Piscat Drawdown and BBQ - October 31, 2026

The annual Piscat Drawdown and BBQ has become a tradition for me. This was the first whitewater trip that I did after attending the NHAMC Whitewater School in 2005 and launched a hobby I love, so it holds a special place in my heart. I headed up for a solo run in my Millbrook Outrage.

The Piscataquog River begins in Deering, NH, and winds for 35 miles before joining the Merrimack River in Manchester. We would be paddling the Class II section below Gregg’s Falls Dam. We met at the dam at 10:00 and shuttled vehicles to the take-out behind the County Center and Prison. The flow was 800 cfs, with a reading of 5.5 feet on the Goffstown gauge.

I paddled the first run with Jonathan, Gwen, and Greg. This roughly three-mile section has its most consistent rapids in the first mile: a rocky stretch below the put-in, another beneath the power lines, and a third leading to the surf wave above Henry Bridge. Beyond the bridge, the river is mostly quickwater to the take-out, with a squirt line in a strong recirculating current at a sharp right turn and one final rocky drop just above the take-out.

My knee was a little sore when I reached the take-out, so I skipped the second run. We returned to the dam for the BBQ—the steak tips were delicious.

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River Description from American Whitewater
Goffstown Gage

Trust at Both Ends: The Silent Language of Tandem Paddling

The more I paddle, the more I find myself reaching out to other paddlers to paddle tandem. The advantages are obvious: you have two people to provide power, and you have paddles on both sides of the boat to brace in the event of an upset.

Yet, for many, tandem paddling means a strong/experienced paddler in the stern calling the shots with a weaker/less experienced paddler in the bow who just goes along for the ride. To me, that isn’t tandem paddling. That’s just paddling solo from the stern with a person in the bow for ballast.

The Power of Teamwork

Real tandem paddling is about teamwork between equal partners and sharing responsibility. To be a good tandem paddler, you first need to be a good solo paddler. In a solo boat, you are both the bow and the stern paddler, providing all the power and control. You have to know the strokes and maneuvers to handle various conditions—skills you carry over into a tandem boat.

In a tandem, the skills are the same, but the responsibility gets split. The common belief that "the bow provides power and the stern steers" doesn’t quite capture the coordination between good partners:

• The Bow Sets the Course: Because the bow paddler has the best view of what is ahead, they choose the line.
• The Stern Executes the Turn: Steering strokes are often less effective at the bow, so the stern paddler executes the maneuvers, taking the bow’s lead.

Trust and Silent Communication

This setup requires trust at both ends of the boat. The stern must trust the bow's course, and the bow must trust that the stern will follow their lead.

While communication is critical, a good tandem team often doesn't need to talk at all. The stern paddler reads the river and watches the bow paddler’s strokes to decide what to do next. If the bow executes a sweep toward a nearby eddy, the stern follows. If a rock appears and the bow begins an onside draw to side-slip around it, the stern mirrors the move. In fast-moving water, there usually isn't time for words anyway.

The Ultimate Test: Big Waves

One of the most challenging environments for a tandem team is open water with big waves. Solo paddlers have the upper hand here; their lighter stems let them bob up and down easily. A tandem boat, weighted down at both ends, is much more likely to submarine into oncoming waves or spin out in the troughs.

In big waves, the bow paddler has to maintain forward momentum up and down the faces, while the stern paddler sets the quartering angle and stands ready to rudder. Once a boat gets caught in a trough parallel to the waves, staying upright is incredibly difficult, let alone getting back on course.

My Tandem Checklist

I’m blessed to have several great tandem partners. For me, the ideal partner fits a specific profile:

• They are a righty (since I paddle on the left).
• They are experienced paddling solo in moving water.
• They are comfortable in the bow.

Personally, I’d prefer to paddle in the bow myself. However, I’m heavier than most of my friends, so I almost always end up in the stern.

If you want to be your own boss, you absolutely can’t beat solo paddling. But if you can get comfortable splitting responsibilities and relying on a partner, tandem paddling is the way to go. With two engines providing power, a tandem team will outrun all but the strongest solo paddlers. Thanks to longer boats and a shared workload, you can ultimately paddle further, faster, and much more efficiently than going it alone.

