Dick and I put in at Fort Popham, at the mouth of the Kennebec River from a sand beach next to the Fort. We talked to Ranger Dave, who said it would be OK to leave our vehicle there, he even offered that they patrol the area at night. Fairly new to kayak touring, we both pulled out mountains of gear, and stared disbelieving at the small orifice that it must pass through before being stowed away.

Two loaded boats

The miracle of packing behind us, we put in at dead low tide. The Kennebec was pouring out fast, and we were in a sizable eddy. Having been in a kayak only a few times, I was drawn into the bumps and whirls of the eddy line much faster than I wanted. Prepared for a brace, it was an anticlimax and we raced on the current out of the mouth and into the bay.

Once in the bay, the rushing current met the ocean swells, which were wrapping around Seguin Island, and hitting us from two angles. In these confused waves, and my completely uncalibrated sense of distance, we mistakenly set out to paddle around Seguin, thinking it were a much smaller near-shore island on the chart. Halfway there, we realized our goof, and headed west amongst the lobster boats and pleasure craft that were passing through. We stayed offshore, as it was low tide. We could see the folks on the beach as we headed for Small Point and Casco Bay beyond.

In my haste to pack, I did not consider weight distribution at all. Most of my weight was in the front, and made the boat handle sluggishly, and take on a bit more water. Both my Brother Dick and I were paddling Aquaterra Sea Lions. Another poorly conceived notion was to put my clothes stuff sack between my feet. In an attempt to give my foot a rest, I managed to pull up on the backside of one pedal, adjusting it way up toward me. Having done this, the only way to use the rudder was to poke my knee up into the cockpit, and just barely get my foot onto the peddle. In this position, my leg lost all feeling and my butt began to quiver with the pain. Finally I got Bro over to raft up with me while I reached under and re-adjusted the peddle. Oh, what a relief.

After Small Point, we rounded Bald Head. On Bald Head, there was a small channel between the rocks that lead into a small sandy beach. We surfed into the calm water and took a lunch break on that deserted little beach. After lunch, we rounded the point and went past Head Cove, our original destination. It was full of people, dogs, umbrellas and blankets. Seems as though luck was with us.

We paddled past Head Beach and all the campsites on Hermit Island. Looked like nice views from the tents, but it looked crowded. Now in Casco Bay, we took the seaward side of Wood Island, through some fine breakers, then the lee of Flag Island. Flag had a gull rookery on it, with zillions of squawking gulls, even sitting in trees. In the lee, where a good landing was, we were disappointed by a house there. So we crossed to Long Ledge, but no place to land. We continued to Jenny Island, a cute little spit covered with terns. Again, though, at the landing on the lee side of the island, a sign proclaimed "No Landing - Tern Nesting Site". So from there, we just headed to Raspberry Island, our final destination for the night.

Raspberry Island is open only to members of the Maine Island Trail Association. There is one campsite in the center of the island. It's privately owned, and the owners prohibit fires, require cooking below the high tide line, and pack every thing out, including human waste. Being unprepared for such a rule, we steeled our sphincters and saved our impacts for some less restricted island. It was a nice island, but there was a lot of boat traffic in and out of Quahog Bay.