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Deep Enough to Swim in, Nearly Warm Enough to want to: 2016 Kenduskeag Race will be one of a kind.

Every Kenduskeag is unlike any other, and this year will be no different.

The depth and flow rate of the Kenduskeag Stream will be lower than average for this time of year, yet there will still be plenty of water.  Meanwhile temperatures in Bangor are expected to reach 57 degrees on Saturday, and absent any recent snow melt, water temperatures should be a little warmer than average as well.  The biggest standout factor may be the number of paddlers.  The fact that this is the race’s 50th anniversary together with the expected warm spring day should help bring in a big field.  We would need close to 1600 paddlers to break the record.

As of Wednesday, April 13, the Kenduskeag is running at about 1000 cfs (cubic feet per second) which is just about average for this date. However, with no additional rainfall expected before race day and no contributing snow melt, the flow rate is likely to drop to somewhere near 500 cfs by Saturday.

While 500 cfs is a whole lot less water than 1,000 cfs, the good news is that  the level will be well above the dismally low 100 cfs we had for the hull-sanding event that constituted the 2012 race.

Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race data 2010 - 2015, with projections for 2016.
Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race data 2010 – 2015, with projections for 2016.

Robert Lang’s course record of 1:50.08 is safe for another year, but this year’s winning time should easily be closer to two hours than to the three hour plus slog we saw in 2012.  (See chart on left). Based on plotting winnings times and stream flow since 2010, I am projecting a winning time of 2 hours and 10 minutes for this year’s race.

Want more predictions?  How about that there will be at least one big surprise in the top 10 overall, that at least one craft will capsize before the start, that more than a hundred craft will capsize at Six Mile Falls,, and that there will be a lot of smiles at the finish.

Hope to see y’all there!

 

 

 

 

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Kayak Race Kenduskeag Maine rivers race whitewater

A Kenduskeag Like No Other: This Year’s Race Will Present New Challenges

Navigating between the rocks on the Marsh Stream, April 2012.

Some of us have literally spent weeks worrying about low water.  No sense worrying any more or complaining about it any longer because it sure looks like that’s what we’re going to get.   The hoped for rain simply isn’t going to come in time for the race. The river is not just low; it’s dramatically and historically low.  It’s lower than it was on race day two years ago, which itself was the lowest anyone could remember — and it’s lower than that by a lot.

Want numbers?  The stream gauge at Six Mile Falls reports a depth of  3.8 feet and a flow of a 144 cubic feet per second.   This time of year, the flow generally averages 1,000 cfs.  Two years ago, the low year, when the Bangor Daily News headline following the race read “What a Slog,” the gauge read  4.4 feet and 300 cfs.

This year’s Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race is sure to be unlike any other.  And that is one reason to participate.  Accept the low water.  Embrace it even.  The best strategy may be to stop thinking of it as a canoe race and think of it as one of those adventure races that have become all the rage.

Read about Tough Mudder, for example, and a low-water Kenduskeag suddenly seems a little more do-able.   There will be more shallows than usual, no doubt — and some of it is likely to be REALLY shallow.  More rocks to navigate around.  Some of them you might have to haul your boat over.  But it still won’t be the Tough Mudder.  No one will have to run 12 miles (half of it up a mountain).   There will be no fire rings to leap through. No belly-crawling, wall-climbing, ice-water dunking,  monkey-bar traversing. or mud-slogging.  Well, maybe some mud-slogging.

I’ve stayed up a few nights scouring the web for the secrets of paddling in shallow water.  I’ve looked at kayaking, canoeing, rowing, and yachting sites.  I even checked out some sites for pilots of large boats.  Sorry to say, but there aren’t any secrets.  Shallow water is shallow water — and, as is explained below, when you are trying to maintain the speed of your canoe or kayak in these areas, the shallow water literally sucks.

The technical term for this is shallow water drag.  As one site states, referring to the work of David Burch, when your boat enters water that is 12 inches deep while paddling at a speed of 3 knots, the resistance increases 90%.  That’s nine zero, ninety.  Basically it doubles.  Another source, also referring to Burch, states that hull speed is reduced by 50% when paddling a kayak or canoe in water that is 2 feet deep.

