Since we enjoyed our kayaking trip out to the lighthouse in Rockport, we hoped to find a similar adventure for this weekend’s fun outing. With more than 60 lighthouses up and down the coast of Maine, we were bound to find one that was suitable. Sure enough, after only a little searching I came upon the Seguin Island Lighthouse. Located 3.5 miles offshore, open for tours, and easily accessible from the Pompham Beach State Park — sounds perfect.
We lucked out with a gorgeous day under bright blue skies and nearly no wind. Of course, that meant everyone else wanted to get out on the water, and by the time we arrived at the beach the parking lot was full and they were parking cars along the road. Not wanting to carry the kayaks that far we continued down the road to the Ocean View Campground. Here we paid $5 each to park the truck only a short distance from the beach. Considering that the state park charges $6.50 each, it worked out quite well. In no time we were out on the water.
Out on the water
To reach the lighthouse we had to paddle out into the open ocean. Once we left the shelter of the islands around the beach we encountered some waves, but nothing too big. I will say that this is probably not a kayaking route we would consider on a windy day because I suspect the waves would be too high for us to manage. Before landing on the island, we kayaked around the whole thing trying to get the best view. I paddled in close and took some pictures of the lighthouse with my phone.
The lighthouse from the water
While Tim went out farther and took some shots with the GoPro. He has it mounted on the top of his kayak and the low viewpoint is pretty cool, but the color is never quite right.
Action shot
After paddling around the island we went into the small cove and docked on the beach. You can see in this shot that the other issue with the GoPro is water spots. We’re still trying to perfect the whole taking photos from the water thing.
Approaching the island
A short walk to the top of the island and we had reached the lighthouse.
A cute little lighthouse
The lighthouse here on Seguin Island was commissioned by George Washington way back in 1795. The first lighthouse was constructed of wood, and as you can imagine, needed constant repairs. In 1857 they replaced the old wooden structure with the three-foot thick granite lighthouse that is still here today. While the lighthouse itself is not very tall at only 53 feet, its location at 186 feet above sea level makes it the tallest standing lighthouse in Maine. We climbed the 36 stairs to the top and got to look up into the 1st Order Fresnel Lens. It’s hard to tell from below, but this lens is 9 feet tall and can be seen for 20 nautical miles.
Looking up into the Fresnel lens
We walked out on the catwalk to take in the view.
View from the top
After a quick visit to the museum and gift shop where we found a magnet for our collection, we made the long paddle back to the beach. At the end of the day we paddled 8 miles total and spent five hours out on the water. Yup, we are really loving these kayaks.
6 comments
We love our kayak’s too. Best way to enjoy a day on the water. Can’t wait till we can visit this area as neither of us have ever been to Maine. In the meantime I’ll live vicariously through you.
Maine is a must visit if you like to kayak! There are so many small inlets and islands to explore.
What a fabulous use of your new kayaks! Looks like a terrific day out on the water.
It was a perfect day!
Regarding color balance on you GoPro, it is likely being influenced by the mass of orange from your kayak and may be trying to compensate. Don’t know if there are any settings within the GP s/w, otherwise it may be a Photoshop job or maybe mount the camera on a helmet (if you wear one)
Could be the issue, although when we use it to take pics off the kayak I notice the same color issues. Maybe it’s the waterproof case? Usually I can fix it with some post editing, but this time I was too lazy :) We’ll have to look and see what kind of settings it has for color balance.