Last week as the fall foliage dimmed along the coastal plain and the cool autumn breezes whipped across the bay, I sensed it was probably time for one last excursion in my kayak before it abandoned its summer berth on top of the Jeep and headed for the barn.

Knowing I wanted a paddle that could be imprinted in my memory and whet my appetite for next summer, I was determined to pick a route that would promise all that is best about paddling along the coast.

Additional Images

Look familiar? The lighthouse at the end of Marshall Point, a distinctive part of the movie “Forrest Gump,” is a highlight of a fall paddle around Tenants Harbor, Port Clyde and the entire peninsula – a great memory to last through the winter. John Christie photo

That’s a tough decision. My criteria was simple: reasonably protected waters from the increasingly stiff and cool fall winds; an easy launching spot; scenic views from the water, including final glimpses of some still-bright foliage; and, perhaps, most important, somewhere I hadn’t been for several years.

That narrowed it down some, to the point my decision was pretty easy. Although we had spent endless hours aboard Margaret Ann, our trusty old Jonesport, poking around Tenants Harbor, Port Clyde and the entire peninsula, I had never examined the east shore from my kayak.

I had learned when I started kayaking that the coastline so familiar to me from the wheel house of our lobster boat is a completely new and different one from a seat at water level.

So on a recent early morning, in went the kayak at the well-marked town launch site right in Tenants Harbor, down Route 131 a little less than 10 miles from Route 1 in Thomaston.

I planned my trip to head north for a few miles, then turn back to the south and go as far as the end of the peninsula, hopefully before the ever-present afternoon sou’westerlies picked up to help blow me back to my launch point.

As it turned out on this beautiful fall day, the plan worked perfectly, which over the years, with me anyway, hasn’t always been the case. But as ocean kayakers know, conditions change rapidly out on the ocean, so being prepared for about any contingency is an essential part of the program.

I struck out from the harbor on a northerly heading to pass inside of Northern and High Islands, out of an already stiffening breeze, with some still-stunning bright foliage off my port paddle blade.

Stroking up toward Long Cove, with a little westerly diversion into well-protected Seavey Cove, I made my way fairly deep into Long Cove before retreating to skirt the southwest side of Clark Island and heading back down the bay outside of High and Northern Islands.

Ducking inside of Southern Island, I hugged the shoreline – always a treat in a shallow-draught kayak – working my way south toward my mid-paddle destination: Marshall Point and Port Clyde harbor.

I skirted the rocky shoreline to the west of the marker on Hart Ledge toward Mosquito Head, with a nice rest in the indentation to its west piddling around Mosquito Harbor, still marveling at the tenacious red and yellow leaves hanging on for as long as possible against stiffening breezes.

Then it was to the south again, well inside Mosquito Island on a bearing toward the increasingly visible and distinctive lighthouse and its catwalk at the end of Marshall Point, made famous in the movie “Forrest Gump.”

A few late-season tourists waved as I paddled past on my way around the point to pick up a bearing into still-busy Port Clyde Harbor. Most of the local boys were already back on their moorings by then, having put in a full day’s work hauling since sunrise, so I weaved my way among buoys and boats deep into the harbor before turning to head back north toward my waiting Jeep in Tenants Harbor.

With a nice assist from a pretty stiff southwest breeze, I skimmed along on 2-3-foot white-capped waves, resting nicely between strokes as the wind and an incoming tide carried me comfortably along.

Several hours after launching and a little sore from about a 12-mile paddle out on the bay, I was back in the quiet confines of Tenants Harbor. All in all, a great way to spend an autumn morning in Maine.

John Christie is a former ski racer and ski area manager and owner, a ski historian and member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. He and his son, Josh, write columns on alternating weeks. He can be reached at:

jchristie@fairpoint.net

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