Thursday Night Tville - June 19, 2025

Party Wave

With hot weather and the Juneteenth holiday, it seemed like a great day to do a Thursday Night Tville run on the Farmington River. It is amazing that we are in late June and Tville is still going strong.

The Farmington River arises near Otis, MA and flows generally south and east for 47-miles through Connecticut until it reaches the Connecticut River near Windsor, CT. There are several sections of the Farmington that are popular for whitewater boating – New Boston (class III/IV), Riverton/Satan’s Kingdom (class I/II), Crystal (class II), and of course “Tville” or the Tariffville Gorge (class II/III).

Playhole

Tville is one of the best-known whitewater runs in southern New England. It is the site of an annual spring slalom race and has hosted national and Olympic trials. The run itself is short - just 1.5 miles, but the water runs most of the year and there are play spots for paddlers of all skill levels. At yesterday’s level – 2.4-feet, 1,000 cfs - it is a class II+ run, with a couple of class III rapids at the end.

We met at Tarrifville Park and ran the shuttle down to the take-out at Taxis Avenue. We had 16 in the group – 15 kayaks and 1 canoe - what else is new. These was plenty of water at the top, and at Cathy’s Wave and Brown's Ledge. I ran the Bridge Abutment Rapid first and got some pictures of the rest of the group coming through.

Top of Double Drop

As usual, I ran the rapids above the Play Hole to the left and got out to get some picture of the kayaks in the Playhole. Below the Playhole are three ledges that I run to the left. I did get some pictures of folks running the bigger drop on the right.

I ran double drop to the right and caught the eddy. The water was moving fast between the drops, but I was able to catch a wave trough, which made it easy to ferry over to the other side to run the second drop. At this level, I could have run the first drop on the left and avoided the ferry.

Sunset on the river

We headed down to Typewriter, but with the island in the middle wearing away, the surf wave was not as big. I peeled out just as Ed was coming through with one of the newer paddlers. As we got into the squirrely water below Typewriter, I actually ran Ed over after tipping him over. He rolled back up no worse for wear.

We finally made to the takeout by around 8:00. I loaded up my gear, changed up and was on my way in about 15 minutes. It seems like a longer drive home at night. I get home around 10:00.

Surfing at Cathy's Wave

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Tville Gage

River Description from American Whitewater

Crystal - June 7, 2025

Punch Brook

My original plan was to do the RICKA Flatwater trip on the Upper Wood River, but it got cancelled due to rain. My second option was the RICKA sea kayak trip at Potter Cove, but it got postponed until tomorrow. I needed to paddle today, so I sent an email to Paul D. to see what he was doing. We decided to do an early run on the Crystal section of the Farmington River to beat the rain.

The Farmington arises near Otis, MA and flows generally south and east for 47 miles through Connecticut until it flows into the Connecticut River near Windsor. There are several sections of the Farmington that are popular for whitewater boating – New Boston - class III/IV (1, 2, 3), “Tville” or the Tariffville Gorge - class II/III, Riverton - class I, Satan’s Kingdom - class I/II(III), and of course Crystal - class II.

Ledge above Route 4

I met Paul at the put in at 9:00. We unloaded the boat and ran the shuttle down to the Red Barn. The river was running at 6.5 feet, 1,100 cfs – a great level with lots of play spots. The run is a series of class I/II rapids that start off easy and get more difficult as you move downstream.

The first major rapid is the site of the Punch Brook Slalom. From there, the rapids continue as a series of rock gardens and wave trains. We spent a lot of time surfing and ferrying through the rock gardens. The largest rapid is the ledge above the Route 4 Bridge that we ran to the right. The run took about 3-hours and I was on the road back home by 12:30. We beat the rain on the river, but it poured on the way home.

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Unionville Gage

Quinebaug - Danielson to Canterbury

Heading downstream

Paul has put this trip on the RICKA flatwater calendar for the past couple of years, but it always got cancelled due to low water. With the rain last week, the level was holding at around 4-feet, 800 cfs, so this year the trip was on. It was a little low for Paul’s liking, but I thought it was fine.

