Bethel Point to Sebasco

October 11, 2013

This put-in at the end of Bethel Point Road on the West side of the Sebascodegan is an all-tide ramp on a small peninsula with views of Yarmouth Island, Quahog Bay, and Ridley Cove. The ramp is public, but parking is available at the Bethel Point Boatyard, a private establishment where we parked for a $6 fee. Drive or walk up to the house on the hill to pay, where the lady who collected our money was very nice and warned us that the mosquitoes were out. There is a blue box (bathroom facility) in the parking lot.

I was glad to have donned my wet suit on this 11^th day of October, as I slipped and fell on my backside while attempting to get into my kayak. The wet suit not only kept me warm, but it cushioned my landing on the rocky bottom. I was more disgusted at myself for having started off with a wet bottom than I was embarrassed – there were some people around who saw me fall.

The rough beginning turned out to be no indication of the lovely paddle we would experience as we made our way out into Quahog Bay and around the outside of Yarmouth Island and two small islands. Our goal was to stop on Raspberry Island, designated on the Maine Islands Trail, but the tide was so low that we were not able to find a safe landing spot.

As we paddled out into the bay toward open ocean, the water so calm it was almost like glass, we enjoyed playing on the gentle swells. We had to go out around long extensions of rocks to avoid scraping the bottoms of our boats and enjoyed the gold color of the seaweed as it hung from the rocks and and swung to and fro in the salt water.

At the southeast tip of Yarmouth Island we enjoyed a small pond-like protected area surrounded by rocks. Waves were breaking on the outside of this low tidal cove, and on the inside we paddled slowly, looking down to view patches of broken white shells resting on the dark rocks that lined the bottom of the ocean. We paddled between jagged rocks, through seaweed, and away from the breaking waves to the outside, and turned east toward Bear Island, Malaga Island, and Sebasco.

We found a place to a land on Malaga Island, a land preserve, and a great place to stop, stretch, and have

our picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches and crisp Cortland apples. I would like to return and walk the trails of this island, especially after reading this article about it, and the sad history that I recently read about.
http://www.pressherald.com/news/a-century-of-shame_2012-05-20.html?pagenum=full

The gray clouds parted to let the sun shine through at times as we returned to Bethel Point via Ridley Cove, deciding not to go out and around Yarmouth Island on the return. The layers of color -- the blue water, yellow seaweed, dark wet rocks, sun-bleached white rocks, trees spotted with autumn colors, and the blue sky – provided a lovely show as we made our way back, swatting a few mosquitoes along the way.

I was happy to have an extra large back warmer to put between my shoulder blades when I crawled into bed that night. When my back muscles relaxed I put it on my feet to warm and soothe them as well. Check out Maine Warmers for microwave heating pads if you've been paddling all day.