The loss of speed is due, at least in part, to the increased resistance of the bow wave.  In shallow areas, the water can’t move away from the boat as easily and therefore piles up at the bow.  For the paddler, this creates the unwelcome sensation that you are paddling uphill.

As if things aren’t bad enough already,  shallows can cause your boat to actually sink lower in the water, thus creating even more drag.  This is due to the Venturi effect, (told you I had been up late reading) which holds that differences in the speed that water moves creates differences in pressure.  In shallow water, the water that passes under your hull has fewer places to go and thus must move at a higher speed, which in turn creates an area of relatively lower pressure, which results in your boat sinking deeper.  The faster you go, the more your stern will sink or squat down into the water.  Isn’t that just great!

Still another factor, one that you can actually do something about, is called bank suction.  I’m not making this up.  According to the article at Don Fleming Yacht Services, “Bank suction starts when a vessel strays too close to a bank, restricting the water flow on its bank side.  The water-flow velocity increases, causing the water between the vessel and the bank to squeeze out of the area faster than it can flow back in. This causes the water level to drop between the vessel and the bank, and consequently the vessel is pulled sideways into the low-water area.”  Unfortunately, it doesn’t just affect large vessels.  Watch for this, especially when rounding a bend in shallows.  I’ve felt the stern of my kayak being pulled toward the bank just as is described above.

A few suggestions for this year’s Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race:
(1) Seek deeper water, even if you have to paddle out of your way to find it.
(2) Back off your pace a bit as you approach a portage or a shallow area that you plan to haul over.  The time you will lose by doing this is generally less than what you would lose by arriving already out of breath at the portage.
(3) Don’t expend too much energy in shallow areas.  The laws of physics will prevent your boat from gaining much speed there, no matter how hard you paddle.
(4) When approaching shallow areas that are followed by deep water, you may want to try increasing your speed enough to “pop” your hull ahead of your own bow wave.   Experienced racers talk about this, but I’ve never yet seen it done.
(5) Attach a rope to your bow that can be used to pull your boat through areas that are too shallow to paddle through.
(6) Don’t try to pass another boat by going through the shallows on the the outside of a turn.  See the description of bank suck above.– only imagine it being amplified by the effect of the other boat.
(7) Flip flops won’t make it.  Wear something sturdy on your feet and consider something that will protect your legs as well. Shin guards (no joke) would probably work pretty well for reducing the rock-inflicted bruising you might get when walking or running through shallows.
(8) Leave your watch at home.  No records will be set this year.  Not the kind you want to set, anyway.

If you can’t paddle, run.  If you can’t run, walk.  Don’t stop until you get to the tent with the food in it.  That appears to be a winning strategy for this year’s race. The 2012 Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race:  it will be an adventure.

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Not so Fast: Reflections on the Kenduskeag

“What a slog.” The three word Bangor Daily News headline went a long way to describe what many paddlers felt about the 44th annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race.

The race, as described by Michael Alden at KenduskeagStream CanoeRace.com, is “held annually on the third weekend of April, [and] is the largest paddling event in New England and one of the largest in the country. Hosted by the Bangor Dept. of Parks & Recreation, the 16.5 mile race begins in the Town of Kenduskeag and ends near the confluence of the Penobscot River in downtown Bangor.”

For the 2010 version, you had to be a scrapper. Between the chilly gray weather (snow flurries at the start) and the low water conditions which meant for very bumpy trips over Six Mile Falls, some of those who had planned to participate apparently made last minute decisions not to show. A total of 889 paddlers competed, roughly 100 fewer than last year.

The Kenduskeag race, which has been run every year since 1967, has a lot of history — and this is part of what makes it special. When you are out there paddling, you are competing not only against 800 -900 other paddlers but against the thousands of others who have done the race in previous years — and who will do the race in coming years. Even more importantly, if you are a veteran of the race, you are also competing against your former and future self.

In a high water year, it’s easy to feel like a grown up athlete playing t-ball, or a golfer hitting drives on the moon. There you are, speeded by PEC’s (performance enhancing currents), strutting down the river with big grin on your face, putting your times from other years to shame. In contrast, a low water year brings a certain sobriety. You paddle hard, maybe harder than ever before — and still your times do not measure up.

