Kayak Review for Lower Damariscotta Lake

There is a public boat launch off Rte 213 in Jefferson, maybe 10 miles south of the state park on the west side of the lake. Plenty of parking, but, as of this writing, anyway, there's no toilet facility on site. There is a pad where one might have been located, but it stands empty. Hopefully, this will be corrected, as it is the only negative we can find to this location.

Quiet, peaceful, and picturesque are the words that come to mind. There are power boats on the lake, but they are not any kind of nuisance. This end of the lake is narrower than up by the park, making it easy to get from shore to shore. There are lots of little "nooks and crannies" to explore.  This is a location worth several visits because it's just a pleasant place to be.

KAYAK RATING: 4.5 KAYAKS

It really needs a toilet facility!

Health Benefits of Kayaking

We've done a little bit of research and it appears that kayaking can be a boost to your health regardless of age. From white water kayaking (which we don't do), to a leisurely paddle on a lake, pond, or harbor, kayaking seems to offer numerous benefits. We are not medical practitioners and do not share this information as medical advice; rather, it is for informational purposes only.  Please consult with your medical care provider for further input on these statements.

Following are excerpts from various sites that talk about the benefits of kayaking:

Canoeing and kayaking are low impact activities that can improve your aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility. Specific health benefits include:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness
• Increased muscle strength, particularly in the back, arms, shoulders and chest, from moving the paddle
• Increased torso and leg strength, as the strength to power a canoe or kayak comes mainly from rotating the torso and applying pressure with your legs
• Reduced risk of wear-and-tear on joints and tissues, since paddling is a low impact activity.  http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Canoeing_and_kayaking

Back, Chest, Stomach, Arms and Toning through kayak fitness training:

When you are paddling you can expect to do about 500, maybe more, maybe less, strokes per mile!  Placing the paddle in the water and executing a good stroke is going to incorporate every muscle in the upper body and some lower body muscles as well.  This means that in one hour at 3 mph you are going to do about 1500 repetitions of low impact upper body movements, which no matter what your fitness goals are, you are going to tone up almost every muscle in your body.  Hey, you are going to look good!
http://www.kayaklakemead.com/health-benefits.html

Overall Health Improvement

Kayaking provides an aerobic workout, which should be a key part of your weekly fitness routine. General benefits of all forms of aerobic exercise include increased endurance, improved heart health, better regulation of cholesterol levels, blood sugar control, lower blood pressure and better lung strength, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

 http://www.livestrong.com/article/81242-benefits-kayaking/

Kayaking: Sports to Make a Strong Heart

Cardio Advantages. Kayaking is that rare upper-body-centric cardio exercise. One of the benefits of aerobic work is that it increases the number of capillaries in the muscles worked; paddling shares this perk with your chest, back, shoulders, and arms, and the natural resistance of the water means that you can't just coast along and expect to remain in motion.
http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/exercise/kayaking-the-best-workouts-for-heart-health-20140213

The articles all basically agree that there are great benefits to your health from kayaking and boomers would do well to take this up as way to keep the essential juices flowing. Perhaps more important is the stress reducing feature of that quiet lake, the light breeze, the call of a loon, the gentle splash of water from the paddles, and beautiful scenery.

Kayak Review for Seven Tree Pond

"Seven Tree Pond stretches across 528 acres from Union to Warren. It’s a natural part of the St. George River, which flows toward saltwater in Thomaston Harbor. The maximum depth of Seven Tree Pond is 45 feet, with a mean depth of 24 feet. The water quality is below average. Round Pond is located entirely in the town of Union. Its 255 acres is accessible via canoe by paddling up the outlet from Seven Tree Pond. With a maximum depth of 34 feet and a mean depth of 17 feet, the principal fisheries are largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white perch and chain pickerel." ( http://blog.mrlakefront.net/2012/04/01/the-ponds-of-union-maine-seven-tree-crawford-and-round-pond/ )

We like this pond. It has a small beach, decent facilities (port-a-potties, but they're in an actual building, are changed regularly, and don't stink), and picnic/grilling areas. As you can see from the map, Seven Tree also accesses Round Pond; a trip we have yet to take, although we did cross under the bridge today, so I suppose we were technically there.

Seven Tree has a nice energy feel, and there is "stuff" to look at.  Of course, as with most Maine lakes/ponds, there are loons. There is also a public boat launch. For some reason we were mobbed, literally, by mosquitoes during set up. This was really the first time we've ever encountered such a problem; it wasn't an issue last year. Might have been the time of day, since were were there before the sun was really out full bore.  As it got higher, the mosquitoes got fewer!

KAYAK RATING: A SOLID 4 KAYAKS

Kayak Rating for Pemaquid Pond

We were not impressed. There was just something about the place that was creepy. The water was brackish, which, admittedly, could have been due to the recent rain, but it had an odd salt marsh/swampy feel. Deb kept saying she expected a stone hand, dripping seaweed, to emerge and grab her.

The "facility" - read outhouse - was in deplorable condition; we really didn't want to use it.  The toilet seat was thrown on the ground outside, and what was left was covered in ... well, let's just say Deb gagged and refused. The watershed volunteer who was there checking boats for invasive plant life, who was a really nice guy, said it had been that way for a while ... at least since last year.  Yuck.

At a glance, the pond itself looked pretty. There were people fishing, but there was not much to see.

Very little chance we would ever go back.

There is a public boat launch.

Just don't use the outhouse.

