Category: whitewater

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kayak kayaking maine paddling whitewater

Some of the Best Things are Close to Home

Most of Little River in Belfast, Maine is nothing more than a shallow stream for about 355 days of the year. The other 10 days it turns into something else — sometimes something very nice.

Heavy spring rains (2 inches within a 24 hour period) brought the river up to a fun but manageable level for paddling.

Who knew one could have that much adventure on a sunny spring afternoon — all within 4 miles of my house and of downtown Belfast? My little trip on Little River involved a 0.7 mile drive to the put in, a scramble down a steep bank to launch, a fun half mile stretch of Class I rapids (with a tiny bit of Class II), paddling the length of Resevoir #1, a brief portage, a scramble down an extremely steep bank, a quarter mile section of Class II – III whitewater, another mile of flatwater, and then a 3 mile run along beautiful riverside trails back to my car.

Sighting: grey heron (1), beaver (2), ducks (several), other people (0). All this on an afternoon after work. Maine — the way life should be.

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paddling St. George whitewater

Swimming the St. George

An early season “swim” is always good for helping maintain humility. Maybe I was feeling a little too confident after my clean run down the St. George on Friday.

The river level dropped about 8 – 12 inches in the last two days, which made the rapids a little more technical. And somehow (see photo above) a large log has positioned itself in an unfortunate spot, just below the drop immediately upstream from the Ghent Road bridge. As my bow nosed off the drop, it hit the submerged portion of the log, the rest of my boat swung sideways, and over I went.

So be careful out there, y’all. Scout those tricky sections even when you don’t think you need to. The river is always changing.

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Maine rivers whitewater

St. George River (Searsmont, Maine) Open!

“Oh, to have been a fly on the wall and seen the action in this valley for the last 300 years.” –Zip Kellogg, Canoeing, Volume 1, Eastern & Coastal Rivers

Paddled the 6-mile section of the St. George between Searsmont and North Appleton yesterday. The river level can be described as “the high side of medium.” I touched no rocks on the entire trip — but I’ve definitely been on the river when the current was stronger and the standing waves were bigger.

The river is clear of ice on this entire section. Took the drop above the Ghent Road bridge on river right as usual. The drop at Magog is clear of obstructions — and frothy enough to be a lot of fun.

Following is the description of that section from Delorme’s Maine Geographic Canoeing Guide, Vol. 1:

The river remains gentle for two miles below Searsmont to Ghent or Robbin’s Mill, formerly known as Dyer Mills. Saws have been cutting lumber, staves, and shingles here since the early 1800’s. In the summer of 1982, the dam was removed, so scout this site carefully. The rapids just upstream of the bridge can be strong. Class II rapids continue below the bridge. The current is strong in this section of the river too, so be careful . . . be prepared to stop and scout Magog, a difficult rock-obstructed drop which may not be runnable, depending on the water level. A brick and lime kiln and quarry occupied this site many years ago. After another 1.25 miles of fairly calm waters, you’ll pass under the Route 105 bridge at North Appleton.

Parking is available on the west side of the Route 105 bridge. Take out just past the bridge, along the right bank. The shuttle (or bicycle ride) is about 5 miles back to the put in.

The annual St. George River Race (on this same section of the river) is in two weeks.

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kayak racing whitewater

Training for the Whitewater Race Season

The St. George River Race (Searsmont, Maine) is just 4 weeks away. Beginning this week, I’m officially in training. Today I got up off the couch, did 20 situps, and got back on the couch!
Those planning to compete in the Maine whitewater race circuit, please do not read beyond this line.

Actually, I stay pretty fit during the winter. It’s all cross training, I like to believe. Shovelling my 250 foot driveway, cross country skiing, playing indoor soccer, a little bit of weight training and indoor rowing, and keeping up with my two daughters is all part of the picture. But now, with the first race 4 weeks away and the big one, the Kenduskeag, 7 weeks away, it’s time to get serious. My goal is to paddle 2 – 3 days per week in the coming weeks, and to increase my workouts on my nonpaddling days as well.

Resources for training include Simon River Sports’ Training Tips and a couple of Training Plans from Kayak Race.

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kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Passy in the Spring (Passagassawakeag River, Belfast, Maine)


The 2 most local rivers here (the Passy and the St. George)are relatively small Class I and II rivers that go dry by summer. So each time I paddle them, I do so thinking it may be the last trip of the year. On the other hand, if we have a rainy June, you know where to find me.

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kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Rain or Shine


After being an ocean paddler who only dabbled in rivers, I’ve crossed over to the point where I consider myself a river paddler as well. I started paddling the rivers earlier this year and have kept right on paddling them. Maine ocean waters are cold this time of year and the rivers can be more inviting, especially on a cool rainy day in May). The two inches of rain we’ve had this week has extended the local whitewater paddling season — and now I find myself wondering if I can stretch it out a little longer. I’ve begun keeping an Excel spreadsheet on reported and actually experienced river conditions. There no USGS or NOAA streamflow reports on the rivers I paddle most frequently, but my hope is that I can correlate the USGS data for other local rivers with what I observe on the Passy and St. George Rivers and thus be able to have a good idea of what conditions will be like before I pull out of the driveway.