Borderland State Park - October 22, 2026

Pond Walk Trail

The "Old Guy's Thursday Hiking Society" was back together today for a hike at Borderland State Park.

Borderland was established in 1906 when Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. They built a mansion and created a nature preserve with woodland paths, roadways and man-made ponds.

Shelter on Leach Pond

The estate remained in the family for 65 years until it was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1971 and opened as Borderland State Park. Today the park includes 1,843-acres with more than 20-miles of trails including a section of the Bay Circuit Trail.

We started at the main entrance and hiked 5.1-miles on the Pond Walk Trail, on Mountain St. to the Granite Hills Loop, and back on the Pond Walk Trail. The fall foliage was beautiful. Brunch was at the Wagon Wheel Diner.

The crew at Upper Leach Pond

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Trail Map

Friends of Borderland

Fife Brook - October 18, 2026

Running Freight Train

This weekend was the last scheduled release of the year at Fife Brook, so when Aaron texted me looking to go, I was in. We talked about paddling solo, but decided to do our third tandem run instead.

It was a balmy 28 degrees when I left my house – definitely dry suit weather. High temperature for the day reached 59 degrees, so we were comfortable as long as we stayed in the sun and kept out of the wind.

Below Zoar Gap

The release was scheduled for 800 cfs from 12:00 to 5:00, and it actually did a little better reaching 900 cfs on the Charlemont gage. We were the only canoe with a bunch of kayaks – what else is new.

We did a lot of playing at the top, drifted a little too far right and had a wet run through Zoar Gap, and then continued down to Shunpike – 4 hours on the river, and my knee felt great. Here is the 1:22 cut from Aaron's video.

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My Cut of Aaron's Video

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Fife Brook Release Schedule

Charlemont Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

Manville Dam - October 16, 2026

Last December I was walking to work and felt a sharp pain in my knee stepping off the curb to cross the street at South Station. Turns out I tore the meniscus in my left knee. It has kept me out of my whitewater solo boats ever since. I tried NSAIDS and cortisone shots, but they didn’t help. The doctor didn't recommend surgery, and told me to be patient and focus on physical therapy. That is what I did, and finally feels like I am making progress.

I took my Millbrook Outrage out today down at the Manville Dam. I was able to kneel on the pedestal with no knee pain. My ankles and quad’s were a little sore - it's going to take a little while to get them stretched out again. I’m hoping to do a Fife run on Sunday with Aaron, and maybe I’ll take my solo boat. Or maybe not – I do love paddling tandem.

Mercy Woods - October 8, 2026

Heading out on the Mercy Trail

This week’s hike with the "Old Guy's Thursday Hiking Society" was at Mercy Woods. In a post on Facebook, Kaz suggested that we change the name to the "Fun Old Guys Hiking all Thursdays" so we would have the acronym "FOGHAT" - have to think about that.

The Mercy Woods is a Cumberland Land Trust property that has 5.7-miles of trails including the Mercy Loop (2.3-miles), the Ridge Trail (2.1-miles) and the Stone Wall, Fisher, Fern, Fiske, Deer and Grape connecting trails. A short section of the Ridge Trail north of the Fern connecting trail is also part of the Warner Trail.

Cairn where the Mercy Trail
meets the Ridge Trail

We met at 9:00 at the trailhead on Sumner Brown Road and headed south on the Mercy Trail and the Ridge Trail. At the southern end, we cut down to the Diamond Hill Reservoir along a section of the Warner Trail before looping back to the cars on the Ridge Trail and the Mercy Trail. Overall we did a little less than 5-miles.

After the hike we went out for breakfast at the Village Griddle in Plainville.

The crew - Al, Erik, Steve, Bill, Danny, Doug and Mike

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Mercy Woods Trail Map

Connecticut River Camping - Woodsville to North Thetford - October 2-6, 2026

Getting ready to launch at Woodsville

The upper Connecticut River isn’t a real wilderness river. It flows past more cow farms and corn fields than wilderness. The campsites are often tucked into a narrow stretch of woods between the river and the farms, but they are usually well maintained with a picnic table, fire ring and privy, and are well-spaced for multi-night trips.

