Bootcamp, day 6

Today was our first of 3 FULL day paddles. We met at the shop at 8:30, gathered our gear and took the van across Mt Desert Island 30 minutes to the west side.

We launched from a nice ramp at Bartlett's Landing (below) at 10AM and proceeded to cross the narrows and circumnavigate Bartlett Island, owned by the Rockefellers. It has 12 miles of coastline, but we didn't hit all the "nooks and crannies" so our 7 hour excursion was "only" about 8 nautical miles with 2 short breaks to go ashore..

On one stop, we finally got a guide class picture... a really nice group of 9 people from all different states, backgrounds and experience.

This has been like fraternity/sorority hell week, and we've bonded a bit. Below is the island we paddled around and our trainer with ponytail.. whatevs.

Before we took our lunch break, he informed us that we would be "getting wet" and practicing rescues in the 50 degree water. Oh joy.... We had teams of 3 with one person capsizing, one person rescuing and one person observing and timing. Then we switched roles so everyone had to swim! My rescue didn't go seamlessly but my partner got back into her kayak eventually. Once again, my upper body strength was lacking when it came time to pull the rescuee's kayak onto my bow and then turn it over to dump the water out. I then had to pull it parallel to my kayak and lean way over to stabilize it while instructing her how to get back in. Luckily we were in a cove and not way out in the bay, and surprisingly, it wasn't really cold once we got back in our kayaks after capsizing. What scares me is the thought of getting TWO clients back in when they flip their tandem kayak. In theory, it could be two 300 pound guys or a frail elderly couple. That practice drill is coming up. Oy....

These are my very sweet housemates from FL. He is Russian, very funny, and they are engaged. They have done some guiding in warm FL waters, and like me, were a little surprised by the difference in ME and FL paddling! Sea kayaks have a rudder and foot pegs to steer! Our spray skirts add weight too. We are all soaked in this picture above, having just come ashore from our first rescue drill. We'll be salty and sticky and cold for the rest of the day now....

 

On the last leg of our all day paddle, once again, the instructor told us to stop. I was thoroughly exhausted, paddling slower than I had all day and dreaming of a hot shower and bed. This time he wanted us to do a "solo rescue". In other words, capsize by rolling over and get ourselves back into our own kayak with no help. There are two methods. One involves lifting/ lurching yourself onto the deck without tipping it over again, staying low, straddling and "worming" forwards down the kayak until you can get your feet into the cockpit and flip over. I couldn't propel myself in the pool drill, so I didn't try again today. I opted for the paddle float method. I tipped myself, came up from underneath my kayak, found my paddle float and inflated it, slid it onto my paddle blade and then wasn't sure where to attach it since 3 days had elapsed since our brief pool practice. The instructor paddled over and wasn't too eager to tell me what to do as I hesitated, freezing, but eventually gave in and walked me through it. My deck lines were almost too tight to allow the paddle blade underneath, making it even harder. I eventually got back in, found my pump and pumped all the water out of my kayak. Then we had a 30 minute paddle back to the launch site.

 Enjoy a YouTube video of the self-rescue process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIW-rQtqVQ

A few other people had difficulties too, but my guide deficiencies seem to be multiplying each day. Once again, back at the take-out point, my throbbing knee, thumb blisters and a new bleeding cut on my shin left me less than eager/able to hoist heavy kayaks onto the rack or even lift my kayak bow to help carry mine from the water's edge. 

On a lighter note, yesterday we saw harbor porpoises and today, we finally saw seals and lots of them. They were at a distance but frolicking in the water, sunning on the rocks and even following us. 

 

We got back to the kayak shop around 6PM, and I am dead on my feet from the long, hard day....actually on my back. Tomorrow is an official DAY OFF! We'll see if I can get out of bed to enjoy it.

Day 5 - Maine flowers!

Today was sort of similar to yesterday so I decided to post photos of the amazing flowers from just ONE block along Bridge Road that we pass to launch our kayaks. SO many varieties in such a short distance...

                                  Some shots from around the harbor on my lunch break...

