy sea kayaking there… parking, parking, and parking.

SEA KAYAKING IN THE WOODS
by Clark Bowlen

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway is a 92-mile long, 1000-foot wide state park that runs north from Telos Lake just above Baxter State Park to the St. John River at Allagash Village, just about as far north as you can buy a coke and still be in Maine. It offers lake and river paddling, mild white water, campsites with tables, privies, and natural spectacle.

AN ONLINE HISTORY OF SEA KAYAKING

"Many people nowadays are vastly impressed with the greatness of our age, with all the inventions and the progress of which we daily hear, and which appear to indisputably to exalt the highly-gifted white race far over all others. These people would learn much by paying close attention to the development of the Eskimos and to the tools and inventions by the aid of which they obtain the necessaries of life among natural surroundings which place suck pitifully small meanes at their disposal."
Fridtjof Nansen from Eskimo Life published in 1894.

Klassified ads for personally-owned gear are free to subscribers; $0.25 per word, per issue for all others. Photos are $5 each. We will run your ad for two issues. Deadline for ad submission is the first of the month before the issue of publication. NOTE: If seller is advertising more than one item, contact info is after the LAST item.