The Quinebaug River arises above East Brimfield Lake in Sturbridge and flows generally southeast for 60 miles through MA and CT to Norwich where it joins the Willimantic to form the Shetucket. We would be running the 10-mile section from Danielson to Canterbury. You can also shorten this trip to 5.3 miles by taking out at the CT DEEP Fish Hatchery.

running the broken Dam

This is one of the longer, more challenging sections of the Quinebaug with flatwater, lots of quickwater, and two class II rapids at the broken Dyer Dam (2-miles downstream, rebar river right - run center or left) and the old Wauregan Dam above the Wauregen Road Bridge (5-miles downstream).

I met the crew at 10:30 at Wayne R. LaFreniere Memorial Field at 39 Wauregan Road in Danielson for the shuttle down to Robert Manship Park at 50 Lovell Lane in Canterbury. It was cloudy and rainy, which would continue throughout the trip.

Running the Wauregan Dam

The current was moving fast as we launched at around 11:00 and headed downstream. We had 8 paddlers in seven boats (4 canoes and 3 kayaks). Everyone's confidence seemed to build as we ran the first couple of quickwater rapids.

The first real challenge was the class II drop at the broken Dyer Dam. The easiest line was through the center – a large tongue terminated in a small reaction wave. Everyone bounced down and made it through fine. With a little more confidence, we continued through more quickwater to the next class II rapid – the old Wauregan Dam. 

Approaching the take out

The Wauregan Dam is is a much longer rapid with rocks and holes at the top and standing waves down through the center. The line starts right and them moves to the center. Everyone made it through fine and looked like they enjoyed the run.

We stopped for lunch at the Fish Hatchery before continuing on the second half of the trip, which is mostly flatwater with a couple of quickwater sections. The trip took about 3-hours. Good time had by all in spite of the rain.

The crew at the lunch break

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Quinebaug Gage - Putnam

Tandem at the Scantic Spring Splash - March 29, 2024

Opening Ceremony 

I’m not much of a canoe racer, but I’ve always loved watching the carnage at the Scantic Spring Splash Canoe and Kayak Race – especially the tandem canoes. I have run the Scantic many times in my solo canoes. This year I wanted to try a tandem run, so I partnered with Aaron for a run in my Mohawk Whitewater 16.

The Scantic arises in Hampden, MA (southeast of Springfield) and flows general southwest for 40-miles to join the Connecticut River in South Windsor, CT. We would be running the "Expert Course" from Quality Avenue in Somers to the Powder Hollow Barn on South Maple Street in Hazardville – about 5-miles. 

Competition takes a swim above Trestle

Much like RICKA’s old Branch River Race (AKA Rhode Island Whitewater Championship), the Scantic Spring Splash is a downriver race with four significant rapids. On the Branch the rapids are below the Harrisville Bridge, Whipple Drop, Glendale and Oakland. On the Scantic they are Trestle, Stokers, Chimney and Staircase. 

I dropped off my boat at the put-in and headed down to the barn to register with Aaron and pick up our bib. We got number 29. We then caught the shuttle bus back to the put-in. 

Running Stokers

After the mandatory safety meeting we got on the water at around noon with our class – Men's OC2 – Masters (AKA the “old fogey” group). There was only one other boat in our class, so we were guaranteed to place. We launched first and headed downstream. 

Even with the dam release the river was very low - .75-feet, 22 cfs on the Broad Brook gage. The race starts off with 2.5-miles of quickwater, and we scraped and bumped our way down the upper section. At one point we grounded on a gravel bar and got passed by our competition. The first of 5-times that the lead would change,  

Below Stokers

The removal of the Springborn Dam in 2017 created the first major rapid – Trestle. As we approached the rapid we saw our competitions swimming down the left side.  We went right, checked to make sure they were OK, and continued downstream. We were back in the lead. 

Shortly after Trestle is Stokers - a 3-foot ledge that needs to be run about 10 feet off the left bank. We ran the drop fine, but filled the boat up with water and needed to pull over to empty it out.  As we were emptying the boat our competition passed us again.

Running Staircase

We got back on the water and continued down some more quickwater. It wasn’t long before we saw our competition stuck on a gravel bar on the left.  We passed them to the right and were back in the lead. 

After some more quickwater we came to the next major rapid – Chimney.  It’s an “S-turn” through some rocky ledges that is run down the center. We made it through fine, but got hung up on a gravel bar at the bottom. Unfortunately, our competition grounded on the same gravel bar and blocked us in. They got back on the water first, so they were back in the lead.  

