We had 14 boats with 4 beginners and couple of other less experienced paddlers. Release was 800 cfs. We had swims everywhere – even I got involved in a couple of rescues. I made it through Zoar Gap with no problem – eddied out at the top and went right. No pictures of me other than the group shot - I should have given Paul D. my camera as I ran the Gap. My Gap record now stands at 17 attempts with 9 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks.
Monday, September 12, 2022
The Mighty Fife - September 11, 2022
I had a lot of options for paddling this weekend. Bob was trying to arrange a poling trip on the Blackstone (don’t know if it happened), the Pcat release was Saturday (early due to repairs on the dam), the RICKA Sea Kayak group was doing a trip from the Bay Campus (big swells from Hurricane Earl offshore - maybe not for my first trip), and CTAMC was doing a run on Fife Brook. I decided to get back in my whitewater canoe for a run on the Mighty Fife - Fife for Life as John Kaz says. Appropriate since it is the run I have done more than any other over the years.
Sunday, September 4, 2022
Charles - Needham to Wellesley - September 3, 2022
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| In the "new to me" Capella |
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| Under the Centre Street Bridge |
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| Skye, Cheryl and Erik - the three Capellas |
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Bethel Point - August 27, 2022
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| Bethel Point Landing |
Harpswell is a beautiful coastal town just north of Portland on Casco Bay with 216 miles of coastline along Harpswell Neck to the west, and Great Island, Orr's Island, and Bailey Island to the east. These islands form an archipelago connected by bridges with over 200 smaller islands.
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| Cundy Harbor from the west |
I paddled around Hen Cove over to the west side of Cundy Harbor before exploring some of the smaller islands. It was only a 3-mile trip, but it was just enough, and I was able to practice some edging along the way. Lots of other great places to explore in Harpswell.
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| Exploring the islands |
Links
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Planning for Fall Camping - Allagash River
In January of 2020 we were planning an Allagash camping trip for the spring. That is also when we started to hear about COVID-19, and little did we know what was coming. Obviously, that trip never happened.
Two years later in the spring of 2022 we decided to give it another try. COVID was still with us and we were halfway through the Greek alphabet for variant designations, but we were all vaccinated and boosted. One week before the trip I tested positive for COVID and the trip got cancelled. I felt terrible, but a couple of days later Jonathan tested positive as well - misery loves company.
Well, I still want to get up to Maine for my first Allagash trip and Jonathan needs to keep his annual string of trips going, so four intrepid campers (Jonathan, Conrad, Julie and me) are planning to do the long-delayed Allagash trip this fall. The plan is to spend a couple of days on the lakes, and then paddle the Allagash River. Here is what Jonathan came up with:
- Thursday, Sept. 29th - assemble at Jonathan’s in Wiscasset in time for dinner.
- Friday, Sept. 30th – leave Wiscasset early for the 5-hour drive to Churchill Dam. Camp at the Jaws between Heron Pond and Churchill Lake.
- Saturday, Oct. 1st - spare day – another night at the Jaws - explore Eagle Lake and visit the locomotives.
- Sunday, Oct. 2nd - Chase Rapids - camp on Unmasks or Long Lake
- Monday, Oct. 3rd - Long Lake Dam (line this one) - camp on Round Pond
- Tuesday, Oct. 4th - Round Pond to Five Finger Brook - camp at Five Finger Brook
- Wednesday, Oct. 6th – early start down to Michaud Farm to meet Norm L’Italien (Pelletier’s Campground) for the ride back to Churchill Dam. Drive back to Wiscasset, or the long drive home.
We’ll bring coolers with real food for the first few days, then switch to freeze-dried. Lunches are on BYO. Jonathan will bring cooking gear and G&T for the 6:30 sundown meeting. Everyone will bring their own chair, camping gear, coffee mug, and other refreshments. We'll have to figure out the remaining group gear.
Sounds like a plan - SYOTR in 35 days!
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Hot Day on the Sudbury – August 20, 2022
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| Heading out into the marshlands |
The Sudbury is a National Wild and Scenic River that arises in Westborough and flows generally northeast for 41-miles to its convergence with the Assabet at Egg Rock in Concord. From there the river continues as the Concord, which flows generally north for about 16-miles until its convergence with the Merrimack River in Lowell.
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n the towns of Sudbury and Wayland, the Sudbury River flows through the wetlands of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. It is a beautiful area that provides habitat for migratory bids and many other animals. Bill and I have been doing RICKA trips on the Sudbury for the past couple of years.
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| Me and Bill in the Spirit II |
We put-in at 9:30 at the Lincoln Canoe Launch (Route 117). With the ongoing drought, the water at the launch itself was a low, but the river was fine. We paddled upstream into the marshes for about 4-miles before turning around and stopping for lunch under the bridge at Sherman’s Bridge Road - the only shade we could find. Temps hit the low 90’s, so it was HOT out on the water, but a trip to Bedford Farms in Concord for ice cream made up for it. John put together this video:
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Saturday, August 20, 2022
Circles on an outside edge in the Capella - Lincoln Woods - August 20, 2022
Over the years I’ve heard people talk about leaning/healing/edging to the outside of a turn, but I never really knew what they were talking about. In whitewater paddling (canoe or kayak) leaning to the outside of the turn is a great way to end up in the drink – at least when crossing eddy lines. There is a freestyle canoeing move called a post that involves an outside edge heal, but I didn’t think that it was any more effective than its inside edge counterpart the axle, so I rarely did it. Like the bow pry/jam, it was something that I practiced, but didn’t really use in my day-to-day paddling. The only time I ever use an outside edge heal in my canoe is for a sideslip with a sculling draw.
After being out in the Capella a couple of times, I now know what they mean by edging to the outside of the turn. This boat absolutely responds to an outside edge heal. Raise the thigh and butt to the side that you want to turn (or drop the outside edge) and the boat will gradually turn in that direction. Add a forward sweep and the boat turns faster. Adjust the edging while paddling forward and you can make subtle turns without resorting to correction stokes.
Why does this work in a sea kayak? Sea kayaks are displacement hulls. Edging the boat changes the hull profile, releasing the stems, and moving the boat into an outside edge turn. Leaning slightly forward engages the bow in a carve and allows the stern to skid through the turn. It might have worked in my canoes if I gave it a chance, but the effect is much more pronounced in the Capella.
I went back to Lincoln Woods to practice some more outside edge turns. Before going I had practiced using the paddled as a brace on shore while getting in and getting out of the boat, and I was much more stable on the water. I set up the camera to do some off side edge circles. My edging technique needs work (I think the pegs are still too loose), but the boat definitely turns. There were times when I had locked in a good off side edge and I could feel the stern skidding through the turn. I also did some shoreline paddling using only forward strokes and outside edge turns to follow the shoreline.
I still get confused about which way to edge – raise the side in the direction that you want to go seems to be the easiest for me to remember. Its definitely not intuitive yet, and is the exact opposite of what I have always done, but I’ll get there eventually. Hopefully I won’t screw-up my whitewater boating in the process.
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