I wanted to get in one more multi-night trip before winter, so I reached out to Jonathan to see if he was interested. His only availability happened to be the same weekend that Aaron and his friend Cory were planning a trip on the Connecticut River, so we decided to join in.

Heading out from Woodsville

The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England flowing south for approximately 400 miles from the Canadian border through four states before emptying into Long Island Sound. Back when I was working it was tough for me to get away to do long camping trips, so we did a lot of three-day weekends on the Connecticut River. We did the sections from Canaan to Bloomfield; Bloomfield to Lunenburg; Woodsville to Orford and Orford to White River Junction and day trips on the reservoirs.

This time we would be doing a four-day/three-night trip. We looked at lots of options, but decided to do the section from Woodsville to North Thetford. The scenery is nice, there are lots of well-spaced campsites and there should be plenty of water.

Running the small rapids

I was up early Saturday morning for the ride up to the put-in. I was running a little early, so I was able to meet Jonathan for a coffee and muffin at the Sunnyside Coffee Company before dropping his truck off at the take-out at the North Thetford Landing. Aaron drove in while we were there, and we all headed off to the put-in at Woodsville.

Cory was waiting at the put-in when we arrived, so we unpacked our gear, loaded our boats and headed out. The river started off shallow but there were some small rapids to run if you picked the right line. If you picked the wrong line you would be dragging your boat over the rocks. We did a little of both.

Small plane flying low over the river

After that, the river opened up. We paddled past the Howard Island and Horse Meadow campsites. Both were empty, which we thought was a good sign. Unfortunately, when we reached our planned campsite for the evening – Harkdale Farm – it was occupied by a group of fishermen. We decided to continue downstream to the Vaughan Meadow Campsite.

As we were paddling downstream we heard what sounded like a large boat heading for us. It turned out to be a small plane flying low over the river. It did a fly-by and was gone.

Vaughan Meadow Campsite

We arrived at Vaughan Meadow and quickly set up camp. The site is located in the woods between the river and a large hay field. There was lots of wood laying around the site, so we cut it up and had enough for our evening and morning fires.

Dinner was Jonathan’s haddock with Maine-guide potatoes. The stars were amazing with a clear view of the Milky Way across the horizon. We sat around the fire until around 10:00, and then called it a night. Total miles for the day – 15.

Boat is loaded and ready to go

I crawled out of the tent around 6:30 the next morning. Cory was already up, so we lit the fire and started the coffee. Jonathan cooked eggs-in-a-hole for breakfast, and then we packed up and headed out.

This would be a relatively short paddling day, so we took our time. As we paddled along we heard what sounded like lawn mowers getting closer. It turned out to be a pair of parasails flying overhead. A littler further downstream we had another small plane zip by us at a low altitude following the river.

Cory cooking dinner

We arrived at our next campsite – Underhill – by midafternoon. We set up camp and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon. Since firewood was scare on land, Aaron and I paddled out to gather some of the abundant driftwood along the river. Dinner was T-bone steaks cooked on the fire by Cory – delicious. We sat around the fire until around 9:30 before calling it a night. Total miles for the day 7.

There was a chance of showers between 7:00 and 8:00 the next morning, so I got up early to take down my tent. We had a nice breakfast of French toast and bacon cooked by Cory. Then we headed out to paddle one of the prettier sections of the river passing Mount Sawyer and the Fairlee Palisades. We took a break for lunch at Orford Landing.

Fairlee Palisades

The wind picked up in the afternoon, and the paddling became a bit of a slog. We paddled by the Birch Meadow Campsite and down to Clay Brook. As we were checking out the Edgell Covered Bridge, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. It stopped by the time we reached our campsite for the night – Roaring Brook.

We were able to get our tents up before the skies opened up again. A couple of bands of rain and some hail came through before the skies finally cleared and we had an amazing rainbow over the river. Dinner was Aaron’s chili – also delicious. It was a chilly night, so I was toasty and warm in my sleeping bag a little after 9:00. Total miles for the day – 10.