Morning class covered  weather (wind, tides, current and clouds), Ethics, UHF/VHF radio use and etiquette, Types of PFDs, Duties of Marine Patrol vs. Coast Guard, Harbor Master and the Maine IFW (our guide licensing agency).

After a break, we hit the water again. Sunny and HOT but nice once we launhed at 2pm. We paddled around the Porcupine Islands in the bay, as usual, but had some issues today. During a "backing up" drill in our kayaks, one trainee tipped over in the cold water after hitting a rock, and we had a real rescue which luckily went well. Then a bit later as we crossed a VERY choppy channel in high winds and rolling waves, 20 minutes to cross, one of the trainees, the nice girl from FL who is one of my housemates, got sea sick. We were due to beach our kayaks and take a break soon anyway, so we stopped at the closest island and stayed about 45 minutes.

We practiced towing on the way home, but I was unable to clip on to another kayak because I couldn't keep up. Yikes. 3rd day in a row I seemed to be at the back of the back heading home on the water. Ive worked on my posture and stroke...no idea what the problem is and the instructor seems to take pleasure in reminding me that if I can't keep up or perfect my paddle stroke, I can't lead a group. Thanks dude. Guess he'd prefer to have me wash out now than take the exam and fail...not a good reflection on him. LOL.

I'm not sore from all the days of paddling, and I don't get tired or out of breath... I'm just slow I guess. Ive never had upper body strength. I was also unable to do one of the 2 "self-rescues" in the pool. After you capsize, it involves turning your kayak over and basically launching/ lifting yourself across the front deck on your chest and wiggling back into the cockpit backwards. I was able to do the paddle float self-rescue so I can pass with that, but... I had unhappy flashbacks to 4th grade gym class when I was the only girl that wasn't able to cross the monkey bars because I just had NO arm strength. I also sucked at pushups during those pesky grade school Presidential fitness tests.

When we launch and later return to the sand bar, the kayaks still have to be loaded onto the company trailer, one person at each end, and they are heavy. Female trainees are expected to help of course, and it's been a challenge with my swollen knee to walk, let along lift heavy things. This is starting to feel like boot camp. ha ha. Tomorrow, we trailer the kayaks to the opposite side of Mt Desert Island and launch from Bartlett Island for an ALL DAY paddle. Oh my.... 

 

Bartlett Island is owned by the Rockefellers and lies just off of the western shore of Mount Desert Island, well protected from the weather far up in Blue Hill Bay. Totaling almost twenty-two hundred acres with twelve miles of shoreline, it is a beautiful island whose rocky shores give way to lovely mixed woodlands and a well-maintained farm of several open pastures sloping gently down to the bay. A simple dock in the middle of the island looks eastward to Bartlett’s Landing in Pretty Marsh in the Town of Mount Desert. My phone/camera has been tightly packed away in my kayak dry bag the last few paddles. I'll try to take some island pictures tomorrow!

We have a DAY OFF on Wednesday... ;)

Day 4

Today was more of the same. Class at the Y from 8:30 to noon and on the water from 1-5pm. Here's the first page of our training schedule. No day off until next Wednesday! 

We graded our navigation homework and I got almost all the bearing measurements correct. Whew! We also spent time going over the state exam and how we'll have about 5 minutes to look at a chart and "plan a trip"for guests using information given to us. Using our charts, we had to plan the route, distance, timing, etc. Our instructors, Mike and Ty, played the role of the examiners and picked apart the planned trip, throwing in obstacles etc to make us second guess our computations, route, timing etc. Yikes. 

We also went over our pre-trip briefing that we will give guests at the shop, and again at the water's edge before launching...safety, spray skirts, paddling, getting in and out, route, capsizing, getting separated and more. SO much information to remember and rather dry. 

After lunch, we met at the shop at 1pm and hauled our gear the 6 blocks to the sand bar. Another guinea pig from our class was chosen to give the pre-launch talk, as if we were actual guests on a tour and he was the guide. He did pretty well. We launched about 1:45 and shortly after we did, we saw harbor porpoises (different from dolphins) in front of us...finally. Cool! I'm eager to see the playful harbor seals that everyone talks about.  