Staircase from the Bridge

We continued downstream to the last rapid – Staircase. It is exactly what you would expect - a series of ledges that look like a staircase with a large shoot at the bottom. We could see our competition out in front of us. At this point, our only chance to win would be if our competition swam the big drop at the bottom They didn’t, and neither did we.

It was fun paddling under the bridge at the finish line to the cheers of spectators above. We finished second in out class with a time of 57:19 - that was 32nd out of 55 racers. We hung around to collect our trophy at the awards ceremony before heading home.

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My short video of the run

Aaron's longer video of the run

Richard Tanguay Slideshow at Stokers

Stuck on Staircase Video

Spring Splash Video from Staircase

Scantic Spring Splash website 

2025 Race Results at PaddleStats.net

Broad Brook Gage

Second Swim of the Year - Scantic - March 29, 2024

At the put-in

We will be busy this weekend with the family for Easter, so when I found out that I had Good Friday off from work and that Paul D. was running a CTAMC trip on the Scantic, it was a perfect match.

The Scantic arises in Hampden, MA (southeast of Springfield) and flows general southwest for 40-miles to join the Connecticut River in South Windsor, CT. We would be running the 5-mile section from Quality Avenue in Somers to the Powder Hollow Barn (South Maple Street) in Hazardville that is the site of the Scantic Spring Splash downriver race. There are 4 class II+ (maybe class III at this level) rapids - Trestle, Stokers, Chimney and Staircase.

Stokers

With all the rain this week the river was at a nice level with 2-feet, 150 cfs on the Broad Brook gage and 1.5-feet on the trestle bridge gage. Jo-Ann described it as “sporty”. We had 9 boats – 8 kayaks and 1 canoe - what else is new. We put in off Quality Avenue and headed downstream. The first 2.5 miles is mostly quickwater, and it was moving right along. The removal of the Springborn Dam in 2017 created the first major rapid – the Trestle Rapid under the railroad bridge.

Shortly after Trestle is Stokers - a 3-foot ledge that needs to be run about 10 feet off the left bank. I usually try move to the right after the drop to avoid the rock pile at the bottom. This time, it didn’t happen. The current pushed me left, but with the higher water level I made it through fine.

Chimney

After some more quickwater and a nice surf wave comes Chimney - an “S” turn through some rocky ledges that is generally run down the center (maybe center left). I filled up my boat running the drop at the bottom. I pulled into the eddy, but I didn’t have my bailer and there wasn’t anyplace to get out to empty my boat, so I pulled back out into the current to find a place downstream. Unfortunately, with a boat full of water I flipped in the small drop downstream – second swim of the year for me.  Maybe it is time for an electric bilge pump (JTK Canoe, Ridge Spirit).

The last rapid is Staircase, which is exactly what you would expect - a series of ledges that look like a staircase with a large shoot at the bottom. I eddied out on the left as I came down to help line up on the shoot on the bottom, and made it through fine. Another fun day. It was a good Good Friday!

Staircase

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Scantic Spring Splash
Broad Brook Gage

Quinebaug River - Danielson to Plainfield - March 3, 2024

Running the Dyer Dam

I needed to paddle a little later today, so when I got an email from Paul looking to paddle the Q2 at 1:00, it worked out perfect. 

The Q2 is the section of the Quinebaug below Danielson, CT. On this trip we did the 5-mile section down to Plainfield. You can also do another 5-miles down to Canterbury. I met Paul at 1:00 at Wayne R. LaFreniere Memorial Field (39 Wauregan Road, Danielson) for the shuttle down to the Fish Hatchery (145 Trout Hatchery Road, Plainfield). When I arrived I was surprised to see Mike there as well. The temps were in the low 60's, and we had a great level - 5 feet, 1,500 cfs.

Running the Wauregen Dam Rapid

The river starts off with quickwater until you reach the first rapid - the broken Dyer Dam about 2-miles downstream. There is rebar on river right, so the best line is center, or to the left. More quickwater follows until 5-miles downstream when you reach the Wauregan Dam Rapid above the Wauregen Road Bridge. The waves at the top right were big, but I stayed right anyway. We got a few pictures, but the video of Paul's run didn't come out.

The trip took us about 2 hours. Fun run, and I also got to pick Mike's brain on the Moosup River.

