Cobscook Bay/Lubec
Underwater scene on Pope's Island.
Scalloper (?) at Cobscook BayBasics: State Launch off South Edmunds Road, Edmunds TWP. Lots of parking, outhouse, paved ramp, dock. Launch 11:40 AM Finish 3:40PM, High 3:40PM. 9 miles.
State Launch/dock on Washington St, Lubec. Limited parking, there is a second lot though. No facilities. Launch 8AM, Finish 11AM, Low 10:30AM
Cobscook Bay looks like a tiered cookie display, two curved thin layers of water with a divided stem up the middle. Through that narrow stem runs enough water to give the area a 22 foot tidal range. With all that water flowing through, it is no surprise that at the biggest squeeze point, Reversing Falls in Pembroke, the current can reach over 10 knots.
A few years ago we paddled Cobscook Bay just after low tide, delighting in the variety of seaweed and sea life exposed by the massive tide. I spotted a sea cucumber and a young flounder caught in a tidal pool. This time though, I thought we might try high tide, allowing us to explore the edges of the bay.
My preference is to paddle narrow sections on an incoming tide, that way, if I do run into trouble I should be pushed back to my start. Reversing Falls is the worst of the squeeze points, but a look at the chart shows it is not the only narrow area. I think it is also important to launch from an all tide ramp, which means avoiding the ramp in south Whiting Bay which is surrounded by acres of mud at low. We used the ramp off S. Edmunds Rd.
Read the entire fabulous article and see all of the fabulous photos here: http://penobscotpaddles.blogspot.com/2010/09/cobscook-baylubec.html
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