 

Not long after, Mike intentionally tipped himself over, yelled "capsize" and  the nearest person had to paddle over to "rescue" him from the 50 degree water, righting his kayak, dumping the water out of it and instructing him how to get back in. Luckily I dodged that bullet as I'm not sure I'm up to an actual cold water rescue yet. Mike had on a dry suit. Our guests will not, so time is of the essence. The goal is to get people back into their boats in under 2 minutes!

We also reviewed paddle strokes, crossed two channels, and went ashore on a rocky beach on Burnt Porcupine Island for about 15 minutes. Here the rocks were covered with hundreds of periwinkle snails, sunning themselves before the tide came back in. There is also a LOT of seaweed under the water in Frenchman Bay, and I read that with the lobster business so competitive and hard to break into, some locals have gotten permits to farm and sell seaweed!

We headed back, paddling for a solid hour into a 12+ mph head wind and heavy chop. ot exactly fun. Always seems to be the case on the way home. We arrived at 5pm. It was a lovely day in Bar Harbor and this was the sand bar as we disembarked...

Tonight's homework is 25 multiple choice questions relating to navigational charts. I'm so damn tired that I ate my leftover lobster bisque, iced my knee, showered and hit the sack. My housemate offered me some arnica ointment to put on my knee. Google says it's good for aches and pains.

He also offered me a pot brownie. LOL. Why not? If they prescribe it for cancer patients, maybe it will help. I ate half of one and called it a day! 😄 Pretty sure he has a thriving pot business on the side.

Day 3, Saturday

This morning we met at the YWCA again for class at 8:30. On the way, I noticed huge piles of lobster traps and pink buoys piled in a yard. Kind of cool...

 

We had our compasses and waterproof charts of Maine so we dove right in to navigation. It's a little tricky but after a couple of hours, I had the hang of it. Here's our homework assignment, to find the location of our launch site using longitude/latitude and then to figure out the bearings to get to each of the next spots on a route, finally adding up all the distances for a total. I've got this. We used a lot of tools that I hadn't seen since 9th grade geometry.

 

 

Then we went over a kayak accident scenario from 2016 and discussed what went wrong and why and how it led to two deaths, a guide and one of his guests. Scary part is, there was only a 50% chance of thunderstorms and most tour companies won't cancel a trip if the sun's out. Food for thought as a guide.

 https://bangordailynews.com/2016/06/24/news/kayakers-families-recount-fatal-excursion-off-corea/

After a lunch break, we headed a few blocks away to the YMCA (men's) since they have a huge Olympic size pool. Our kayaks were trailered over from the shop and we had to wash them down and get all the ocean debris out so they wouldn't muck up the pool. A new instructor joined us, Ty. I liked him a lot, as well as his demeanor and teaching style. We had three hours to learn and practice rescues and wet escapes. It was a little scary. The wet escape involves tipping yourself over to upside down, pulling the cord to release your spray skirt from the cockpit rim, and then pushing yourself above the water, while wearing a life jacket, which helps! I did it a few times and it got easier. Then we practiced assisted rescues using a paddle float. You inflate it by mouth after tipping over, attach it to the blade of your paddle and use it to stabilize your kayak so you can get back in after turning it over. 

We also learned how to get a capsized guest back into their kayak after pulling the bow of their kayak onto ours and then tipping it over to empty water out before stabilizing their kayak and guiding them back in with their outer leg first. We practiced as a rescuer and rescuee with a partner. Imagine a pool with 11 kayaks in it!

