Map encourages informed use

A Small Craft Explorers’ Map and Guide art scan

The Damariscotta River Association (DRA) recently published an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to explore any section of the Damariscotta River Estuary. “A Small Craft Explorers’ Map and Guide” was created through a collaborative effort of DRA and various users and protectors of the river.

All preserves and other tracts managed by the association are visible on the map, and boaters are encouraged to take time to stop and explore their trails and history.  Other cultural, historical and useful points of interest are pinpointed, including the 2,200 year-old Glidden and Whaleback shell middens, the alewife fish ladder, University of Maine’s Darling Center, Ocean Point Marina and Hunter’s Landing.
Aquaculture lease sites are marked, and boaters are encouraged to visit with people working at the sites to learn more about how they raise shellfish and the challenges they face. Chris Davis of Pemaquid Oyster says he has done a lot of talking with kayakers on the river, as well as rescue, and that the interaction works well for aquaculture lease owners. “The kayakers are a regular presence and keep an eye on things,” he notes.

The map locates the one sandy beach on the river, a popular spot at Dodge Cove Preserve, which also has a dock at a cove south of the beach. Erin Mitchell, who with her husband, Mitch, owns Midcoast Kayak in Damariscotta, says they often recommend the two-mile, half-day paddle from the public landing at Riverside Park in downtown Damariscotta to Dodge Cove. She adds that the sandy beach there is a boon. “On a lot of the river,” she explains, “there’s muck when the tide goes out.  You could lose your foot in it.”

The map is not intended for navigation, but it does locate mud flats and channel marker buoys and has skull-and-crossbones symbols to warn about areas with exceptionally dangerous currents. These include the channel at Glidden Ledge and the one between Fort Island and Eastern Ledge.  

In addition to cartographic information, the guide identifies various natural denizens of the river. There are several pairs of nesting Bald Eagles, including those on Hog Island and the northern end of Menigawum. Boaters are asked to respect the eagles’ nesting sites and refrain from approaching closely or landing near them. Other birds include osprey, long-billed dowitcher, great blue heron, ruddy turnstones and great egrets.  
The map also gives aids on where to locate other species, saying that fishermen will most likely find bluefish at Glidden Ledge and striped bass throughout the river. Boaters who want to have a look at horseshoe crabs are advised to try Days’ Cove during June or July, and those who want to watch seals, visit Goose Ledge and Fish Point on the upper estuary and Menigawum on the lower.

Several interesting facts about the Damariscotta River are shared, such as that “30 billion gallons of water surge through the river at each tidal cycle,” that between 1770 and 1920, as many as 32 shipyards dotted the shoreline and launched more than 400 ships; that by 1840, all timber along the shore had been cut down for use in building ships, houses and to fuel the brickyards that once dotted the coast (now identifiable by the occasional bricks left behind and reddish soil where many have crumbled).

Most important, the map urges users to help protect the river’s pristine waters, which are vital for the continued health of the river’s abundant wildlife, the local economy and the enjoyment of all who visit the river.