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Aug 10, 2021: Damariscove Island

Damariscove Island is one of the most unique kayak destinations on the Maine coast.  Visiting the historic island requires about 10 miles of paddling with little opportunity to land and negotiating a sometimes treacherous cluster of ledges called The Motions.  So I waited for a good forecast to announce the trip.  Due to early morning fog, we started late but the forecast held with light winds and partly sunny skies throughout.  The Motions were unusually friendly and we had a remarkably successful outing.  For the rest of the story, follow this link to a Bangor Daily News article about the trip:  https://bangordailynews.com/2021/09/12/act-out/damariscove-island-is-a-remarkable-kayak-destination/

Participants:  Ellen Nelson, Mark Nelson, Dave Boyle, Brent Elwell, and TC

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Aug 6-8, 2021: Roll Dam 410 cfs

A sizeable and ever-changing group assembled at Roll Dam for runs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A few arrived later, a few left earlier, a few tapped out for Canada Falls on Saturday, but there was always an enthusiastic group ready to have fun on a low-level run at Roll Dam. The weather gods and the bug gods were both kind throughout the weekend. There were graceful, upright runs (yay, Erin), swims and self-rescues. There were rolls, both hit (yay, Evie) and missed (most of the open boaters, including the TC; though John Brower never flipped, not even at the slide at Canada Falls I’ve heard). Lots of little surfing waves kept us busy and smiling. When Charlie Berliant’s paddle broke at the beginning of the run on Sunday, he thought he’d have to walk out. But Mark Berry broke out the neoprene hand-paddling mitts and used them while Charlie borrowed Mark’s paddle. There’s always something new to try or see at Roll Dam!

Helen Hess (TC), Genio Bertin, John Brower, Morgan Baxter, Rick Gause, OC-1, Gary & Suzanne Cole OC-2 and K-1, Jeff Bickford, Mark Berry, Asa Berry, Jeff Swett, Bill Smith, Troad Richmond, Charlie Berliant, Erin-Kate Sousa, Adam Wales, Evie Wales, K-1, Jen and Sasha Wales, tandem ducky.

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Jul 24, 2021: Moxie Pond

It was great to be able to have a PPCS summer picnic at the Forks, with so many unmasked faces, familiar and new. Even though the releases on the Dead river were cancelled, we found plenty of ways to get in boats on the water together throughout the weekend. Check out the trip reports for the various ways to enjoy the Kennebec river! On Saturday three of us enjoyed a windless, sunny day on Moxie Pond, which offered spectacular views, lots of loons, and plenty of time to share conversations and laughter. Lunch on the rocks of a tiny island was preceded and followed by a swim, which all lunches should be if at all possible.

Helen Hess (TC) and Cathi Reed OC-2, Kenny DeCoster in a sea kayak

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Jun 6, 2021: Dead River

This was my first shuttle with Webb’s Shuttle since the pandemic.  It is still a great deal as no one gets very excited about driving in for vehicles after a long day on the river.  We were fortunate to have a contingent of New Hampshire based boaters join the trip.  They included Mike Russell, Derek Ahl, Brian McCormack and Emma Erler. Another new member Matthew Briere also joined this trip.

We had very nice weather on this trip.  In fact, I think a couple trip members remarked it was a near perfect paddle day.  Other pluses included: few biting insects, low river traffic and plenty of surfing opportunities.  It looked like everyone enjoyed the day on the river.

Participants: TC Brent Elwell K-1, Derek Ahl K-1, Michael Russell K-1, Connor Marland OC-1, Brian McCormack K-1, Julia Richmond K-1, Ron Chase K-1, Tom Sawyer OC-1, Emma Erler K-1, Matthew Briere OC-1, Ryan Galloway OC-1

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Jul 10, 2021: Magalloway River, 1200cfs

This trip was the first time of the season at 1200 cfs.  I had paddled the prior two Saturdays at 900 cfs.  Paddling it three Saturdays in a row was due to the drought conditions that Maine has endured this year.  Nonetheless, this river has an incredible amount of play and one of the best shuttles of any river in Maine.  The first run of the season subjected us to an incredible number of trees in the river.  The start of the river had the most trees that I have ever seen and most were not in very good places.  However, most of these were removed before this trip started.  Another feature to be aware of are the number of fishermen on the river (the fishing is very good on this river!)  The weather was outstanding and bugs few. Surprisingly, there were few other boaters and we had the river pretty much to ourselves.   We had knocked ourselves out surfing and called it good after a couple runs.

Participants: TC Brent Elwell, Mark Nelson, Randy Berube, Julia Richmond and Kenny Decoster