My new boat - Mad River Outrage – August 18, 2019

New boat arrives home

I have a new boat – a 15-year old, but like-new Mad River Outrage. I bought it from Nancy Gero, and picked it up this week. A great find.

Mad River Canoe was founded in 1971 by Jim Henry in a shed at his home near the Mad River in VT. In its early years, Mad River was known for innovative designs and the use of new materials. Mad River was among the first to mold Royalex canoes in 1973, and introduced Kevlar to the canoe industry in 1974. Its best-known canoe, the Explorer, was introduced in 1975. Mad River merged with Wilderness Systems in 1998 to form Confluence Watersports, which would later acquire the Dagger, Harmony and Perception brands. 

Bags installed - ready to go

In 1995, Mad River introduced the Outrage whitewater canoe, which was designed by Tom Foster and Jim Henry. The Outrage is a fish-form design (widest section forward of the centerline producing a buoyant bow that is ideal for paddling upstream and rising over large waves) with soft chines, a shallow arch hull, and lots of rocker. Specifcations are:

• Length: 12'
• Gunwale Width: 25.5"
• Depth at Center: 15.5"
• Weight: 52 lbs.

First paddle at Lincoln Woods

Back in the old days a 12’ boat was considered short and a 13’ version, the Outrage X, was introduced for paddlers over 180 lbs. Today, 12’ is “old school”. Mine is the 12’ version with wood  gunwales, outfitting by John Kaz (Millbrook Boats) and hardly a scratch on the hull itself. All I needed to do when I got it home was adjust the straps and put in the bags.

I finally got it out on flatwater today. I am 50 lbs. over the old 180 lbs. max. weight, but it paddled fine. It is great at spinning and carving circles, but like all whitewater boats, it can be a challenge to paddle straight. I love the hip blocks and lack of foot pegs. I added a half inch to the pedestal, which is now 8 1/2 inches - much lower than the 10 1/2 inches in my old Encore.

Outrage from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Dead River Weekend - Day Two – August 11, 2019

Heading Out

As I was preparing for my Dead River trip, I got an email from Jonathan wondering what was up for the weekend. When I told him that I was going to the Dead, he decided to join us on Sunday. Our original plan was to paddle tandem on something easy (“anything but the Dead”), and then get an early start home. After a good day on Saturday and with a lower release level on Sunday, I convinced him to paddle tandem on the Dead instead.

We rigged-up Jonathan’s Mad River Explorer with the end and center bags that he had brought, and an end bag scavenged from my Encore. The shuttle from Webb’s was a joy compared to yesterday. We only 12 paddlers, so we were all able to sit in the van. Ken and Jim decided not to paddle with us on Sunday, so we had 7 boats (one tandem canoe - me and Jonathan; one solo canoe – Norm; and 5 kayaks – Jonathan, Ken, Dave, Doug, Cian and Conrad). The release was 1800 with another 100 from Spencer Stream – mostly class II rock dodging. The weather was great – sunny with a few clouds. 

Bottom of Minefield

We started with me in the bow and Jonathan in the stern but decided to switch when others commented how out of trim the boat was. Although I generally like to be in the bow, I must admit that it was better with Jonathan up front. The boat was more stable and maneuverable, and to be honest, Jonathan is better at picking out lines than me. 

We ran Sunday pretty much the same as Saturday. We ran Spencer Rips, Minefield and a bunch of other unnamed rapids before taking a break at Hayden's. After the break, Hayden’s was our first real test on a class III rapid with big waves, and we made it through fine. We then ran Gravel Pit and some other unnamed rapid before stopping for lunch at Enchanted Stream. 

View from the stern

After lunch we headed out to run Elephant Rock. This time, we followed the crew left and then right to line up on the shoot on Elephant Rock – we nailed it. Next up was Mile Long, and we managed to make to the bottom before filling up the boat. From there we continued down through some unnamed rapids and Upper and Lower Spruce to Upper and Lower Poplar. Considering ourselves lucky to have made it this far without swimming, we decided to portage Upper and Lower Poplar. 

