Team Logs

Gulf of Maine Expedition New Hampshire Journals
May 26, 2002

Natalie's notes from New Hampshire
The Gulf of What?

Sue's notes from New Hampshire
Can We Have A Rain Cheque?

On May 25th, the Expedition team spent the day at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH, celebrating the Gulf of Maine. Kids and adults learned about safety on the water, Gulf of Maine birds and fishes, kayaking skills, lobsters, and so much more. The Center has numerous exhibits that showcase the Gulf of Maine, including flora and fauna, research, fisheries and oceanography. Kids also launched the Gulf of Maine Expedition mural project by drawing what they enjoy about living in this great watershed.

Here, Expedition team members Bob DeForrest and Natalie Springuel are teaching a workshop on sea kayak safety.

Natalie's notes from New Hampshire

The Gulf of What?

"Did you really come all the way from Maine in those little things?" asked the beach-combers at Crane Beach Wildlife Refuge near Essex Bay, Massachusetts. The same question came from the campers at Salisbury Beach State Reservation in Massachusetts, and again from visitors at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire. It has become a regular inquiry as people are drawn to the kayaks on the shore. Their gaze zeroes in on the bow decals: our land-and-water logo and big, green letters reading "Gulf of Maine Expedition.” The word Maine is people's only clue as to where we might have hatched: we must have kayaked from Maine.

Well, not exactly, but the stickers on the kayaks are a great lead-in to the Gulf of Maine. It starts with a simple explanation of our journey. "We have not yet reached Maine; we are on our way there, then beyond. We started from Provincetown, Massachusetts, on May 4th, and are headed to Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, by the end of September. We are kayaking along the entire Gulf of Maine."

At this point, one of us digs out a copy of the Gulf of Maine Expedition brochure stashed away in a drybag and hands it over to the curious passers-by. Heather Sisk's map of our route along the Gulf of Maine (the same map as on the homepage on this website) provides the visual aid necessary to make it all come clear. The Gulf of Maine is an enclosed seascape that spans three states and three provinces, including Quebec at the head of the rivers and great submerged banks at the seaward edge. And thus the conversation "What is the Gulf of Maine?" has begun.

In three weeks of paddling, the conversation has repeated itself in some form several times each day, and each time it is confirmed: the concept of the Gulf of Maine has not yet reached the general public. Sometimes it makes me want to advocate going back to the Gulf's old historic name, the Bay of Norumbega, just to make it clear that the Gulf of Maine spans far beyond coastal Maine's borders. Instead, the name of this vast international watershed lends particular attention to only one of the political entities it encompasses, albeit the largest one proportionally.

Few people, at least gauging from the general public who comb the beach in May in the southern Gulf region, have a concept of the greater Gulf of Maine watershed. Perhaps our unique undertaking to sea kayak around its entire rim will highlight the Gulf in a way that people can grasp. When you look at a map of our route within the context of the whole northwest Atlantic region, it is hard to miss that the Gulf of Maine stands out as a early enclosed watershed, just like the Chesapeake Bay to the south or the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the north. It takes a map, and maybe a kayak, to get to that point in the conversation. I guess this is about when I start feeling really lucky to be the one who gets to have this conversation several times a day.

Sue's notes from New Hampshire

Can We Have A Rain Cheque?

Stress has finally caught up with Natalie. For the first part of the trip, I was the one dealing with the inner angst. Natalie seemed invincible – always cheerful, always strong, always in charge. Tonight she looks exhausted.

We have just come home from a pizza dinner after finishing our first Gulf of Maine Day at the Seacoast Science Center. Our feet hurt more than our arms for a change, having just spent a successful but long day meeting, greeting, and presenting to the public.

On the floor in front of us are $180 worth of groceries which have to be separated from their original packaging and transferred to Zip-Lock baggies. Our schedule says that we should be up at 5 a.m. and on the water by 8 a.m. in order to meet a Coast Guard escort out to Isle of Shoals, located six miles out to sea. The weather forecast is not great.

Our hosts are John and Lynn Hoyt, operators of Hoyt's Lodges, who have graciously given us permission to camp on their lawn. New Hampshire will not permit camping on State beaches so this was a welcome offer. They later generously allow us the use of cabin 4, unrented for the night.

"I need to put something on the table, guys," Nat starts. While dealing exceptionally well with the physical pressures of the last three weeks, the mental stresses are starting to tell. She is overwhelmed with concern that we are simply not accomplishing all that we have said we would. And she sees no end in sight. "We really need to address this and look seriously at our schedule." (Carl would have enjoyed this discussion.)

Before we started this journey, we agreed to update the web several times a week. Writing reports takes time, we are learning. We agreed to do “Vital Signs” and phytoplankton testing, both which require time. Rich is still struggling with a whole technological system not yet running smoothly. We have presentations to prepare, a Powerpoint show to create, a digital video camera which no one knows how to use yet, e-mail to answer, and press releases to get out. The administrative tasks could easily eat up a whole day before adding the 5 hours it takes to make and break camp, the preparation of meals, and somewhere in there the time to paddle ten miles each day. We have been putting in 14 hour days and still not getting it all done.

"Where are we going to find the time to do all this? And are we really going to get up at 5 a.m. to paddle six miles out to sea? " On the other side of the decision Natalie has wanted to visit Isle of Shoals since moving to Maine 15 years ago and tomorrow she was invited . . . with a Coast Guard escort!

She was torn. The weight of shouldering her responsibilities was being felt and it needed to be shared. The temptation of the trip to Isle of Shoals was being overrun by practical considerations like fatigue and stress. The decision was obvious, but painful . . . we had to call it off. That's as far as we got that night with problem solving. We adjourned our discussion at 10:45 p.m. and headed for bed, leaving the food exactly where it lay.

The next day vindicated our decision. The winds started at 5 a.m. and increased all day. Tom prepared us a leisurely pancake breakfast and we spent the rest of the day, yet again, reorganizing ourselves.

We have a new system now. Time will tell how effective it is. But the group dynamics are working and for now the stress is gone. Carl would have approved.