29 posts tagged “ocean”

Low tide, Maquoit Bay.

Brown and green, gray white and blue ... so December!

These photos were taken from the same spot.

Here's an update on the ongoing erosion at Popham beach, which looked like it had abated last summer. It's definitely getting worse. This photo is looking east, towards the main beach from the shore of the Morse River.

Here's a view of the dune/bank. Clearly there isn't much under the forest holding things together. Recently fallen trees. In the background you can see the roof of the hideous new changing station & rest rooms. The spot where it's located used to be hundreds of yards from the water. They don't stay where they are long once they fall. This is looking west. Some of the trees have also ended up several miles east, along the Kennebec river.

A few more places visited this week ...

A beach at the mouth of the Saco River, just off the University of New England campus. Nice real estate.

Looking southwest from Five Islands, towards the remnants of tropical storm Danny.

The view from Camden Hills over Camden harbor and out to sea.

 

I've been spending much of my vacation at Popham beach. Summer has finally arrived and the swimming and body surfing have been great ... 

 

On the west section of the beach you have to ford (or swim) across the Morse River to get to the main part of the beach, where the surf is. It looks serene here, but it can have a strong current on the outgoing tide. It's fun to ride on if you walk down to where the river exits the marshes.

 

At low tide, you can walk to Fox Island. But you don't want to miss the window for returning, as it would be a long wait, and the cross currents make it impossible to swim back.

 

Farther out to sea, Seguin Island is iconic to all Popham visitors, and all mariners in this part of the Gulf of Maine.

 

Finally, what the beach looks like from my towel ...

 

Ahhhhh .....

Here are a couple of pictures from a recent visit to Popham Beach. It was low tide. The Morse River has changed course again, so we could walk out to the near island. In this photo, Seguin Island (with the lighthouse on it) looks like it's rising out of the near island.

The sea was pretty rough, and the day was cloudy, but it got nicer as it went along & was clear and sunny by the time we left.

Just by way of contrast to my last post, here's a view of the same area as "the forest falls into the sea," albeit from a place further down the shore that's now about 15 feet under water at high tide. This photo was taken about five years ago. A dynamic ecosystem indeed.

A recent trip to Reid State Park ...

A nice bench on which to sit and watch the world turn.

The view

 There were waves and crazy people.

This is a property on Orr's Island that was given to Bowdoin College for environmental studies programs. It's an old farm but is mostly forested. It has several trails. We more or less walked the perimeter. Here's a typical path.

Nice coastal views everywhere - Here's a little island we couldn't go to because it's private. And another island we coulldn't get to because the tide was rising. Next time.

You can tell summer has arrived by the humidity (haze) in the air.

All that's left for these old pilings to do is to hold up the sky. One bird's exclusive domain. This is on the other side of Wood Island, which we walked to. One view from inside Fort Popham

Kayaking last weekend off of Simpson's point. It was a bit breezy, but not too choppy. Most of the photos I took while out in open water weren't very good, due to wave-wobble and sea spray, but here are a few. This first is entering a sheltered cove where we found respite from the wind for a few minutes.

My paddle-mates. The put-in is between them on the far shore. This island looked to me a bit like a listing schooner. A little cliff. The geology of the Maine coast is visually interesting, although I can't say I know a whole lot about it.