This year was a low water year with a capital L. Several race veterans stated they don’t remember the river being any lower. The winning paddler, Trever Maclean, paddled the course in 2:19:05 — and thereby earned the ignominious distinction of having the slowest winning time in recent memory. My review of the records shows it may be the slowest winning time since 1988, when Lee Martin and John Mathiew paddled a C2 Medium (2-person medium racing canoe) to a time of 2:27.46.

The trend in the last 4 years has been toward slower winning times and slower times overall. What is going on here? Is it that modern paddlers, despite their caffeinated energy drinks, carbon-infused paddles, and gym-chiseled physiques just can’t hold a paddle up to their forebears?

The 10-mile stretch of flatwater between Kenduskeag and Bangor provided plenty of time to meditate on the ways that low water slows you down: (1) low water means less current, taking several miles per hour off your average speed; (2) low water means more distance, as it requires more maneuvering to find deeper water and to avoid rocks; (3) low water means increased influence of “shallow water drag.” This invisible and sometimes overlooked factor is probably the strongest of the three. Some have claimed that paddling in water as shallow as 12″ increases drag and resistance by up to 90%.

Losing a foot or two of river depth adds up to a big deal, or at least that is what I was more than a little motivated to prove, given that my own times have also been getting slower.

Streamflow and river height are two factors that might allow comparisons between different years. The recently installed USGS gauge on the Kenduskeag measured 4.4 feet on race day. Unfortunately there is no such data from previous years.

Lacking that data, I considered several other methods that might allow comparison of times from year to year. I decided to use the average of the top 20 times from each year as a baseline for determining whether the river was running fast or slow, also understanding that the size and competitiveness of field does vary, which makes these comparisons somewhat inexact:

Year / Winning Time (Name of Winner) / Average Time of Top 20 Finishers*:
2007 / 1:53 (Owen & Woodward) / 2:07
2008 / 1:57 (Maclean & Hall) / 2:15
2009 / 2:19 (Maclean) / 2:42
2010 / 2:19 (Maclean) /2:50
*Times rounded off to nearest minute.

Assuming the field was equally competitive in the past four years, we can conclude that the river was slowest in 2010 — and that for even the winning paddlers, it was 26 minutes slower than in 2007, which was a high water year. For the “average top 20 paddler,” the river was 8 minutes slower than last year (another low water year) and a whopping 43 minutes slower than in 2007

We can also conclude that the most impressive win in the last 4 years was actually Trevor Maclean’s win this year. His time was 31 minutes faster than this years “top 20 average.” This makes sense in that this year Maclean was pushed hard by Robert Lang, who finished 2nd just a few minutes behind Maclean, and who would have had an even faster time, had he not capsized twice during the race.

My look at the numbers also supports a couple of other somewhat common sense conclusions: (1) high water tends to clump the field while low water spreads it out; (2) in low water, single kayaks probably have an advantage relative to tandem kayaks, canoes, and war canoes.

My times in the past 4 years were 2:04:54, 2:13:17, 2:38:53, and 2:38:49.

I was happy to find that even though my times have been trending slower, my performances relative to river conditions (and the average of the 20 fastest times) have been improving. In the last 4 years, my margin over the “top 20 average” has been 2 minutes, 2 minutes. 3.5 minutes, and 10.5 minutes respectively.

Maybe low water isn’t so bad after all.

If you’d like to read more, my blog about last year’s race is here

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Kenduskeag Canoe Race: Slower but Still Sweet

Heraclitus tells us that we cannot step twice into the same river. As far as I know, Heraclitus wasn’t a paddler, but he probably would have agreed that you can’t paddle the same river twice either.

Those who raced along the Kenduskeag Stream for 16.5 miles between Kenduskeag and Bangor yesterday found a river very different from the race day river of recent years. One paddler said it was the lowest level he remembers on race day for the last dozen years or so. Pretty ironic to have such low spring river levels following a winter in which we had so much snow. A Bangor area total of 0.00 inches of rain during the 10 days prior to the race pretty much explains it.

A low river level meant the Kenduskeag Stream was full of rocks of all shapes and sizes, many of them mean and pointy looking, that few of us had seen before. It meant that the current, which gives as much as a 2 mph boost to paddlers some years, was non-existent. It meant that even when you could maneuver around the rocks, you could frequently feel your boat speed drop as the hull bogged down in the shallow water.

By my calculations, the Kenduskeag “felt” about 4 miles longer than it did two years ago, in a year of high water. The bottom line is that it’s difficult or impossible to meaningfully compare times from year to year.

