Updates & News From Portland Paddle

Last summer three guides from the Portland Paddle took time off from leading trips to embark on some ambitious expeditions on the Maine Island Trail. Here’s a look at some highlights. Joe Paddles from New Hampshire to Canada in 4 Days (Really!) Portland Paddle instructor and guide Joe Guglielmetti proved he can paddle fast when…

Joe Guglieletti Paddled from Portsmouth to Eastport in 4 Days, 7 Hours and 17 Minutes, Setting a Record Speed Portland Paddle instructor and guide Joe Guglielmetti proved he can paddle fast when he won first place in last year’s Paddle for the Promenade 10-mile race. This summer he took his speed-paddling up a few notches…

When you’re kayaking on the coast of Maine, you won’t be the only one cruising around out there. You’ll be sharing that water with boaters, commuter ferries, fellow paddlers, and a whole lot of seabirds. Some of those birds are easy-going floaters and others dive talons-first into the sea to pluck out a meal. Some,…

Looking to Connect with Other Paddlers in Southern Maine? Here are Some Tips: There are lots of people out there looking for paddle buddies. We hear from them all the time at Portland Paddle: the couple with lots of lake paddling experience that just moved to the Maine coast; the rookie paddler who just discovered…

How to Rent a Kayak for the Peaks to Portland Swim Every year Portland Paddle opens by 6:00 AM on the day of the Peaks to Portland swim so that people who are renting our kayaks have time to paddle to Peaks Island well before the race starts. We suggest giving yourself about an hour to…

Cathy has been swimming in waterfalls in Costa Rica (with her daughter, Portland Paddle staffer Zoe)   Dana has been sailing from San Francisco to Baja California   Sam Marjerison has been paddling  whitewater through the off-season   Abbey King has been teaching backcountry skiing courses in the White Mountains   Suzzanne has been making…

Sam Frankel guides sea kayak trips for Portland Paddle and was recently elected president of the Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors (MASKGI). We asked Sam to write this blog post for Portland Paddle to spread awareness about MASKGI and the organization’s plans for the coming year.  If you are interested in becoming…

 How long have you been a guide? Since 2016, when I started guiding for Portland Paddle. SUP/Kayak/Both? Primarily sea kayak, although I enjoy SUP. Why guide? I started sea kayaking after coming back to the United States in 2013. I’d spent the previous four or five years overseas, and wanted to feel a sense…

Entries from a Sea Kayaking Trip in Fiji By Joe Guglielmetti Joe Guglielmetti journeyed to Fiji during the fall of 2017 and paddled around the island of Kadavu. This report on his trip is part of a longer writing project that is currently completing. Joe is a sea kayak guide for Portland Paddle.  The ferry…

This month’s Paddle Talk is a conversation with Joe Guglielmetti, a kayak guide who grew up in Cape Elizabeth and now lives on Munjoy Hill in Portland. Joe just returned from a kayaking expedition in Fiji. He repairs boats!  How long have you been a guide? I entered the guide world five years ago, and began…

This month’s Paddle Talk is with Suzanne Blackburn, a licensed Maine Sea Kayak Guide and ACA-certified Instructor who began working for Portland Paddle in 2014.  How long have you been a guide? With Portland Paddle? I took the guide training with Maine Sport and passed the test in 1996. At that time the sea kayaking…

Fort Gorges has been in the news a lot this past year, and we’ve fielded inquiries and comments from lots of folks looking for updates. The Army Corps of Engineers has been hard at work over the summer and through the fall making improvements and repairs to the structure. Fortunately, the fort remained open except for…