The crew - Erik, Mike, Paul

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Scouting the Moosup River – March 3, 2024

Put-in at Brunswick Avne

Before paddling the Quinebaug with Paul and Mike, I decided to scout out the Moosup River. This was a popular whitewater river back in the early RICKA days, but I haven’t heard of anyone paddling it in years. I grabbed my 1980 edition of Canoeing Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut by Ken Webber and headed out.

The Moosup River arises at Clark Pond in Foster, RI and flows generally south and then west for 23-miles to its convergence with the Quinebaug River in Plainfield, CT.  There are two sections of the Moosup that were pretty regularly paddled in the past – the “wilderness” section in RI, and the “whitewater” section in CT,

Upstream from Barber Hill Road

The only person that I ever knew to paddle the “wilderness” section was Mike B. It twists and turns from Foster, through Coventry and into Sterling, CT. In the past it was kept clear of blowdowns by the boy scouts for their spring trips, but is now overgrown.  

The “whitewater” section was a pretty popular beginner run back in the old RICKA whitewater days.  I haven’t heard of anyone paddling this section for years. I couldn’t find a gage for the Moosup, but it was flowing nice today, so a good rain or snow melt will bring it up. The Quinebaug gage in Putnam (upstream) was 5.2-feet, 1,500 cfs. and in Jewett City (downstream) was 10.6-feet, 4,500 cfs. 

Upstream from Pond Street Bridge

The put-in is at an abandoned bridge on Brunswick Avenue off Goshen Street. The take-out is at an abandoned bridge on the School Street Extension off Black Hill Road. Mike said that in the past the locals could be a bit of a pain about parking and access at the take out – I don’t know if that is still true. Route 14 runs along the river and connects the put-in to the take-out.

Interestingly, three of the dams noted in Ken Weber's 1980 description of the run have now been removed. Moosup Dam #1 above the Norwich Road Bridge was removed in 2014. The Griswold Rubber Dam, described in Ken Weber's book as the “broken dam”, was removed in 2015.  And the  Brunswick Mill #1 Dam located just downstream of the put-in was removed in 2017. That leaves one dam remaining that needs to be portaged – below River Street after the railroad bridge.

Upstream from Norwich Road
(Route 12) Bridge

I found the put-in at Brunswick Avenue and it looked like access would still be possible. I checked out the river from several of the bridges over the river. It was at a nice level with the recent rain, and seemed clear of blow downs from what I could see. Its about a 4-mile run, and at least according to Ken Webber's book, the best rapids are after I-395.

Mike showed me the take-out at the School Street Extension off the Black Hill Road (Route 14). If you miss this take out, its 6-miles of flatwater to the next take-out at Canterbury on the Quinebaug.

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First Swim of the Year – Salmon – January 27, 2024

Surfing the on the upper Jeremy

I’m off to an early start. I had my first swim of the year at the Route 149 Rapid (aka “ the Old Dam Rapid” or the “Old Mill Rapid”, or simply “where the old dam was”) on the Jeremy River.

After another week of rain and snowmelt, I got an email from Paul asking if I’d be interested in another run on the Salmon. After a ten-year absence, this would be my second run on the Salmon/Jeremy in three weeks. We met at the covered bridge on Comstock Bridge Road in East Hampton. On this trip the canoes (me and Jim) outnumbered the kayak (Paul). The river was low but fluid – 4-feet, 600 cfs. We ran the shuttle up the commuter lot at the intersection of Routes 2 and 149.

Route 149 Rapid - I swam
 the drop at the top

The Jeremy starts off small, and at this level rock dodging was the order of the day. About a mile downstream is the site of an old paper mill dam that has now been removed revealing a new rapid with two drops. The first is a 1 - 2-foot drop where the river takes a hard right turn and Pine Brook joins the river. There is a large wave at the bottom breaking to the right. The second is a 2-foot drop through a jumble of rocks where the old dam stood. The line is to the right of the rocks at the bottom. 

I drifted down the first drop without much momentum, got spun sideways on the breaking wave, and flipped to my offside – first swim of the year. After a feeble attempt to try to get my boat to shore, I let Jim chase it down and focused on getting myself to shore before the next drop. Even with my drysuit, that water was cold!

Running the broken dam

My boat ran the next drop and Jim got it to shore for me below the Route 149 Bridge. The rest of the run was uneventful. From there down the Jeremy is a little bigger with the added flow from Pine Brook, but it was still all about dodging rocks and staying in the deep water channels. The Salmon was actually at a fun level with lots of rocks to dodge, eddies to catch and waves to surf. Paul says 4-feet is his favorite level.