But “times” isn’t what it is all about, anyway. It’s about time — having a good time on the river. It’s about the celebration of spring, the awakening landscape, and the melting of all that snow. Although I train for the race, have a specialized kayak, and possibly take it more seriously than most, one of the things I look forward to most about the Kenduskeag is the beauty of the spring river as it unfolds toward Bangor. I look forward to the camaraderie, the spirit of adventure and optimism that is shared among the participants. Race day was a gorgeous sun spattered spring day. A great day to be on the river.

Nearly 1000 paddlers and 510 boats were involved in this year’s race, an all-time record for participation. It was the 43rd annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race, which is the largest race of its kind in New England.

Kayaker Trevor Maclean placed 1st overall with a time of 2:17.58 minutes. Kayaker Robert Lang of Rothesay, New Brunswick finished 2nd overall with a time of 2:22.45. Jeff Owen of Orono and Steve Woodward of Cumberland finished first among canoeists with a time of 2:29.08.

I brought a plastic sea kayak to the start, just in case stream levels had dropped as much as some had feared. But I decided to keep to my original plan and stay in the K-1 (long racing kayaks) category. I would paddle the same kayak I had used the two previous years, a 17.5 foot, 19 inch beam somewhat tender-hulled Ruahine Swallow.

The K-1 (kayak long) class was more competitive this year. In addition to 11-time winner Robert Lang who won the division last year, it featured Trevor Maclean who has competed in world championships in kayaking, and Bryan McCarthy of Hope, Maine who has paddled in U.S. Olympic trials competitions.

Michael Alden photos / Used with permission.

Lang started in the set of 5 paddlers that started one-minute ahead of my group. Maclean started in a set a couple of minutes behind. I knew that the river current wasn’t going to give many free rides and that it would therefore be especially important not to go out too fast. But Bryan McCarthy (who started in my group) went out hard — and I followed him.

As the race unfolded, it seemed more and more likely that the battle for 3rd place in the K-1 division was between me and Bryan, who was maintaining a strong pace fifty yards ahead. Trevor Maclean had blown by both of us in his ultra-narrow flatwater boat. Robert Lang, who had apparently started fast, was nowhere to be seen. Since Lang is a longtime Kenduskeag veteran, it seemed unlikely that we would be able to catch him on the lower part of the river.

The 10.5 miles of flatwater above Six-Mile Falls was almost unrelenting flatwater. I was a bit overdressed (2 ml farmer john wetsuit) for the air temperatures and drank all I could from my Camelbak to try to avoid dehydration and cramps. I was working hard to stay with Bryan, trying to be as efficient as possible with my paddle stroke, sneaking little breaks by drafting behind canoes for 5 seconds at a time before passing them.

At times I would close the gap a bit, but then Bryan would pull away again. It was still 50 yards. We seemed pretty well matched in the flat water, but I wasn’t going to close the gap there, it became clear to me. My best hope was that I could make up time on the portages or in the whitewater.

Below Six-Mile Falls, the river reverted again to flatwater, interspersed with short sections of shallow, rather technical whitewater. At that point in the race, when you have been paddling hard for two hours, it is difficult to summon the will or the strength to make a major move, to pass someone who is paddling at the same pace you are paddling. I continued to pass other kayaks and canoes, but Bryan remained elusive, just ahead of me.

Then I got stuck sideways on a rock for about 15 seconds in a particularly shallow section of whitewater.

My portages went well. I made up some time there. On the last portage, with just a half mile left in the race, I put my boat in a bit further downriver from Bryan. He wasn’t yet underway, but then moved past me as I fastened my spray skirt. Then I was off, to somewhat recklessly crash through the waves at Shopping Cart, skitter through the final section of shallows, and then dash through the canals to the finish, with Bryan still agonizingly within reach — and out of reach.

I didn’t have quite enough to catch Bryan yesterday. But next year the Kenduskeag will be a different river. And I’ll be a different paddler, if I keep working at it, a better one.

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Why I Love the Kenduskeag

Upwards of 500 watercraft and 1000 paddlers. 16.5 miles. Two portages. 10,260 strokes. 900+ calories burned. 1:50.08 all-time record (held by Robert Lang of New Brunswick. Date: Saturday, April 18.