Finally as we thought we were wrapping up, Mike and Ty said we'd have to learn the "hand of God" rescue, used on an unconscious guest still fastened into a capsized kayak. I'm not going to lie. This one was scary as sh*t, even in a pool. I cant imagine having to do it in waves and 50 degree water, but somehow I managed to do it! One partner tips themselves upside down in their kayak and remains still while holding their breath and waiting for their partner to reach over and turn their kayak back over and grab the life jacket to pull the "unconscious" guest upright. My upper body strength sucks, and I was terrified I wouldn't be able to pull the overturned kayak towards me and back over...leaving my male partner to drown! Somehow I managed it. Don't ask me how. Here's a video of the maneuver, minus the life jacket grab at the end.

https://paddling.com/learn/the-hand-of-god-rescue

Finally, after 3 hours, we hauled our kayaks and gear out to the trailer and had a debriefing with Mike. He ruined our day by telling us that we would actually have to perform these maneuvers, minus the "hand of God".... out IN the bay in cold 50 degree water! WHAT? This wasn't in the job posting either! Oh well. I'd say this is the first job with an actual risk of dying but... the 2-3x/week horse back riding at the dude ranch in 2016 left me pretty scared sometimes. We galloped across fields with chisler holes where a horse could twist their ankle and throw you, and we crossed rivers and climbed steep narrow mountain trails where a horse could slip. There were bears and a mountain lion on the property at times, and even moose that could get pretty dangerous if provoked. And then I remembered the last day of RAGBRAI in 2017 when topping one of the final 4 steep climbs and discovering the long steep downhill on the other side, letting loose with reckless abandon to coast down at top speed. If I had hit a pot hole or gravel, I'd be dead. Guess I like living on the edge.... I'm still not sure if I'll even finish this guide class or pass the State licensing exam but I'm giving it all I've got. Every day is a new challenge.

After stowing my gear back at the shop, I ventured into the awesome Hannaford grocery store 2 blocks away. Great prices, and when I signed up for their rewards card, they sent me a $10 gift card. I was tired and HUNGRY, so I eagerly used it to buy some sushi and... lobster bisque! I earned it, and I'm sure I'll work off the calories! ;)

Day 2 of training

I drove the mile to work this AM to rest my knee. Class met at 8:30AM in a room at the YWCA for class with a seasoned guide trainer named Michael. Another guy with a ponytail. After introductions he got into navigation a bit but we hadn't received our gear bags so we used borrowed charts and winged it. I quickly discovered my eyesight has gotten pretty bad because I couldn't read anything on the map. Tomorrow I bring my reading glasses. 

We also went over what makes a good guide and once again heard how the state exam has little rhyme or reason as far as failing. He said many people pass that have no business guiding, and others with years of paddling experience mess up the technical stuff or orals and get failed, sort of at the whim of the people administering it. Very disheartening way to start the day. At noon, we took a one hour break and I bought a cute Bar Harbor visor for $5 at a tourist shop. At 1PM, we met at the kayak shop and collected our gear bag and turned in our new hire/payroll paperwork. I also borrowed some gear from my housemate who twice failed the guide exam last year! ha

  

 

So Bar Harbor gets its name from the wide sand bar that appears at low tide, (green area on map) allowing people to walk across to Bar Island. Within hours, it becomes totally covered by the rising tide and you'd better swim if you get stuck! No cars allowed on it either. Because it's so far north, Bar Harbor has huge tide variations, a 10-12 ft change every 6 hours.... something we have to account for when deciding where to launch and end kayak tours. It also gets light at 5:00AM right now! Love it... 

 

We launched today from the left side of the photo below and returned on the right side of the sand bar when it was almost covered with water 2 1/2 hours later. 3-4 mile paddle?

 

  

 

Before tours, and after putting on our spray skirts and life jackets, we have to carry a large mesh bag of gear about 6 blocks to the water and stash it all in our kayak. Some of it is "rescue" related in case a guest tips over in the 50 degree water. More on that later. Our "homework" for tonight involved reading a 2016 news story about a seasoned guide and NJ couple who got caught in a storm paddling near Corea ME. All 3 capsized. Guide and husband died. Wife survived, unconscious from the cold...in JUNE! Tomorrow we discuss what went wrong and how to avoid such situations.