We carried up the first hill hoping from there it would be “down-hill” all the way. It wasn’t. We dragged the boat up and down numerous hills before we finally reached the put-in below Lower Poplar about a mile away – definitely a class IV portage. For there, we enjoyed the quickwater back down to Webb’s. The rest of the crew was waiting for us at the take-out. We packed up our gear and said our good-byes before heading out for the long drive home.

Dead River Weekend from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Dead River from American Whitewater

Spencer Stream Gage

Dead River Weekend - Day One – August 10, 2019

Norm running Spencer Rips

It has been a couple of years since I have been up to the Dead, so I was able glad that Conrad was willing to move the Boston AMC trip that he usually runs during my family vacation in July to August. We would be running a 2400 release on Saturday, and an 1800 release on Sunday.  

The Dead is a great river, but it definitely makes you work. First, it is out in the middle of nowhere. My drive up on Friday, which should have taken 4½ hours, took over 7 hours due to traffic. Then there is the shuttle, which can be brutal. On Saturday we had 64 boaters heading up to the put-in. I ended up in the back of a pickup truck with 8 other boaters in the pouring rain for the 45-minute trip down dirt logging roads. 

Jim running Minefield

Once you get on the river, though, it is all worth it. The Dead arises at Flagstaff Lake and flows 42-miles to its convergence with the Kennebec River at The Forks. It has one of the longest continuous whitewater runs in the northeast with approximately 30 named and unnamed rapids along the 14-mile stretch from Spencer Stream near Grand Falls to The Forks. At lower levels (1200 to 1800), the run is primarily class II rock-dodging except for a couple of the larger named rapids, which are class III.  At medium flows, (2400 to 3500), it is class III with lots of long wavetrains. At higher levels (4500 to 8000), it is class IV and beyond my skill level.

The release on Saturday was 2,400 cfs with another 100 cfs coming from Spencer Stream – an easy class III. We had 9 boats (3 canoes -  me, Jim and Norm; and 6 kayaks – Jonathan, Ken, Dave, Doug, Cian and Conrad). The day alternated between sun (rarely), clouds (lots) and rain (occasionally). We even had a couple of rumbles of thunder. We ran through Spencer Rips, Minefield and a bunch of other unnamed rapids before taking a break at Hayden's. We then ran Hayden's, Gravel Pit and some other unnamed rapid before stopping for lunch at Enchanted Stream. 

Conrad below Minefield

After lunch we headed out into Elephant Rock. I got confused and thought that Elephant Rock was closer to Enchanted Stream than it actually is. I went right immediately and ended up bouncing through a nearby boulder garden that everyone else avoided. I then followed Doug down through the waves on the ledge at the left side of Elephant Rock. It was only when I got to the bottom and saw Conrad running the slot that I realized that I had missed it completely.  Oh well, good to know I can also run the left side.  

Next up was Mile Long that has always been my nemeses. I headed in and I did fine in the top half. I followed Cian through the middle and over the rock that usually fills my boat. This time I made it through relatively dry and was able to get down to the bottom before emptying my boat.  

The crew running Hayden's

From there we continued downstream to run Upper and Lower Spruce and Upper Poplar. Hayden’s is often said to have the largest waves, but on this day, I thought the waves were bigger at Upper Poplar. Now, all that was left was Lower Poplar. I headed into Lower Poplar center right and followed the seam between the boulder garden and the big waves down to the middle where a large group of rocks forces you left into the waves or right into the boulder garden. In the past I have always gone right into the boulder garden, which is boney at lower release levels.  This time I went left into the waves and bounced my way to the bottom of the rapid filling up my boat in the process.  It was a fun ride. 

We paddled the last couple of miles of quickwater down to Webbs to complete this great day - no swims. We had a nice dinner at Hawks Nest and returned to the campground for an early night.