I ran the broken dam first, and was able to get some pictures and video of Jim and Paul coming through. We took turns surfing at the surf wave below the broken dam before heading down to the take-out at the covered bridge. Lesson learned from this trip – don’t just drift into breaking waves at the bottom of a drop. Paddle into it with some momentum so you can break through without flipping. Living the old saying - “if you not swimming you are not trying hard enough”.

Running the broken dam

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East Hampton Gage

River Description - Salmon/Jeremy from American Whitewater

River Description - Salmon/Blackledge from American Whitewater

Salmon River - January 14, 2024

Comstock Covered Bridge

Seven inches of rain and 5 inches of snow melt had all the rivers up this weekend. I was busy on Saturday, but tried to get the local crew together for a Branch River run on Sunday. I had no takers since the day was cold and the river was high (6 feet, 1,200 cfs) and full of wood. There were lots of other options, so I reached out to Paul D. and we decided to do a run on the Salmon River. Paul posted on Where's the Whitewater at? and Dave and Tim joined us as well.

The Salmon River is formed at the confluence of the Blackledge and Jeremy Rivers in Colcester and runs about 10 miles to join the Connecticut River. It’s a pretty river that cuts a steep valley through the hills of southeastern Connecticut. We would be running a 3-mile section in the Salmon River State Forest that was the site of the old Salmon River Slalom race.

The new "Old Dam" Rapid above
Route 149 on the Jeremy River

The Salmon was one of the first whitewater rivers that I ran with Mike B. back in 2007. After that, I ran it a few times with Matt M. including a (shortly after) Christmas run in 2009. The last time I ran it was a summer run back in 2013. At lower levels (600-800 cfs) it is a technical class II with lots of rock-dodging. At higher levels the rocks get buried and there are more long wave trains. 

We met at the covered bridge on Comstock Bridge Road in East Hampton. The original Comstock Bridge was built in 1840 and is one of only three remaining covered bridges in Connecticut. Paul and Dave were there when I arrived, and Tim arrived shortly after. I could see from the parking lot that the river was at a great level.

Running a ledge on the Jeremy

We decided to take-out across the street at the Salmon River Picnic Area off Gulf Road. We knew that we wanted to put-in on the Jeremy River, but figured there would be strainers in the upper section. Rather than putting-in at the commuter lot at the intersection of Routes 2 and 149, we decided to put-in at the old mill site where the dam was removed at Route 149 and Paper Mill Road.

You can also put-in on the Blackledge, which is mostly quickwater so it is little less exciting than the Jeremy. The put-in for the Blackledge is the Blackledge Fishing Area off South Main Street near the intersection with Jerry Daniels Road in Marlborough.

A pretty section of the Salmon

As I was getting dressed, I ripped the latex bootie on my NRS drysuit again. I had this drysuit repaired last year, so this was a new bootie. Fortunately, Paul and Tim had duct tape so I could tape it up. Even so, I decided not run the "Old Dam" Rapid (class II+/III-) below where the dam was removed. Instead, I tried to take video of Paul and Tim from the Route 149 bridge, but only managed to get Tim.

At this level (4.8 feet, 1,000 cfs), the Salmon/Jeremy is a nice class II run - mostly long wave trains with some rock dodging and nice surf spots. The banks are lined with hemlock trees and mountain laurel, and small water falls tumbled down the banks into the river. We enjoyed the waves as we worked out way down to the largest rapid on the river – the broken dam.

Tim lining up to run the broken dam

The broken dam is a class II+/III- rapid with 3 drops - each around 2’. I went first in hopes of getting some pictures of the rest of the crew coming through. I took the usual line (slot on the right) and filled up the boat in the large standing waves below. By the time I got to shore, Paul had already run through. I was ready to get some video of Tim and Dave, only to have the battery in my camera die – oh well. They looked good, but you will just have to trust me.

The best surf wave on the river is just below the broken dam. I checked it out with Paul on the way to the take-out. It started to snow as we were loading up, and it was snowing pretty good on the ride home, but I made it home with no problem. Another great trip.

