8/26/17
Saturday was supposed to be our third kayaking day and we headed off toward Somes Sound in the morning.
The automotive gods had a different idea. I had replaced all the Subaru brakes just before the trip and they were still wearing in just a bit, but we started to hear some scraping from the right side of the car. A mile or so later, things started to feel a bit rough and I pulled over to the side of the road. It had seemed that the sound was coming from the front so I checked there first and everything seemed fine. The rear wheel, however, was a different story. Two of the lug nuts had blown off, shearing the studs with them and the other three were loose. We caught them just in time – I’m still not sure how we managed to get 1500 miles through Canada before having issues. I tightened the remaining three and we made our way to the nearest auto store (a NAPA about 8 miles away) for some emergency repairs in their parking lot. Fortunately, I had a small set of tools with us and NAPA had the necessary parts to complete a fix: three studs, three lug nuts and one hacksaw (because I goofed seating one of the studs). A few hours later we were back in business, but plans for the day were slightly delayed.
We got to Northeast Harbor around 2:00 in the afternoon instead of 10:00 in the morning. We didn’t have a specific plan, so it’s hard to say what we changed given the morning’s fun, but we chose to paddle around the headland and up into Somes Sound. We made it about halfway up the sound at a pretty casual pace (helped along by the breeze). The sound, like Bar Harbor, was apparently prime lobster area and was littered with lobster buoys. It was on the trip north that we came upon the two treasures of the paddle – a couple authentic lobster bouys that had broken loose and become lodged in the rocks.
We were keeping an eye on the time, and a bit before 5:30 turned around to head back. We crossed to the West side of the sound, in part for variety and in part because we thought it might help us avoid the headwind. I’m not sure it really accomplished anything with regard to the wind. I was running strava, but my GPS apparently skipped out at the end (in the picture where we appear to have paddled over land), so best I can tell our actual loop was around 11 – 11.5 miles.
Our first wildlife sighting was just as we were rounding the headland back to the harbor when a few seals popped up. One caught me by surprise cruising along side me for a few seconds before getting startled and disappearing back into the ocean. The second sighting was a bit further into the harbor when an osprey, that had an apparently successful hunt, flew over carrying a fish back to its nest.
We had originally checked out of the Hotel that morning, but extended our stay for a night (different room) rather than having to either head off the island or find a campsite in the evening. Given the events of the day, our late start and late return, having the hotel for one more night was nice.
Saying goodbye to the motel on the planned last day.
Apparently no one else wanted to park in the apple tree.
Northeast Harbor where we put in for the paddle around and up into Some's Sound
Treasures! A broken off lobster bouy. I think I spotted this one, but Janet actually retrieved it.
Treasures! We found a second one, and I figured I should have my own.
Some's Sound. I like this one, you can see the high-tide line.
Returning to the harbor just after sunset.
Returning to the harbor just after sunset.
Northeast Harbor. You can also see the high-tide line here on the pier.
You can tell the tide is high because the gangway is level-ish with the water. That walkway moves and goes up and down with the tides. Brilliant!
So lucky the phone didn't end up in the drink
Sunset as we rounded the point into Northeast Harbor (the Lumix was not behaving well).
Somes Sound Paddling Route