Running Hayden's - photo by Rapid Shooters Maine

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Dead River from American Whitewater

Spencer Stream Gage

Hawks Nest Restaurant

Fife Brook - August 4, 2019

It’s been a while since I had my whitewater boat out, so I decided to head up to the Deerfield for a Fife Brook run. I posted on Where’s the Whitwater at? and John Kaz invited me along. The release was 3', 900 cfs on the Charlemont Gage.  I had my second and third swims of the year.  My second was in the rapid above Zoar Gap. I was eddying out on the left, hit a rock, and went over. John recovered my boat so I was able to run the Gap. On my Gap run, I caught the eddy at the top, but tried to go left instead of right – it never works.  Don caught my air brace, gunnel grab and sculling hand brace on video.

Running Zoar Gap from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

I need to do it like like Rick - two good forward strokes from the eddy to ferry river right, and then down the right side.  Next time. My Zoar Gap record now stands at 15 attempts - 7 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. You'd think after all those attempts I would have it down better.

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Don’s Video of Gap Runs

Charlmont Gage

Its a wrap - the end of a great vacation - August 3, 2019

Our annual summer vacation at the beach ended today, so packing up to go home trumped paddling. It didn’t seem like I got out in open water as much this year as I have in the past. Maybe it was the great sea kayak trip that I did with Tony last week, maybe it was the weather (a little windy), or maybe I’m just getting lazy. For whatever reason, I never got out to some of my favorite spots like the Harbor of Refuge, Wickford, Jamestown Harbor or Newport. When you have a great paddling location like Point Judith Pond just outside your door that is not so bad…

Scenes from  South County Vacation from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Point Judith Pond Again - August 2, 2019

Outside the Narrows

I stayed local again today and paddled the upper half of Point Judith Pond. From Horseshoe Point I paddled to Jonathan Island, then to over to Gardner Island, up through Smelt Brook Cove, Congdon Cove and into Billinton Cove, across the Narrows to Pine Tree Point and back down along Harbor Island and Ram Island. There were lots of birds out, a couple of boats and not much else. 

Horseshoe Point From Ram Island

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Green Hill, Ninigret and the Charlestown Breachway – August 1, 2019

Green Hill Pond

I’m not big on paddling in salt ponds, but decided to head down to Charlestown to check out the Charlestown Breachway and the two salt ponds that it feeds – Ninigret Pond and Green Hill Pond.  

I parked at the Charlestown Beach put-in, but I was a little concerned since the signage is vague about parking without trailers, and I was told that some RICKA members had recently received tickets there. Never the less, I headed east under the Creek Bridge on Charlestown Beach Road into Green Hill Pond.

Charlestown Breachway

Green Hill Pond is located primarily in South Kingstown with the western edge in Charlestown. Like Potter Pond it is does not have direct access to the ocean, but is linked through an inlet from Ninigret Pond. The sun was rising, and there were great views to the east. The pond is shallow, and it was low tide, so I didn’t venture far into the pond.

From there I paddled west through the slat flats at the eastern end of Ninigret to the Charlestown Breachway. Like the Breachway in Galilee, the Charlestown Breachway was constructed in 1904 to provide a consistent flow of seawater in and out of Ninigret Pond, and to provide access from Ninigret to the ocean for boats. The current though the breachway is strong, and even motorboats can have difficulty getting through.  

Ningret Pond

On the way back I explored the salt flats at the eastern end of Ninigret Pond. Ninigret is the largest of Rhode Island’s South County Salt Ponds. It is protected on the south by the barrier beach that forms East Beach. Usually we put in at the Ningret National Wildlife Refuge and paddle west, so it was nice to explore the eastern end. At low tide it was shallow and tough to paddle, but there were plenty of birds.

I was back to the cottage by 9:00 – another nice paddle.

Charlestown Breachway

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Charlestown Beach from RI Blueways

Charlestown Breachway from RI Blueways

Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge from RI Blueways

Ningret Pond Trip Map from the Salt Pond Coalilition