The crew at the put-in - Erik, Tim, Paul and David

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Old Pictures of Salmon Runs from 2007, 2008 and 2009

Video of Laps at the Broken Dam in 2013

River Description - Salmon/Jeremy from American Whitewater

River Description - Salmon/Blackledge from American Whitewater

Salmon River Gage

Day after Turkey Paddle – Crystal – November 24, 2023

Crystal/Punch Brook Rapid

Like the New Year’s Day Paddle, the Day after Turkey/Black Friday Paddle is becoming a bit of a tradition around here - skip the shopping and get out on the river to burn off calories from of that turkey dinner. When I saw that Paul D. was running a CTAMC leaders choice class II trip on Black Friday, I decided to join.

We got some rain on Tuesday that brought up a lot of rivers up and gave us hope for some interesting options. Paul’s initial list included the Salmon, Shepaug, Naugatuck and Housatonic, along with several class II sections of the Farmington - Riverton, Satan’s Kingdom, and Crystal. Unfortunately, by the time Friday came, most of the rivers had dropped, so we ended up on the Crystal section of the Farmington River – fine with me.

Surf wave at the wall

The Farmington arises near Otis, MA and flows generally south and east for 47 miles through Connecticut until it flows into the Connecticut River near Windsor. There are several sections of the Farmington that are popular for whitewater boating – New Boston - class III/IV, “Tville” or the Tariffville Gorge - class II/III, Riverton - class I, Satan’s Kingdom - class I/II(III), and of course Crystal - class II.

Back in the day I took many trips out to Crystal to paddle with Matt and Scott. It’s a long drive for a relatively short run, so I hadn’t been there for years when COVID hit. With the Farmington River Trail running alongside, Crystal was an easy bike shuttle, so Paul and I ran it three times in three months (January, February, March) in 2021. By April most people were vaccinated and the car shuttles started up again. This would be my first time back since then.

Bernackie Rapid

We arrived at the put-in (185 Canton Road, Burlington, CT - 41.794267, -72.925324) at 10:00 to run the shuttle down to the Red Barn. The river had peaked at just over 6.5 feet, 1,000 cfs. on Wednesday, but had dropped back down to 5.5 feet, 700 cfs. by the time we got on the river - low, but still runnable.

The run is a series of class I/II rapids that start off easy and get more difficult as you move downstream. The first major rapid is the site of the Punch Brook Slalom. From there, the rapids continue as a series of rock gardens and wave trains. We spent a lot of time surfing and ferrying through the rock gardens. The largest rapid is the ledge above the Route 4 Bridge that we ran to the right. The run took us about 2 1/2-hours and I was home by 4:00. Sure beats shopping.

Seal Launch from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

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Unionville Gage
River Description from American Whitewater

Hanging with the single bladers - June 15, 2023

Looked like it was going to be a busy weekend, so I was glad to have the option for a Thursday night run at Tville. The level was low (1.5 feet, 500 cfs), but fine for what I like to do. It was nice to hang out with a bunch of single bladers, even if they were on paddle boards rather than in canoes.

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Housatonic - River Road to Housatonic Meadows - May 20, 2023

Jeff D. running the slalom course

It was slalom race weekend on the Housatonic, so I decided to join Paul D. for his trip on the Covered Bridge section so I could try my luck on the race course. It’s a 3-hour drive from my house, so I needed to get an early start.

The Housatonic originates in the Berkshire Hills of western MA and flows south for 150 miles along the western border of MA and CT before emptying into Long Island Sound. There’s a lot of great paddling on the Housatonic River. The best-known whitewater section is a class IV run known as Bulls Bridge - it's well above my skill level. There are also a couple of nice flatwater sections - one in MA - Sheffield to Ashley Falls, and one mostly in CT - Ashley Falls to Falls Village that we paddled as a fall foliage trip a few years ago.

Rescue practice

We would be running the quickwater section from River Road in Cornwall to the Picnic Area at Housatonic Meadows State Park in Sharon. We met at the picnic area and ran the shuttle up to River Road. This section is about 6-milles of quickwater with a couple of class II rapids – the Covered Bridge Rapid where the slalom course was set up, and the Ledges. The river was low and scratchy (2.5 feet, 500 cfs.) – I don’t think I’d make the trip again at that level. We put in on River Road, and paddled down to the Covered Bridge to run the slalom gates.