Roaring Brook Campsite

It was downright cold when we woke up the next morning. We didn’t have a frost, but I’ll bet it came close. Cory and I were up around 6:30 and got the fire and the coffee started. Aaron and Jonathan were up shortly after, and Jonathan cooked eggs-in-a-hole for breakfast.

We packed up camp and headed out for the short paddle down to the take-out at North Thetford Landing. It took a little while to get everyone back to their cars, but we were soon on our way after another great trip. Total miles for the day – 2. Total miles for the trip - 34.



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Aaron's Video
Connecticut River Paddlers Trail

Charles River/Boston Harbor - October 1, 2026

View of Back Bay

I made my first trip back to Boston since my retirement to paddle the Charles River and Boston Harbor. I have been wanting to do this trip for years, so when Steve N. posted it on the RICKA Flatwater Message Board, I was in.

The Charles River arises at Echo Lake in Hopkinton, and flows generally east for 85-miles, zigzagging through 22 cities and towns in eastern MA before emptying into Boston Harbor. I’ve done lots of great trips on the Charles, but never this section around Boston.  

Massachusetts Avenue Bridge

I fought rush hour traffic to get to the put-in at Magazine Beach off Memorial Drive in Cambridge at 10:00. There was plenty of parking at this time on a weekday, but it would probably be a problem on a weekend.  

We launched across from Boston University and paddled down the Charles River into the Back Bay. This area was originally a large tidal marsh that was filled from the 1850's to the 1880's, transforming it into the grid-patterned Victorian-era brownstone and high-rise neighborhood that we know today.

Longfellow Bridge

We continued under the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, past the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and under the Longfellow Bridge. The Longfellow Bridge was completed in 1906 and connects Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with Kendall Square in Cambridge. The bridge is easily recognized by its four granite towers which resemble salt and pepper shakers. 

The granite towers also contain medallions with the carved reliefs of Viking ships. The Viking motif was a deliberate nod to the unproven myth that Leif Erikson had sailed up the Charles River and established a settlement named Norumbega around 1000 AD.

Museum of Science

After passing under the Longfellow Bridge, we approached the Museum of Science, which sits directly on top of the original Charles River Dam. Completed in 1910, the dam was built to turn the Charles River from a tidal estuary into a fresh-water basin. It included locks to let river traffic pass to/from the harbor. We passed through the channel of a now unused lock next to the Museum of Science.

From the Museum of Science, we under I-93 to the new Charles River Dam. In 1978, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the old Charles River Dam with this new dam and locks under what is now the Zakim Bridge. The locks are named for Colonel Richard Gridley, who was General George Washington's first army engineer.

Entering the locks

As we approached the locks, Steve pulled out his air horn and did two long and two short blows to alert the lock master that we wanted to go through. The huge gates opened in front of us and we paddled in. The gates closed again, the water came up, and the huge gates at the other end opened for us to paddle out into Boston Harbor.  

Once in the harbor we headed for the Charlestown Navy Yard - one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States. It was established in 1800 and operated until 1974. Today it is part of the Boston National Historical Park and is home for the USS Constitution.

USS Constitution and
the Bunker Hill Monument

The USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," is the world's oldest commissioned warship. It is a three-masted heavy frigate that was launched in 1797 in Boston. It earned the name "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812 because enemy cannonballs appeared to bounce off its thick wooden hull. It was undefeated in 33 engagements, most famously defeating four British warships during the War of 1812.

We crossed over to the Boston side of the harbor and had great views of Old Ironsides and the Bunker Hill Monument on the Charlestown side, and the TD/Boston Garden and the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge on the Boston side.  

Boston Tea Party Ship

We paddled around the North End past numerous old wharfs that have now been converted to condominiums and marinas. Conditions were perfect, and the views of the Boston skyline were amazing. It was great to paddle past buildings where I had worked for 45-years. 

We paddled down as far as the Tea Party Ship in the Fort Point Channel before turning around. The trip back was uneventful until we hit an afternoon headwind on the Charles River near the take-out. Total milage for the day was 10.4-miles.

This is what my workdays in Boston look like now!

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