Key Takeaways
- Yehuda Gittelson plans his sea kayaking trips in Casco Bay around tides and navigation charts, demonstrating that preparation is essential for safe coastal paddling.
- Casco Bay’s diverse ecosystem, from harbor seals to nesting seabirds, makes it one of Maine’s most ecologically significant coastal regions.
- Outer islands like Jewell Island offer remote camping and historic landmarks, blending natural beauty with World War II history.
- Climate shifts are reshaping the bay, with warming waters and species changes documented by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
- For Gittelson, the bay provides affordable access to solitude and wilderness just minutes from Portland, reinforcing its personal and practical value.
He checks the tide chart before he checks the weather.
Most summer weekends find Yehuda Gittelson on the water before 8 a.m., loading a sea kayak at Portland’s East End Beach and pointing toward the outer islands of Casco Bay. The work week runs long, and the job is physical. The water, he says, is where the week resets.
Casco Bay spans roughly 229 square miles off the southern Maine coast, with a shoreline stretching an estimated 578 miles and somewhere between 136 and 200 islands, depending on how generously you count the ledges. Harbor seal populations in the bay have been observed at 400-500 animals. Osprey nesting colonies reached 86 pairs in a 2011 survey. As of 2024, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife had designated four locations in the bay as essential habitat for piping plover, least tern, and roseate tern. The bay holds an estimated 16,655 acres of intertidal habitat, including mudflats, marshes, beaches, and rock formations, according to the National Wetlands Inventory.
Gittelson knows the inner islands well. The outer ones keep drawing him further out.
Reading the Bay
Sea kayaking in Casco Bay asks more of a paddler than most people expect from a day on the water.
The bay carries heavy commercial and recreational vessel traffic. Lobster boats, ferries, and tankers share the same channels as kayaks, and a low-profile hull can vanish in a following sea. Tides run steep and fast, capable of pushing an unprepared paddler significantly off a planned course. When tidal levels shift sharply between high and low, shorelines that looked accessible from the water become mudflats and rockweed, requiring a paddler to recalibrate a landing on the fly.
“You can’t just show up and paddle,” Gittelson says. “You study the chart, you know your route, you watch the weather the night before and the morning of. The bay rewards preparation. It punishes shortcuts.”
He keeps a NOAA chart in his dry bag. He times his departures to ride the ebb tide out and the flood tide back. Over several seasons of paddling Casco Bay, he has built a working knowledge of which channels run fast, which crossings expose a paddler to open ocean swell, and which islands offer protected landings when conditions change unexpectedly.
Where the Water Goes Quiet
Jewell Island sits roughly eight miles from East End Beach, near the outer boundary where Casco Bay meets the open Atlantic. The paddle involves navigating a series of channels between the inner islands before the water opens and the swells build. Jewell holds a network of trails running through spruce forest, across rocky ledges, and down to cobble beaches, and its southern campsites on the Maine Island Trail feel genuinely remote.
The Maine Island Trail runs 375 miles from Portland to Machias, with Casco Bay holding some of its most accessible overnight destinations. During World War II, the U.S. military used Jewell as a harbor defense post, and a pair of fire control towers built during that period still stand on the island’s south end. Climbing to the top of one opens up a full panoramic view of the bay.
“The first time I climbed that tower, I just stood there for a while,” Gittelson says. “You can see Portland, you can see the outer islands, you can see where the bay turns into ocean. It puts the whole place in context in a way that you can’t get from the shore.”
Whaleboat Island, a 125-acre forested preserve in the western bay, offers a quieter alternative. Flag Island, among Maine’s most productive eider duck nesting sites, sits nearby. Both are managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The flag is closed to visitors during nesting season, which runs from April 1 through September 1.
A Bay in Flux
Casco Bay’s ecology has been shifting in ways the Gulf of Maine Research Institute has tracked through a decade of nearshore monitoring.
Water temperatures in the bay rose 3 degrees Fahrenheit over the three decades through 2022. The GMRI’s 2024 ecosystem monitoring report noted that juvenile pollock catches surged that year, while Atlantic menhaden appeared less abundant near the bay. Blue crabs, historically associated with the mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay, have become established in Casco Bay’s waters. Mackerel were plentiful in 2024. Bluefin tuna held in the outer bay through most of the summer.
“The seals come up alongside the kayak and just look at you,” Gittelson says. “You’re in their habitat. That’s not a small thing. When you’re out there long enough, you start paying attention to what’s changing. The water’s warmer. Different fish. More blue crabs. You notice.”
Why He Stays
The cabin in western Maine is still the plan. Off-grid, quieter, something he can own outright. Portland’s cost of living keeps nudging him toward it.
But Casco Bay makes leaving harder to picture.
The bay is accessible from his neighborhood. The East End Beach launch sits a short ride from his East Bayside loft. The outer islands are a day’s paddle away, and a weekend on the Maine Island Trail costs little beyond time and preparation. For someone earning a tradesperson’s wage in an expensive city, that ratio matters.
“People pay a lot of money to go somewhere remote,” Gittelson says. “I can be on an island with no roads and no one else around in about three hours from my front door. That’s not something I take for granted.”
FAQs
Why does Yehuda Gittelson focus so heavily on tide charts?
Casco Bay’s strong tidal currents can quickly alter a paddler’s course, making timing critical for safe travel. Studying tide charts allows Gittelson to ride favorable currents and avoid hazardous crossings.
What makes Casco Bay unique for sea kayaking?
Casco Bay spans hundreds of square miles and contains more than a hundred islands, offering varied routes and conditions. Its mix of protected inner waters and open Atlantic exposure creates both opportunity and challenge for paddlers.
What is special about Jewell Island?
Jewell Island sits near the outer edge of Casco Bay and features remote campsites along the Maine Island Trail. It also contains historic World War II fire control towers that provide panoramic views of the bay.
How is climate change affecting Casco Bay?
Monitoring reports show that water temperatures have risen in recent decades, influencing fish populations and marine life patterns. Species such as blue crabs and bluefin tuna are now more commonly observed in the bay.
Why does Gittelson continue paddling despite long workweeks?
Sea kayaking offers him physical challenge, mental reset, and close contact with wildlife. The accessibility of East End Beach from his Portland neighborhood makes spontaneous wilderness experiences possible without major expense.