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Aug 9, 2024: Rapid River

Participants-  Ryan Galway OC-1 (TC),  Kenny Decoster OC-1,  Chip Wallingford k-1,  AJ Held k-1,  Rob Radowicz and Paul Peters shredder. 

The forecast for the day left something to be desired.  With rain overnight ending in the morning and rain the night after the trip it almost scared a well known bearded open boater away.  But when the vote went out on weather the trip would happen or not the consensus was things were a go.  The decision ended up being a good one as the rain ended 10 minutes before we got there and started up again on the way out,  but for those 6 hours we were dry and things were quite pleasant.  The trip began with a shuttle to drop trucks at the takeout.  As in years past the last 3/4 of a mile to the takeout path was real rough,  but with a couple of 4wd trucks there were no issues.  After completing the shuttle the 1 mile paddle across pond in the river went better than as expected with a light tail wind.  A little surfing took place in the first couple of miles of warm up before we were fast upon First Pitch.  For those unfamiliar the next 3 rapids are steep somewhat shallow class IV rapids with large waves and turbulent water with a few strong holes mixed in.  I lead the group as some of the participants were first timers and unfamiliar with the lines.  Chip and AJ both first timers had great runs and seemed to really enjoy the new river.  After we had lunch at Smooth Ledge and made some somewhat successful attempts at surfing. I think none of us really had the best boats for that type of wave.  Up next was S-Turn rapid.  It is the last of the class IVs but also the longest and probably the hardest.  This one is twice as long as any of the pitches and it is much more shallow.  It would not be a great place to swim and would likely end up in an injury of you were in the water.  Every one had successful runs with some added excitement when the shredder collided with a rock but were able to keep things moving downstream without incident.  All in all it was a great day with an amazing group of folks.

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Apr 26-29, 2024: Machias River

We had exceptional weather, ideal water levels, and an absence of blackflies for our almost annual Machias River Trip.  Four Machias veterans participated:  Rick Farnsworth and Morgan Baxter in solo canoes and Ken Gordon and Ron Chase in expedition kayaks.  Due to multiple road closures, we decided on a four-day trip from about a mile above Carrick Rips to the Village of Machias.  Morgan shortened his trip by a day taking out at Smith Landing.  This was truly an exceptional expedition; great company, exceptional weather, perfect water levels and outstanding cooking by Rick and Morgan.  We styled all of the difficult rapids.

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Apr 27, 2024: Kennebago River at 7.05 feet

TC:  Gary Cole

K-1:  Gary Cole, Suzanne Cole, Jake Bourdeau, Jeff Bickford, Kevin McKenzie, Sean Green, Greg Winston, Casey Clark, Rachel Hovel, Ryan Reed,  Jessa Solis, Chip Wallingford, & Devon Carter

OC-1:  Kyle Duckworth, Ryan Galway, Justin Schlawin, & Will Jeffries

Inflatables:  Clyde Mitchell & Paul Sarli

Slice:  Bryan & Aylan Wolf

We had a cool beautiful start and the day warmed up to everyone’s satisfaction.  The river level at 7.05 feet according to the gauge just downstream from the put in.   This puts the river flow on the medium to low side.  This river flows through a beautiful area and the only sounds to be heard were birds and the river itself.

The first part of the river is pretty mellow, but does have a number of surfing spots that were taken advantage of by the group.  At one of the rapids, a kayaker flipped and almost rolled but didn’t make it.  However, Ryan was in the right place and gave the paddler his bow and a swim was averted.  At the lunch spot, Clyde and Jessa decided to take off the river as Jessa was cold.  They walked to the road and managed to hitchhike a ride to the takeout where they met us later in the day.

To everyone’s pleasure, the rapids pick up below the lunch spot.  In a rapid above Bump ’em, Kyle managed to get caught in a hole that seems to like canoes.  He managed to get out of the hole with style and get to shore.  The next rapid on the right hand corner is what we call Bump ’em.  It is always exciting and did not disappoint.  This section has plenty of rocks and some holes and most everyone got through in good shape.  There was a minor swim here, but it occurred near the bottom of the rapid, so it was a short swim.  Kyle pulled in the paddler and boat with a throw bag while Greg got the paddle.  From here the river eases up a bit and everyone had good runs down to the surfing waves above the takeout.

Bryan and Aylan, in the Slice, were getting some good rides at both surfing spots.  All the boaters who wanted to got good rides.  One kayaker flipped and hit their head in the upper wave and had a short swim, but otherwise everyone had a good time at the waves.  From there, it is short float to the takeout at the bridge.  All in all it was a very good day to be on the river with such a good group of paddlers.

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Mar 31, 2024: St. George River

We had high water on the St. George River.  The Sheepscot was running a beefy 1800 which is the gauge I use to judge the George.  During the race the day before, 42 of 96 entrants DNF, so we were expecting a little more excitement than normal.  At the takeout, a Game Warden warned us to watch for pinned boats and lost gear.  He wasn’t exaggerating.  We must have passed a dozen badly damaged canoes and kayaks wrapped around debris and pinned in near impossible predicaments.  Ryan and Shweta paddled a raft so we collected gear along the way and they carried a racing kayak from the bottom of the last rapid to the takeout.  Oh, by the way, the river was great fun with moderate waves and a strong pushy current.  We stayed in our boats.

Participants:  Ryan & Shweta Galway (Raft), Paul Plumer (Canoe), Ken Gordon (Kayak) and Elderly TC Ron Chase (Kayak).

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Apr 13, 2024: Millers River Double Header

K1: Ken Gordon, Jake Bourdeau, Eric Kingsley and TCs Pat Cavanagh & Paul Leclerc

OC1: Kenny DeCoster, Ryan Galway, Mason Galway

The weather was favorable, and the cold and showers held off for the Upper portion of the double header beginning in South Royalston, MA. Mason elected to start above the dam and run it straight through. Something not done at lower flows. The release was higher than usual this year and many of the rapids and features on the Upper were subdued, but nonetheless fun. No problems going through the seven miles, aside from myself colliding into Mason as he turned to surf a two foot wave. Although the higher release may not be favorable for the Upper, it it has the opposite effect on the Lower.  The wave trains were longer and higher and the Funnel, the class IV gem, was raging. We all got out to scout it and analyze our lines of choice, except for Mason. Using his laser guided river reading vision, he went straight through the middle, dodging huge, furious holes and monster recirculations, threading the perfect line. Ah, to be young.

One by one we entered the formidable rapid. All got away clean. Somewhat. Relieved to have run the Funnel upright, I relaxed and let my guard down only to get reminded that the rapid continued on into the very end of a wave train, where I flipped and rolled. Kenny was the last down. He and Pat eddied out river right to scout the holes from another angle. Although it makes reentry a bit more difficult in getting away from the holes, Kenny managed just fine, until the last one, where he edged it and got sucked in for a refreshing swim. He and his his boat were quickly pushed to shore. By the end, the weather was colder and windier, but you can’t beat that fuzzy feeling coming off the river with good people and warm memories.