In whitewater slalom, racers compete to run a course of upstream and downstream gates set up in the rapids. Each gate consists of two poles hanging from a wire strung across the river. There are 18-25 numbered gates in a course that must be run in the proper order, with green gates being run downstream and red gates being run upstream. Upstream gates are typically placed in eddies. Downstream gates are often offset to require ferries or rapid turns. If a gate is hit a 2-second penalty is given. If a gate is missed a 50-second penalty is given. The paddler’s head and part of the boat must pass through the gate. In New England, slalom races are organized as part of the New England Slalom Series.

Surfing at the Ledges

I brought my Yellowstone Solo, so I knew running the gates would be a challenge – it was. I missed 6 of the 22 gates. The Yellowstone Solo doesn’t spin or side slip as fast a dedicated whitewater or slalom boat, but it was a lot more comfortable when I was running the quickwater sections downstream. Due to the low water, all of the gates were set up as downstream gates, which was unusual. Typically, there are 4 to 6 upstream gates included in the course.

After running the slalom course, we took some time practicing rescues and boat recoveries before heading downstream. We stopped for lunch at the Housatonic Meadows State Park Campground. It was pouring rain for the second half of our trip, the ride home, and most of the night. Over two-inches of rain fell, which gave the river a much needed boost for the slalom race today. Oh well, it was still a fun day.

The crew at the put-in above the Covered Bridge

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Scantic Spring Splash - March 25, 2023

Looking for the line at Stokers

We were supposed to babysit my grandson this weekend, but he got sick, so babysitting was out. With a free day, I decided to run the Scantic Spring Splash downriver race. I have run the Scantic River many times, but have never done the race, which is part of the NECKRA (New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association) Downriver Series. This would be only my second race since I started paddling - the first was the BRWA Canoe/Kayak Race way back in 2010.

The Scantic arises in Hampden, MA (southeast of Springfield) and flows general southwest for 40-miles to join the Connecticut River in South Windsor, CT. We would be running the "Expert Course" from Quality Avenue in Somers to the Powder Hollow Barn (South Maple Street) in Hazardville – about 5-miles. There are 4 class II+ (maybe class III) rapids - Trestle, Stokers, Chimney and Staircase.

Entering the rapid at Stokers

I decided to bring my Yellowstone Solo for the race. I thought it would be faster then my Outrage, but it was probably slower since I needed to stop and bail after each rapid. I dropped off my boat at the put-in and headed down to the Powder Hollow Barn to register and pick up my bib. I saw a lot of familiar faces as I headed out to catch the shuttle bus back to the put-in. After the mandatory safety meeting we got on the water around noon with my class – Men's OC1 Recreational – going first.

The river was at a nice level with 1 foot, 40 cfs on the Broad Brook gage and additional water from a release from the dam upstream. The race starts off with 2.5-miles of quickwater. The removal of the Springborn Dam in 2017 created the first major rapid – the Trestle under the railroad bridge. Shortly after Trestle is Stokers - a 3-foot ledge that needs to be run about 10 feet off the left bank, moving right after the drop to avoid the rock pile at the bottom. There was a big crowd of spectators there, so I was glad I made it through.

Running the main drop at Stokers

After some more quickwater the next major rapid is Chimney - an “S” turn through some rocky ledges that is generally run down the center (maybe center left). I filled up my boat running the rapid, and bounced over the rocks in the shallow water below the last ledge before I could finally find a spot to empty my boat.

The last rapid is Staircase, which is exactly what you would expect - a series of ledges that look like a staircase with a large shoot at the bottom. I came down the ledges too far to the right, and dumped in the eddy above the shoot trying to set up for the drop - first swim of the year. After getting back in my boat, I peeled-out and ran the drop fine. 

In the hole below Stokers

It was cool paddling under the bridge to the cheers of the spectators above and crossing the finish line. I finished third (last) in my class with a time of 50:22. Rick was the winner with a time of 43:22. After dropping off my boat I walked back over to Staircase to watch the runs, snap some pictures, and help recover boats. 

Here is a video of the OC1 runs (including Dory who had her own class but still beat me) and some boat recoveries at the bottom of Staircase. You can see me take a dump at around 0:30 - if I had just paddled forward it looks like I would have made it. Thanks to Pinay & Mainer for the video. 

Scantic Spring Splash from Erik Eckilson on Vimeo.

Links:

My Pictures

Scantic Spring Splash

Pictures at Stokers

Video at Stokers

Video at Staircase

Race Results  - I am class G - OC-1 Men's Recreation

Broad Brook Gage