The
Boat Shed
At
The Museum “A New Marilla”
The
Row-Around
Valley
Paddle
Our members Bob Cowen and Dave Marshall will be busy this winter building the “Weekender”, a 16" LOA Sailing Camp Cruiser with a cabin. This is a nice boat well suited for a couple, and with a boom tent, you could take a family of four, although it would be “cozy”. (www.stevensonprojects.com)
I think Dave is also building a kayak and a rowboat. These two members alone should provide lots of pictures for the Newsletter to get us through the winter. (and perhaps a visit to the shop once things get going??)
At
The Museum “A New Marilla”
by the editor
The big news this issue is that Eamon Doorly, boat builder and restorer for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has started to build a Tancook Sloop based on the lines of “Marilla”. At press time the oak “backbone” has been completed. This new hull will be built traditionally with pine planking and oak frames, keel etc..
The original “Marilla” can be seen in the Small Craft Gallery at the Museum. She was built in 1895 making her the oldest boat in the collection. As she sits she is gray/blue with red bottom paint and a tall gaff rig. She is positioned near the water side windows, is 24 feet long with a 6 foot beam and draws a little over two feet. Her lines are just beautiful, a work of art and function, more yacht then work boat, which is how she started her career. She was converted for pleasure in the 1920s, and at that time her smaller work rig was converted for racing, which is how she is displayed today.
Over the next few years, workshops will be held for the public to learn different aspects of traditional boat building. These will include hands on steam bending of frames late February 2002. Exciting stuff even if you never plan to build this way.
This version of Marilla will be launched in the summer of 2003, an event not to be missed.
The
Row-Around
by Liza
Hageraats
Another fine weekend of Kayak/ camping, this time under the direction of Karl Richardson and the auspices of the Owls Head Memorial Row-Around. Originally, this event was organized to raise money to build a Memorial at Owl’s Head to commemorate those fishermen and fisherwomen lost at sea. The memorial is now built and maintained by the community. But the event is still in existence and pledges are accepted to contribute to the upkeep of the memorial, although the endurance part of the event is no longer a factor. Karl has become less of a hard task maker and the event is more geared to enjoying that beautiful part of the province. Although I had hiked the area in the past I had never been on the water there. Quite a nice change from the busier South Shore. We did not run into a soul the entire weekend until we were coming in to shore on the Sunday. Also be aware that cell phones do not get great reception out there if you are relying on that for your safety net.
Saturday dawned warm and foggy when we met at 9 a.m for a 9:30 launch. In total there were 4 kayaks, two dories and nine people. There were Karl and Gordon Richardson, Frank and Ken Stevens, Fraser and Jennifer Howell, Ulli Hoeger, Chris Bennet, and I. Karl hosted as usual and started us off with his wife Pat’s famous cookies. Charts of the area were passed out and a possible route discussed. Things were kept pretty loose though, as the weather would determine our direction. We were told to head over to Cable Island, which was not visible through the fog and then were to circle on the inside of the island and meet at a beach on the far side. Fraser gave Ulli a heading for his GPS and we played follow the leader. However once we sighted the island we realized that the group had split up. One dory and one kayak were indeed heading around the inside of the island. The rest of us found ourselves at the outside point. So we decided to go around that direction and join them on the other side. It turned out to be a bit of a hairy ride.
The wind was blowing freshly from the South, and there was a lively sea building. We had to head into the wind and waves for quite a ways into the open water so that we weren’t forced into the shoals or rocks on our turn. Slapping into the chop made for a wet and rocky ride. And when we did turn, we were Surfing USA Yee Haw! Fraser admitted to some trepidation at the sound of the breakers coming up behind him. As soon as we rounded the outer point we pulled in to a sheltered beach to catch our breath and wait for the other half of our group. The ride certainly got our adrenaline pumping. We re-grouped and discussed our next leg with more attention being paid to sticking together, we headed (on the inside) to Wolfes Island. We crossed over in a much more civilized manner and on the far side followed Long Creek into a sheltered area of the island. The rocks rose straight up from the water and at the head there looked to be a sandy beach. This turned out to be a very large slick slab of rock, which would only be exposed at low tide. Gordon tempted us with marinated octopus as a snack. We decided to have lunch there and soon discovered that initials had been carved into the slab. They dated from 1912, 1937,1949. But what most intrigued us was a simple hieroglyphic, a stylized VK, below which was an initial “G”. Could this possibly be the designer of our trusty Volkskayaks? We suspect so. (Ed. Note: Gerry has never been there and was quite surprised to hear of it)
We refueled and continued around Wolfes Island through various rock outcroppings. On one there was a nest of young osprey. The parent birds were circling the rocks indignantly crying at our intrusion. Our next stop was further along the Wolfes Island shore. We came to a beautiful white sand beach. Karl immediately challenged us to discover what was different about the sand as we stepped out to explore. This was not obvious to the eye but as soon as you started to walk on the dry sand, it became clear. It was a singing beach. The friction and pressure of the movement of our feet over the sand created a lovely musical tone. We left the beach, much to our regret, rowed and paddled back past the osprey nests and crossed over two km to Charles Island (also called Borgles Is.). This crossing proved to be challenging as well. It was what I have often read in literature described as a sea’s cauldron. Wind, waves, wake sand swell coming from all directions. Everything short and choppy. I mentally thanked Gerry for the stability of his design and was glad I had the experience to know the limitations of my boat. I was not afraid or uncomfortable at any time but after 35 minutes of intense concentration to keep our boats moving in the right direction in a stable manner, we were all very glad to reach sheltered waters. The fact that the sun finally came out was a bonus.