 

Anyway, once we got loaded up, Mike led us on a paddle (see map)  from the left side of the sand bar, past the left side of Bar Island and around the top, then past Sheep Porcupine Island and sort of doing a figure 8 around the next island, Burnt Porcupine. We worked on our paddle strokes and learned some new ones. He had us follow him in a line, then pull up side by side 10 kayaks wide, then back our kayaks into narrow rocky areas, paddle around buoys, rocks and other "hazards" and practice using our rudders and the pedals in the kayak that control them and steer the kayak. He had us paddle our kayaks 360 degrees and count the number of strokes it took us, then try to reduce the number. A video from the internet if you want more info ;)

 https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/kayak-strokes.html

 

Then it was back to the sand bar. From there, we had to lift the heavy (100 pound?) kayaks overhead, with a partner, and arrange them on racks on the trailer, then bungee them for the ride back. Lucky kayaks... guides have to walk back carrying all our gear, and potentially go right back out on another tour an hour later, once licensed?! I can honestly say that if the job description had said that lifting a 100 pound kayak over my head was required (with another person) I would have skipped on to the next job listed. Photos I saw online showed kayaks at a wooden dock near the pier so maybe I thought they were stored there and just dropped in the water. Ruh roh...

 

I paddled my butt off for 2 days now and have blisters on both thumbs. Bandaids come right off so they are basically raw. Im a little concerned about infection with ocean bacteria getting in and possibly finding its way to my new artificial knee implant. Heck, Im not even supposed to have dental work done without antibiotics for the rest of my life now! Ugh. Meanwhile, experienced/already trained  guides were heading out with their groups on the sunset tours as we returned. I was exhausted just looking at them. Now Im home in bed icing my knee. Tomorrow is another day ;)

 

 

 

 

Day 1 on the job....

This morning I walked a mile into town at 8am to walk around before reporting to training. On West St, there are a handful of gilded age "cottages" that weren't leveled after WWII or burned in the huge fire of 1947. The brick one below is La Rochelle. The architect was Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul of Boston and the estate was built for George Sullivan Bowdoin. There was no brick factory in the vicinity, so this home was only the second one to be built of brick on Mount Desert Island. The forty-one room, 13,000 square foot lavish chateaux has twelve bedrooms and nine full bathrooms on two acres of land. It currently houses the Historical Society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

        The two homes above are private homes with Frenchman's Bay behind them..beautiful!

                               There's a cute art deco theater downtown that plays current films.

                  The Village Green overlooks the bay and there are plenty of shops nearby...

I reported to work at 9AM where we were scheduled for a paddle with our boss and the tour coordinator, a girl. There are 9 of us in the guide class and we were given PFDs (life preserver), dry bag and a spray skirt to keep for the season. The spray skirt fits snugly around the rim of the seat in the kayak and keeps the COLD water off when you're paddling. Photo at the end..... we watched as another guide greeted her group, fitted them for jackets/skirt and gave them the safety talk. After that, we walked 4-5 blocks to the launch site, lugging our gear. 

Tides variations are huge here and can be a 12-14 feet change, so they launch from different sites depending on the tide. We put in at the end of Bridge St, at the land bridge to Bar Island. At high tide, it is covered by water so if you walk over it you'd better turn around before it is covered up! 

 Above is a page from our training schedule. 

Below... the 151′ Schooner Margaret Todd, passing the island we were resting on. 

We used tandem kayaks, and I got my first intro to using a rudder and foot pegs to control it. All while trying to synchronize my paddle strokes with my kayak mate, a guy from Montana who lives here now. I sat in front, just paddling, on the way out (1:15 minutes) and sat in back and steered on the way back (1 hour). Seemed straight forward but I kept getting right/left backwards with the pegs 😕 We had two "crossings" where we paddled across a channel from one of the Porcupine islands to another on our way out of Frenchman's Bay. 