Just in case you want to try this at home, the USGS streamflow data — both gauge height and flow — is at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/rt
The chart for the Ducktrap River shows a nice peak flow for May 19th. Happy paddling!

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kayak kayaking maine paddling Passy whitewater

Surfing Belfast U.S.A. (Well, not quite).

Inspired by the inch of rain we got since yesterday, I thought I’d try my new pro-deal Riot Boogie 50 surf kayak on the Passagassawakeag River. Prior to this, the only time I’d ever been in a whitewater kayak (or any kayak less than 12 feet long) was during a rolling session in an indoor pool. The flat hull of the Boogie 50 (think surf board flat) made me initially think I was back in the cardboard box boat I built a few years ago. (You haven’t paddled hard chines until you’ve paddled a box, but that’s another story). A bit unsettling! Within a few minutes, however, I began experimenting with using the boat’s sharp edges to grab the water and carve aggressive turns.

The whitewater sections of the river were bony; waves were scant. Probably more suited for a creek boat. The flatwater sections were sluggish and made me long for the powerful glide of my usual sea kayak. But mostly I got what I wanted — a couple of hours on the water and a chance to get to know the Boogie 50 a bit before trying it out in the surf.

The Boogie 50 is described as being high in launchness and planing speed, low in bounceness and looseness — just as a good surf kayak should be. Guess I’ll have to work on my vocabulary as well as on my paddling. Mostly though, it’s all about the fun-ness.

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kayak kayaking maine paddling whitewater

Another Day at the Races (Piscataquis River, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine)

–Image from rootsweb.com

Ran the Piscataquis River Canoe and Kayak Race yesterday in a tandem kayak with Jeff Sands. The tandem we paddled was an (I-kid-you-not) hybrid of 2 kayaks spliced together by Jeff, who apparently is not afraid to get creative with fiberglass. (As anyone serious about paddling probably knows, the neverending quest for the “perfect boat” knows no bounds). I paddled in the bow, which was the front half of a wildwater tandem. Jeff was in the stern which was taken from the back half of a women’s flatwater racer. (The joke is that my half of the boat was a dog in the flatwater and that the back behaved badly in the whitewater!) Actually, we felt fast and ran a very efficient race over the 8 mile course of mostly flatwater mixed with a few Class I rapids. Even so, nemesis Fred Ludwig, paddling in a wildwater single, edged us by 8 seconds and claimed first place with a time of 43:15.

It is an interesting exercise to ponder all the ways we might have gotten those 8 seconds back but probably more productive to just remember those 8 seconds and use it as motivation to get ready for the next time!

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kayak kayaking maine paddling whitewater

Kenduskeag Canoe Race Photos

Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race photos can be found online as follows:

Click here to read “Swimming in 38 Degree Water” — one blogger’s description of what seems to have been a fairly typical experience of this year’s race.

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kayak kayaking maine paddling whitewater

Canoes Take Back the Kenduskeag

In something of an upset, a two-person canoe paddled by Jeff Owen and Steve Woodard (1:52.30) had the fastest time in last Saturday’s 16.5 mile Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race. This canoe win marked the first time in 19 years that a canoe, rather than a kayak, was first across the line. Canoes claimed 7 of the top 10 times of the day. Several time winner Trevor Maclean, paddling a K1-long was second overall with a time of 1:53.30. More on the race in today’s Bangor Daily News.

I was happy with my own race. Finished 3rd among kayaks and 7th overall with a time of 2:04.54. Based on my goal of a top 3 finish (among kayakers) and a time under 2:15, I had a lot to feel good about. I lost time on the portages (draining isssues, bow stuck in the trees, stern stuck in the spectator rope, paddle stuck in the stern) and handled the whitewater more tenatively than I will next time. In retrospect, it was only the 4th time I had paddled the Ruahine Swallow (or anything of similarly slender) in whitewater and maybe only the third time using a wing paddle in whitewater — so I had reason to be tentative.

Started well but not too fast, felt strong over the first 10 miles of mostly flatwater, portaged Six Mile Falls, then survived the sections of standing waves, the portages (thought those were supposed to be much easier with a 30 lb. rather than a 60 lb. boat), the rapids at Shopping Cart, and even the 3 – 4 foot standing waves in the Bangor canal just short of the finish. No lie — just as the quote in the newspaper article says, the canal may have been the most challenging section of the river for those who finished at around 11:00 AM (approximately mid-tide). By noon, an hour later, the standing waves in the canal had calmed down considerably. The 6 mile section south of Six Mile Falls was notable for it’s absence of rocks or other obstructions, but interspersed with gleaming white fields of standing waves (I’ll be seeing them in my dreams for weeks). You just had to take a deep breath and pound down through.

Next year, I’ll aim to trust the boat more, crash the whitewater with more gusto, and be more efficient on the portages.

Theories on why canoes did so well in this years race:
1. the absence of kayakers Kenny Cushman and Jeff Sands (among others)
2. multi-person craft may have had an advantage in maintaining their momentum and pushing through the sections of standing waves
3. just plain good paddling! (I am in awe of anyone who can go that fast in a canoe).
4. take-outs at portages were muddy, slippery, steep — maybe easier to handle with a 2-person canoe.
5. paddling Six-Mile Falls? All of the first 3 kayaks portaged it. Not sure about the canoes.

Look out next year canoeists! I’ll be gunning for ya!