GUIDED TRIPS

Guided trips are great for people that do not know what they want to do, easily get lost, have a lot of people they don’t want to manage or are just want to learn more about the islands and their wildlife. During these trips I often offer place names, wildlife identification, plant identification, foraging opportunities, geology and what I can on the basics of lobstering as these things comes up. You may also want a guide out of safety concerns. I am trained in rescues, but have only had to do 2 non-practice deep water rescues in 10 years and thousands of clients. Both went well. This is especially important in June when water temps are around 50 degrees give or take, but in all seasons water is rarely much above 60 degrees. As such, cold water shock and prolonged exposure, as well as lobster boats traffic and navigating rocky shores are safety concerns.

While all trips are customized to clientele, this is a generalized itinerary for trips:

Half-Day Itinerary: Paddle across intercoastal waterway, around Scott Island to Green Island landing spot (20-40 minutes). Go swimming in an abandoned granite quarry 10-20 feet deep with multiple 8 foot jumping ledges and exits spots. Loop trail around island goes through a mossy spruce forest (the Maritime Boreal Fog Forest) where I often talk about different plants and birds on the island as we see them. From there we paddle along the cliffs of Sprout Island, do a lobster buoy slalom past Potato Island and land on Little Camp Island (20-40 minutes). This island has panoramic views and sand-like pocket shell beaches. Great place for lunch break, swim in the ocean, foraging. I often do a short hike up the island to view the islands and pick edible berries or plants that I like that are in season like wild strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, juniper berries, rosehips, Orache (Atriplex), and Sea Blite (Sueda). Depending on tide, there are rocks we can paddle around (Rock Gardening), including Round-about Rock. From here depending on time and vigor, we paddle either back to Stonington Paddle (30 minutes) or out and around Camp Island and Hell’s Half-acres and back to Stonington Paddle (50 minutes).

Full-Day Itinerary: Paddle from Stonington Paddle through Stonington Harbor past the town and fishing vessels. Go past old offshore quarrying operation at Crotch Island. Go across open water to Mark Island Lighthouse (60 minutes). Rocky landing and walk up to light and stand in front of fog horn with ears covered to fell the sound travel through our bodies. Continue around the cliffs of Mark Island past the seal ledges. Seals are on the ledges and are swimming around us in the water. Though shark sightings are very rare in the area we paddle, seals are a magnet for them and one was reported by a fisherman a couple of years ago in this area. From there we paddle past the giant granite grout pile to the beach on Sand Island (30 minutes). If the tide is high, we can paddle in the “crotch” of Crotch Island, a small fjord with granite walls at the entrance and peaceful pond up further. From there, the trip reflects the Half-day Itinerary with stops at Green Island swim quarry, Little Camp Island beaches and paddle around Camp and Hell’s Half-acre if feeling vigorous.