I’ve competed in 5-K and 10-K road races, cross country races, xc ski races, and triathlons, but I haven’t found a form of racing I enjoy as much as kayak racing. I’ve paddled all kinds of rivers — and raced on at least a half dozen of them, but I haven’t found a river race I enjoy as much as the annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race.

Part of it is the number of canoes and kayaks involved — more than 400 on most years. Part of it is the length and difficulty of the race — 10 miles of flatwater followed by 6.5 miles of whitewater, made all the more difficult by fatigue. Part of it is the tradition — the race has been around for more than 40 years now, and the returnees each year include notables such as the Gumby boat (photo above) and Zip Kellogg, (photo below) who wears a coat and top hat and paddles much of the race standing up.

A combined flatwater / whitewater race such as the Kenduskeag is a triathlon in itself. The first event is the 10 miles of flatwater, which tests your physical and mental stamina and your ability to get in a groove with your paddling stroke. The second event is the whitewater, a combined test of strategy, skill, and pluck. The third event (actually interpersed with the second one) is the two mandatory portages, in which competitors stagger ashore in wet gear, and labor their way through crowds of park-goers and spectators, carrying their suddenly clumsy craft through the mud.

How to survive it all. How to go fast the whole time and still leave enough to get to the finish. How to keep focus through those inevitable moments when, disoriented by fatigue, you forget you are in a race at all — and it is just you, your boat, and that river shining under the spring sunlight.

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Kayak Race Kenduskeag Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race maine

Why I Love the Kenduskeag

I’ve competed in 5-K and 10-K road races, cross country races, xc ski races, and triathlons, but I haven’t found a form of racing I enjoy as much as kayak racing. I’ve paddled all kinds of rivers — and raced on at least a half dozen of them, but I haven’t found a river race I enjoy as much as the annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race.

Part of it is the number of canoes and kayaks involved — more than 400 on most years. Part of it is the length and difficulty of the race — 10 miles of flatwater followed by 6.5 miles of whitewater — made all the more difficult by fatigue. Part of it is the tradition — the race has been around for more than 40 years now, and the returnees each year include notables such as the Gumby boat (photo) and Zip Kellogg, who wears a coat and top hat and paddles much of the race standing up.

A combined flatwater / whitewater race such as the Kenduskeag is a triathlon in itself. The first event is the 10 miles of flatwater, which tests your physical and mental stamina and your ability to get in a groove with your paddling stroke. The second event is the whitewater, a combined test of strategy, skill, and pluck. The third event (actually interpersed with the second one) is the two mandatory portages, in which competitors stagger ashore in wet gear, and labor their way through crowds of park-goers and spectators, carrying their suddenly clumsy craft through the mud.

How to survive it all. How to go fast the whole time and still leave enough to get to the finish. How to keep focus through those inevitable moments when, disoriented by fatigue, you forget you are in a race at all — and it is just you, your boat, and that river shining under the spring sunlight.

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Money in the Bank.

I may be one of the few people in Maine thrilled to see the snow coming down — and happy as pie about the “rain / snow /wind” forecast for now through Tuesday. Better yet, Weather.com calls for more showers Wednesday through Friday. Best of all, Saturday, the day of the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe race is anticipated to be sunny with a high of 51 degrees.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. And let it all melt and go rushing down the river on Saturday!

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The Kenduskeag Canoe Race (Bangor, Maine)

Upwards of 500 kayaks and canoes. 16.5 miles. 10 miles of flatwater, 6.5 miles of whitewater. 2 mandatory portages. 10,260 strokes. 900+ calories burned. 1:50.08 all-time record (held by Robert Lang of New Brunswick. Date: Saturday, April 21.

I’m gunning for a time of 2:15.00, which would be a 20 minute improvement of my previous time. I’m counting on the fact of having a faster boat (straight-keeled, 19 inch beam 17.5 foot, 30 lb. Ruanhine Swallow multisport racer over a rockered, 22 inch beam, 16 foot, 60 lb. VCP Avocet sea kayak) will cut most of that 20 minutes . . . with maybe better conditioning and technique counting for a five minute improvement. ‘Course times are highly dependent on water levels . . . the flow was pretty good in 2004 when I last ran the ‘Keag. I’m counting on having a good ride this year.