KAYAK RATING: 2 KAYAKS

 Maybe 2.5

Pemaquid Pond

Bremen, Damariscotta, Nobleboro, Waldoboro, Lincoln, Maine
MIDAS 5704

Area (acres):	1537
Perimeter (miles):	23.8
Mean Depth (feet):	20
Max Depth (feet):	61
Delorme Page:	7
Fishery Type:	Coldwater + Warmwater
Invasive Aquatic Infestation:	None known
Water Quality:	Average

Lake St. George Kayak Rating

St. George Lake

St. George Lake is the fourth largest lake in Waldo County, Maine. It is in the township of Liberty, on the western side of the county. Lake St. George State Park is on the northwest shore of the lake. Wikipedia

This is another very picturesque state park. There is a very nice swimming area and many places for campers. There's a boat ramp just past the park entrance, if you're heading west, but you can launch kayaks from a small cove just to the right of the beach. It takes a few awkward steps to actually get down into the water but it's certainly doable and convenient.

 It's about a two-foot drop off, so watch your step.    

You can see the folded blue WindPaddle on the front of my white kayak. It was a windy day, so it got its first workout. There's an earlier post on that subject, along with video.

 The boat ramp

 Beach area

The park has it's share of wildlife including ducks, geese, and loons.

 There are still many sights to see on Lake St. George, and we'll be happy to revisit.

KAYAK RATING FOR ST. GEORGE: 4 KAYAKS

WindPaddle Sail review Part II

Somewhat cloudy but 'breezy' morning so we went to Lake St. George State Park. A review of the park will be forthcoming. I managed to clip the sail to the ropes that came with the SE 330 and then headed out to the center of the lake where the wind was strongest. Deployed the sail and ... damn, I'd attached it backwards. It's hard to tell when the sail is folded up which side should face front ... and it does make a difference. Went back to the landing and re-positioned the sail and headed back out. Damn ... the sail was too far forward, in front of the spray skirt hump and when the sail went down, it got caught on the nose of the kayak and ended up dragging in the water.

Okay, back to the landing. Managed to dodge a speed boat being launched, and corrected the position of the sail again. Along comes the breeze, I deploy the sail, and, yay, I'm moving under wind power! Probably got to maybe 5-6 mph under sail. It dropped on me a few times when the wind changed direction, but it was no big deal. Used the center tie to adjust the sail right or left and my paddle to steer.

See the white hump at the bottom of the sail? On the 330 you need to keep the bottom of the sail in the position shown. Otherwise, if the wind changes direction, it may collapse over the pointed bow and you'll have to go ashore to adjust it.

 Cruising on Lake St. George under sail!

      

 Hard to fold

        

Because there is no hard surface on inflatables, it is hard to fold the sail. Of course, for me it's hard to fold anyway. But it can take all kinds of shapes so short term storage is not a problem.

Here are some short clips sailing.

Deb is taking the videos and you can see that I'm pulling away under sail!

RATING: 4+ KAYAKS FOR THE WINDPADDLE SAIL:

The WindPaddle is fun, lightweight, easy to pack, and appears to be durable. For inflatables you have to do some tweaking and I still haven't mastered packing it down into 3 rings. You need to remember that if you go a long way with the wind, you'll have to paddle back. If you want to play with your kayak and experiment with sailing, I'd recommend the WindPaddle.
REVIEW ON AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2CPWJ8BFRXCON

Review of WindPaddle Sail: PART I

For some reason I really want a small sail for kayaking. The one we got for the SE 330, the QuikSail, is not good (a review of it is on this blog and also on Amazon.com). Searching the internet for other options, I came across the WindPaddle sail ( http://windpaddle.com/ ), particularly, the Scout.

Here's the official description:

WindPaddle Scout Sail
The WindPaddle Scout sail has been re-tooled for this year (in the USA and will be debuting next year internationally). This is our "entry-level" sail intended for the solo kayak paddler. The Scout is the same size sail as our popular Adventure sail, offering a sail intended for 4-18 knot wind conditions.
Built for the casual or recreational paddler in mind, the “Scout” is the lightest, most affordable and easiest to use sail currently on the market.

For an entry level sail that will pull you quickly downwind yet easy enough for kids 8-80 to handle, the “Scout” is the sail to own.

 

I called the company to see if they thought the sail would work on inflatable kayaks. The representative was easy to talk to and quite helpful. After the conversation I decided to give it a try. The sail was sent two day delivery, insured. Of course, this was July 3rd so the post office was closed Friday. It came Monday.

Now, if you watch this short video, you'll see that the sail folds into 3 rings for transport.

This is the YouTube link in case the clip doesn't show: http://youtu.be/Cuzumvu2JnY

Okay, I'm challenged; I've only managed to get it to 3 rings once, two rings are easy, but then it's too big to fit into the provided strap. I'll have to work on this.

Come Tuesday morning, there's a light breeze and it looks promising to use the sail. I've attached 2 lines, right and left side, from bow to stern to attach the sail.

The water had some nice, albeit small, waves, indicative of a breeze, so out we go. I clipped the sail to the kayak and rested it on the front of the boat. It was not at all in my way. Paddled out a bit, felt a breeze, grabbed the cord at the top of the sail and pulled it up to deploy. The sail did puff open but I wasn't moving.

The breeze was just not strong enough. Every time it would kick up I'd deploy her again, then the wind would stop.

I'm still very optimistic about the WindPaddle. It weighs next to nothing, is easy to attach to the boat (not sure if I really needed to add the lines; the ropes on the boat might work just fine), deploys quickly, and, even if you can't get it folded down while on the water, it's not in the way.

Hopefully when I post Part II I'll be sharing more of a success story. I did find another video on folding the sail, so I'll practice a bit: http://youtu.be/wCt_Z8eAc0A

P.S. Making progress on the fold.