Water was glassy when we launched but it got really windy and choppy about 10 minutes later with some rolling waves. We passed one island and then beached our kayaks (learned how to do this and get out!) and went ashore on the 2nd island for about 30 minutes before heading back. We'll do the same when we have guests on a tour. Along the way from launch to returning, the boss and tour coordinator covered a lot of info and on the water instructions. Sea kayaking in choppy waves is a lot different then sit-down paddle boarding in a FL lagoon or calm NC marsh! Add to that being responsible for a group of 12 possibly inexperienced strangers in 6 tandem kayaks for 2-4 hours, 2 to 3x a day.. and that's going to be my summer. Hmm... and the coastline is a bit more boring than I envisioned. Just pine trees and rocks. A bit of a surprise. After reading all the books on Bar Harbor history, I thought maybe we would be hugging the coastline, pointing out the huge "cottages", talking about early settlers, the 1947 fire, society scandals and the captains of industry that built this town. Instead, we paddle straight out into the Bay and around the pine and rock covered Porcupine Islands... then back again. Maybe we'll see some seals or porpoises soon.

Me in my "spray skirt". It's held on by suspenders, and once seated, I attach it behind me and pull it tightly around to the front.. to fasten it. If you ever tip over, the first thing you do while rolling is grab the front rip cord to release the skirt (and me!) and then push your way out of the kayak so the life preserver will pull you up. Interesting first day. Tomorrow we meet at the YWCA and start our morning classes, followed by lunch and 3-4 hours paddling in the afternoon. We also get our gear... things like a pump, deck compass, sponge, MDI nautical charts, base plate compass, mesh tote bag, air horn etc. Some they provide, and some we have to buy. Despite doing two 90 minute paddles last week in FL, I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow, along with having a swollen knee from working those foot pegs and walking to and from work (2 miles RT) As I write this, I'm back home on my bed with iced knee and heating pad on my back. I feel blisters forming on my thumbs from paddling too. My face also got sunburned despite cloudy skies and a visor. Lesson learned...reflection from the water!
 

Arrival in Maine!

Yesterday, I departed from Arlington VA at 8AM and drove for 9 hours, passing through DC, MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT, MA and finally landed in Portsmouth, NH for the night. I enjoyed a free steak dinner and beer at Texas Roadhouse (mystery shop) and hit the sack.

This morning, the sun came up at 5:30, and I was out the door an hour later. I spent about $50 on tolls in the "blue states" the day before and decided to take the scenic, toll-free route through Maine to Bar Harbor. It took an hour longer but was worth it. I passed through the absolutely charming and quaint coastal town of Ogunquit, where I'm told my aunt and uncle used to vacation. 

I got my first peak at the Atlantic Ocean then drove through Kennebunk, Freeport, Portland, Wells and a few other quaint villages. A sign said there was a photo pull-off ahead, so I stopped and saw the Penobscot Narrows to the right and the Bridge to the left, boasting the tallest bridge observation tower in the world.

 

I crossed the bridge and continued along US1 and Route 3 through through rolling hills and forests. Lumber and granite are still big exports for Maine. I didn't see any agriculture other than plant nurseries and no animal farms at all. I passed lakes with rustic little cottages on them and after 5 hours, finally got to the tiny Trenton Bridge that leads to Mount Desert Island. The bridge is so small it's easy to miss, and there's a popular lobster place right there.

I drove to the bustling downtown to grab my house key from my boss at the kayak shop. I met one of my housemates who will be working in Customer Service at the kayak rental counter. I then drove a mile to the small 4 bedroom house where I'll be living. I unpacked, relaxed and washed my car! ;) Two more housemates arrived from FL in the afternoon, a girl and her fiance, guide trainees like me...very nice! There is also a guy who lives in the house year round, including when we move out and students move in in September. They attend the nearby college.

I have a small bedroom in front with two windows and Wifi. Yippee. Feels like being back in college. ha. There is a well stocked kitchen too ;) I'm super sore and tired from driving etc, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to venture back into Bar Harbor and explore. We will meet the boss at the shop at 9AM for a casual orientation paddle out into Frenchmen's Bay and then get our gear and company policies spiel in the afternoon. Once again, I heard that the Maine Sea Kayak Guide License test has a high fail rate. Yikes! Well, that was day one. Stay tuned... training starts Friday, and my licensing exam is June 22nd!