Kayak Adventures, Part 1

When we tell people we live in Maine, they usually ask us if we are on the coast. The short answer is yes. In reality, we live on the Kennebec, a tidal river, and there are many inlets, bays, and islands on the coast--the wide open ocean is about a 25 minute drive from where we live. This means there is a ton of waterfront, and many waterways to explore.

Our first kayaking adventure took place in mid June--with our new friend Emily, who is a postdoc at Bigelow in the lab I work in. We decided to rent kayaks in Damariscotta, where she lives, not entirely realizing what we were in for. It turned out that the first annual Pirate Festival was scheduled for that day. We pulled into the downtown parking lot, and were treated to the sight and sounds of Mainers dressed up like pirates and wenches, climbing out of their Subaru station wagons (a popular car here), saying "Arrrrrrr." Perhaps coincidentally, we were able to rent kayaks for $15 each. Luckily we were able to escape town before the pirate ship attacked.


It was a pleasant kayak down the river, to an island, and back. Scott found a pink bowling pin on the island, so did a little bowling over lunch.


Towards the end I got tired, and we decided to test Scott's paddling strength. He was able to tow me just fine, but two of us proved to be hard...