Summer Kayak, Owls Head Maine 8/12-15

[Admin]

Jeez M1. Admin used-ta live in Swamscott... right in the soft shell clam belt where steamers and fried clams are the staple of every local restaurant. I can't blame the guy for missing the local seafood.

Well, in truth when I was living in Swampscott I was fresh out of college and paying $12K/year rent on a $20K/year income -- I wasn't exactly eating out often back then. :lol: However, I grew up near the coast along the CT/RI border, and in fact worked a couple of summers at a seafood market/take-out near Mystic where we'd buy the flounder off the boats in Stonington, filet it that morning in the fish market and serve it that afternoon at the take-out window. "Clam strips" will never be fried clams to me. And we made an amazing Rhode Island-style chowder. I understand that the family no longer owns the place, but if it's still half as good the Cove Fish Market makes a perfect BYOB lunch or dinner stop alongside US-1 between Mystic and Stonington.

 

[rfarren]

I originally dropped into this thread to register my usual rant about clueless newbie ocean kayakers. (a.k.a. speed bumps) If you're in a narrow channel and a boat drawing 7 feet is coming through, you do not have the right of way no matter how much you bellow. It's really bad in downeast Maine where you have 20 feet of tide and 10 knots of current. You draw 3". GTF out of the way.

Why would a kayaker ever get in the way of a boat that can draw 7 feet. Unless that's a blue water sailboat, that is one big boat. Your scenario is only completed by a rather presumptuous kayaker. Furthermore, why did you want to say that, as no such thing happened or came even remotely close to happening.

BTW I appreciate your knowledge of seafood.

 

[Geoff]

Why would a kayaker ever get in the way of a boat that can draw 7 feet. Unless that's a blue water sailboat, that is one big boat. Your scenario is only completed by a rather presumptuous kayaker. Furthermore, why did you want to say that, as no such thing happened or came even remotely close to happening.

BTW I appreciate your knowledge of seafood.

A wimpy little J/30 draws 5' 3". 5 1/2 to 7' is the draft of the typical 35 to 40' racer/cruiser in the northeast. They build them with long fin keels to keep the center of gravity as low as possible. By the frame of reference of, say, Camden or Northeast Harbor, that is not a big boat. That kayak thing happens every day. When I lived in Portsmouth, NH, the morons in the rental kayaks would go dead center down the middle of a 30' wide channel.

I was born in New Bedford, the largest fishing port on the east coast and a huge Portuguese/Azores Islands population. The local seafood and Portuguese food is what I've always known. Pizza is made with a Portuguese sausage called linguica instead of pepperoni. The back yard BBQ is tuna or swordfish instead of steaks. I have swordfish in my fridge that was $5.25/pound. In the bar, you order a stuffed quahog as a snack. The local places serve clear broth clam chowder. When I was stranded in Vermont unemployed for a year, the lack of fresh seafood really sucked. I'm used to having a good fish market down the street and I'm used to people knocking on my door giving me fish because they caught more than they could possibly eat. As a kid, my dad, a dentist, often got paid by the barter system in seafood. The 10 pound lobster the trawler dragged up walking around the back porch. Big plastic tubs of sole. A burlap bag of cherrystones and littlenecks.

 

[Admin]

Why would a kayaker ever get in the way of a boat that can draw 7 feet. Unless that's a blue water sailboat, that is one big boat.

The 34-foot Hunter I used to own drew 5'11".

People really can be clueless, whether in a kayak or other vessel that may have the "right of way" by law but employing that right of way can be a really stupid gamble. As a sailor I've encountered many clueless powerboaters as well. People are clueless in general.

 

[rfarren]

Why would a kayaker ever get in the way of a boat that can draw 7 feet. Unless that's a blue water sailboat, that is one big boat.

The 34-foot Hunter I used to own drew 5'11".

People really can be clueless, whether in a kayak or other vessel that may have the "right of way" by law but employing that right of way can be a really stupid gamble. As a sailor I've encountered many clueless powerboaters as well. People are clueless in general.

I've always thought of a 34 feet long as a pretty big boat. Of course, I grew up with powerboats, and for a powerboat that is a pretty decent size. Certainly, a 34-foot powerboat wouldn't draw 3 feet, unless it were a nordhaven.

 

[Marc_C]

I've always thought of a 34 feet long as a pretty big boat.

An old friend and her then boyfriend had a 36 footer. She described is as "sails 6, feeds 4, sleeps 2".

 

[Admin]

I've always thought of a 34 feet long as a pretty big boat.

An old friend and her then boyfriend had a 36 footer. She described is as "sails 6, feeds 4, sleeps 2".

Much of it depends on layout and the boat's purpose. Our 34, the s/v Drive South had berths for 7. Then again it was designed as a coastal cruiser and had a 12-foot beam. Were it not for a young kid at the time we could've lived aboard as it had central air, hot/cold water, electric refrigeration/freezer, a two-burner propane range with oven, etc.

And rfarren, here's your 5'11" draw. It was a comfortable size, but by no means a big boat.

 

[rfarren]

The keel is largely responsible for the draw. I saw so a couple catamarans while up there, do you guys happen to know what those draw in comparison with most weekend sailboats. I know some of the racers have small tiny keels.

 

[Admin]

Cats typically draw very little.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

 

[Geoff]

Cats typically draw very little.

Catamarans invariably have daggerboards or a similar retractable dual centerboard system in the pontoons. The pontoons usually don't draw much more than 2 or 3 feet. The rudders extend below the pontoons. Any catamaran set up to be beached will have the rudders attached with a pintle & gudgeon or similar system so you can remove them.

 

[pointpeninsula]

Anyhow, it sounds like a great bachelor party/trip.

Thanks for the info on the quahogs.

Me, 14' kayak after owning a 25' Sea Ray for many years. Not much draft there, either, and I don't have enough free time or money to be a real sailor.

Tom