Charles Island is L shaped with a very sheltered cove at the inside apex of the angles. The sides of the island are wooded and rise fairly sharply but there is a rickety old dock and a cleared road leading into the woods. Karl tells us that a group from Boston owns the island and they planned to build condos on it. In fact there are lot markers here and there and a gazebo at the mouth of the cove on a bluff. However he also suggested that the road is suspiciously appropriate for the landing of a light aircraft.
Whatever the owners’ motives, they seem to have abandoned it for now and it made for a lovely camping spot. As we paddled into the cove we passed a rock covered in seals, their silvery pelts glinting in the late afternoon sun. Jennifer immediately started lusting after a parka. But the seals were soon disturbed and slid and belly flopped into the water. Once we reached the shore they returned and we could observe them easily from land. We landed, reconnoitered and started setting up camp. Changing in to dry clothes was a priority as was building a fire. The wind was blowing onshore and the wood a little damp after all that fog which made it kind of smoky but it was a great help with the mosquitoes. Lots of grub was consumed as well as wine, hot rum and beer. After supper Gordon decided to go for a swim, telling us that the water was warmer than the air. He returned an hour later with a dozen or so scallops. Karl shucked them and pointed out the 104 eyes (52 top, 52, bottom along the inside rim of the shell) Cool. He had me hold a shucked scallop in my hand to feel the creature pulse a strong muscle contraction. Amazing. They fried them up including the eyes, and roe sacks. Another gastronomic adventure.
We finished the evening and libations watching Fraser’s underwear dry on a pole by the fire. He had some aversion to arriving home with wet underwear. Ulli’s GPS informed us that we had covered 18 km that day. Sunday dawned sunny and although the winds were light in the morning they certainly picked up in the afternoon. Breakfast was consumed and although some dipped into the octopus again I stuck to my cereal. We left our cozy cove around 9:30 and paddled towards Ship Rock so named for its prow like cliff rising straight out of the water facing out to the open ocean. The seals we had seen the night before played around us and followed the dories as they had mackerel lines out. Chris found an outcropping where piping plovers were feeding. We both bobbed in the waves to observe them, but as he left to try and find footholds in Ship Rock I attempted to get a closer look. They were so cute that I failed to notice a seemingly harmless wavelet which picked me up and deposited me on one of the sharper rocks. I maneuvered myself away from the rocks only to discover that I suddenly had a very wet bum. I opened my spray skirt and started to sponge out the water I suspected had come in through the skirt. But the sponge was not very efficient. I motioned to Ulli who wasn’t far and told him I needed him to brace me so I could remove the water from my cockpit. I soon realized the sponge wasn’t going to do the trick. With Ulli’s pump I exposed the hands-width breach in my hull. The water was coming in as fast as I could pump it out. Ulli suggested towing me to the nearest landing spot so I could continue pumping, where we could assess the damage. There was an island quite close. Always prepared he had some 5-minute epoxy with him.(This is now an essential in my kit). One of the dories joined us. We patched the kayak with the epoxy and taped it booth inside and out with Fraser’s duct tape. The experience was a good one as any rescue exercise is. It reaffirmed the need for cooperation, paddling in company and being prepared for any eventuality. Thank you Ulli and Fraser. I admit to being a little tentative when we set out again and I stuck fairly close to the dory. I soon realized that the repair was a success and that my boat was staying perfectly dry. We stopped on the lee side of Passage Island for a lunch break and out of the wind it was warm enough to brave the waters for a swim. No scallops were found however. But when we left this island we realized that the wind had definitely picked up. We had to cross DeBaies Cove and Owl’s Head Bay with the wind blowing around 20 kt. directly on our bow. There was no windbreak and quite a fetch over that distance as well. We had to paddle non-stop or face losing ground all the way to our departure point. It took about 40 minutes of constant paddling. We all came to shore and helped each other unpack and load up the boats on our respective vehicles. There was another moment of panic when Ulli’s car failed to start. But Frank called the local mechanic and they soon had it working. We couldn’t leave without another feed of course as we had burned a few calories on the final push. I guess it is tradition to have a boil-up and Frank supplied us with buckets of steamed mussels, which we consumed under the trees by the memorial site. The official portrait was taken and the weekend was over. For those SWBANS members who have considered it in the past, I would highly recommend coming out for this event next year. A more congenial group of people is hard to find and it is worth it for the marinated octopus, Pat’s cookies and fresh out of the ocean scallops alone. I’ll be there with 5-minute epoxy and duct tape next year.
Valley
Paddle
by Ryerson Clark
On September 30th, Gerry and Jose Gladwin announced on their web page a general fall leaf paddle for kayakers. Kind of a last minute thing open to everyone.
Anne and I went along with several other SWBANS members. All together there were thirteen Volkskayaks, about half members, and the day was picture perfect. We started on a lake (sorry, forget which one, it is a very confusing series of waterways for an outsider) and then paddled into a canal for the rest of the day.
A very interesting area as it was once forest land that had been flooded many years ago for hydro generation. Because of this you are sometimes paddling through the remains of trees over the old forest floor! I bet there are few other places you can say “I just got hung up in a tree”, while paddling a kayak.
Some went all the way to the end of this canal, others stopped for an early lunch and turned back to the cars. Near where Anne, Pattie, Rob and I stopped, we got very close to two Bald Eagles, actually drifted right under their tree! What a feeling!
If you get the chance, give Gerry a call and get directions. You won’t regret this paddle and it is a sheltered area for all skill levels.