The Capitol To The Coast -- hurricane relief fundraiser

[StevenBauer]

My friend Jack told me about this cool fundraiser he's organizing. It's a canoe/kayak trip from the State capitol, Augusta, down the Kennebeck River to Bath. He's got a bunch of sponsors lined up. Sounds like fun. From the website:

Welcome to The Capital to the Coast 2006

We are a non-profit sportsmen's group, trying to raise money for various disaster relief efforts through Samaritan's Purse a Christian organization. We’ll be sponsoring a fund raising event called The Capital to the Coast in which up to 60 canoers/kayakers will paddle from Augusta, Maine to North Bath, a 22 +/- mile run. There will be an overnight stay on Swan Island. This two day event will start on 6/17/2006. All men ages 16 and above are welcome to enroll and join for the canoe/kayak/camping trip and to help raise funds for a very worthy cause. This year's fund raising event will go directly to the relief efforts of the Katrina disaster.

Itinerary:

Saturday June 17, 2006



6:00 AM Drop off vehicles at the Waterfront Park and take shuttle to Gardiner launch site.

7:00 AM Governor John Baldacci's send off at the Gardiner boat launch.

8:00 AM All watercrafts in water.

12:00 PM Lunch break the Sands Island.

4:00 - 5:00 PM Arrival at Swan Island campsite.

5:00 – 6:00 PM Set up camp.

6:00 PM Supper time.

9:00 PM Lights out.



Sunday, June 18, 2006



5:00 AM Sunrise service

6:00 AM Breakfast

7:00 AM All watercrafts in water.

12:00 PM Arrival at Waterfront Park, Bath


Here is the site: capitoltothecoast.org (http://capitoltothecoast.org)
So his company has donated the campsites on Swan Island and food will be provided by Hannaford and Amatos.
I'll get more info next week. It's geared towards canoes and kayaks but he said I could bring my skiff instead. :)

Steven

[StevenBauer]

Here's the link to Swan Island: www.state.me.us/ifw/education/swanisland/ (http://www.state.me.us/ifw/education/swanisland/)



From the site: The island management area, about 1,755 acres in size, is located in the Kennebec River between the towns of Richmond and Dresden. It includes Swan Island, Little Swan Island, and several hundred acres of tidal flats.

Swan Island, known for its abundant and often quite visible wildlife (especially nesting bald eagles, white-tailed deer and wild turkey), is actually an abandoned 18th and 19th century town called Perkins Township, and has long been recognized for its varied and interesting history. It was used by Native American tribes, early explorers, and settlers, and was reportedly visited by American historical figures such as Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold. Although Swan Island's historical significance has long been identified, the island has never before had any official recognition or been nominated to any state or federal historical lists. That has now changed!

http://www.state.me.us/ifw/images/eagle2.jpg

http://www.state.me.us/ifw/images/3deer.jpg

[StevenBauer]

Well Gavin and I went on this trip and had a great time. The Kennebec is tidal and we had the tide going with us both days. :) We drastically reduced the times listed in the original itinerary. We had about 30 people in 15 canoes and a couple of kayaks. We raised over $8000 to send down to the gulf states for continuing hurricane relief. The Governor was even there to send us off with a little thankyou speech:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p3f79c6e0611a1b1f980c43d82e2b8636/ee6e18bd.jpg

We had beautiful weather paddling from Gardiner to Richmond:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p4fb6204762dae1cfcbc8cf062c13a5af/ee6e14c7.jpg

And ended up on Swan Island. The Island was amazing. It's now a wildlife preserve but back in the 1800's was home to over 60 families of farmers, fishermen and boatbuilers:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/pf01134cafc8a8535adf335933caa18a5/ee6e1230.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/pdfe09ea9307ea5f8432dc23a343f16cc/ee6e111f.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p2731c7ce8148acd665ec84c257193b1b/ee6e0ffc.jpg

Here's one of over a dozen Bald Eagles we saw:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid208/p7fb55a2683a6bbba1a5398e083d38f70/ee6e0dc4.jpg

Just after I took this picture Gavin said "Take a movie, Dad" I said "He's not going to fly, he just sat there as the last 10 canoes went by" then just as I put the camera away he took off and swung down right over our boat then back up and over the trees and out of sight. Man that would have made an awesome video clip. :(
Oh well.
Maybe if we do this again next year I can talk some of you guys into joining us. Swan Island was really so cool.

Steven