Sebasticook River from Clinton’s Old Mill Park to Benton Fall Dam. We had 4 canoes, 1 white water kayak, 2 sea kayaks, one ducky totally 12 paddlers. Water level was near the top of the first granite step. The rapids had big waves and no rocks. We saw one great blue heron, one osprey, one red tail hawk and Canada geese and ducks. We did not see any eagles on this 4.5 miles of the river.
Carried river right. Continued from Benton Falls Dam to Fort Halifax and took out just before we reached the Kennebec River.
Scott Nelson, Lynn Hempen, Laura Wittmann, Michael Wittmann, David Roberts, Elise Moody-Roberts, Deb Harris, Carol Young, Alan Fuller, and 2 other paddlers
We immediately came upon 20 to 30 plus eagles in the trees and flying between the trees on either bank around the first bend in the river. They were all over the place. We probably came across 100 eagles from below the dam to Halifax Part/Kennebec. They are there to feed of the herring migrating up the Sebasticook River. Last year the count of alewives going up the first lift over 6 million. The water is pretty high and early right now to see the alewifes swimming in the river at the dam or downstream.
We had a weather window and took advantage of it. It was overcast when we put on the river and our plan was to have fun and get off before the rain really came down. We surfed a bit at the usual spots near the beginning of the river. There were some good rides by a number of the boaters. We moved down the river fairly quickly toward the lunch spot. We had a quick lunch and got back on the river. From here down the river picks up and really gets your attention. Everyone had good lines in the rapid with the hole and through Bump ‘Em. The tree that was around the corner at the bottom of Bump ‘Em is gone. In fact, there were only 3 or 4 trees in the river and none of them were in a place that would have caused problems. About two rapids after Bump ‘Em, we had a swimmer. It took awhile to get the boat to shore. However, having the rafts made getting the boat and paddler back together easy. We quickly continued on down the river to the nice wave before the takeout. A number of the paddlers had some good rides on this wave, especially the OC-2. We did not linger as it was beginning to sprinkle and we wanted to beat the rain. We got the shuttle done and were headed out when the rain came down in earnest. We had five paddlers who had not paddled the Kennebago before and they really enjoyed it.
K1: Mark Berry, Jake Bourdeau, Devon Carter, Mike Eastman, Mac Henry, Kevin McKenzie, Greg Winston, TC: Charlie Berliant.
OC1: Reid Anderson, Ryan Galway, Matthew Kellett, TC: Kenny DeCoster
12’ Raft: Sean and Jade Kluttz
The river gods were smiling upon us. I couldn’t believe the Saturday’s weather forecast held up all week promising 50 degrees and sunshine. It was in stark contrast to last year’s weather that morphed into overcast skies and sleet cancelling the trip. But the Marsh trip’s weather on Sunday looked worse with wind chills in the 20s. Charlie was on the ball and moved his trip to Saturday afternoon which created one fine day of paddling on two rivers.
14 paddlers jammed the Manning Mills bridge as gear was deposited by the side of the road. New members and a couple of newer members hadn’t ever paddled the Sou or Marsh. It was fun to turn them on to great whitewater. With the gauge reading 1.5+, we had plenty of water. I didn’t miss the rocks I normally scraped over.
The first river wide wave provided great surfing opportunities for everyone, while the downstream smooth wave had disappeared. The Emerson waves proved to be a bit more challenging to ride. Everybody seemed to find the far-left line on Crawford rapid. I hugged the shore and found the green tongue that led to the ledge drop instead of getting nailed by the nasty guardian hole just to my right. 1/3 of the paddlers had the common sense to portage Grand Falls, everyone else ran the falls and stayed upright. The next challenge was right around the corner where it was wise to miss the monster hole river center blocking the approach to the alleyway. We all rendezvoused at Papermill beach. Nobody had swam and there were just one or two rolls. Ryan and Devon continued to the waste treatment plant, the rafters said goodbye, and the rest of us moved on to the Marsh.
Vehicles were left at the take out and we met at the RR bridge put in. Charlie got his wish- the gauge read 3- and we paddled a bigger river with bigger water. The single bladed paddlers got washed downstream while kayakers fought strong eddy lines to climb onto waves. I had never seen so much water flowing over Flat Rock. Mark and Greg managed to drive into the far-right channel and skirt the hydrologic turmoil in the middle and make it to the bottom smiling. Charlie took the right hand sporting route. One adjusting stroke dropped him into the huge hole. He stayed upright surfing the froth for what seemed like hours. He flipped just as he was leaving the hole and rolled up before the final drop. An unbelievable performance- caught on camera.
Charlie Surfs Flat Rock… Click the image for the full video!
We hung out at the take out soaking up the sun and celebrating our good fortune of spending a fantastic day on the water.
Participants: Reid Anderson (TC), Carolyn Atwood, Troad, Carol Futrell, Mike Timberlake, Paul, Paul, Ken, Brent
After a bit of discussion at the dam about shuttles and plans, our group solidified and headed off downstream. A few folks had been on the river (some in different craft) at higher water, and some had never been on the Kennebec at all. As such, I sort of fell into a defacto TC position. Despite the discussion at the dam, we managed to put on quite early and were able to make it to Magic before any of the “ramp up” flow caught up to us (I believe we were at Magic when the first step up in flow was scheduled to begin). It was easily the lowest I had seen Magic, which was not a upsetting as we all agreed we would prefer that than the other way around! Our run to the Stairs was completely uneventful and very enjoyable (I find those two often go together), playing around with eddies here and there, having conversation, and being able to enjoy the scenic beauty deep in the gorge. The only downside to our run being so early and so smooth was that we waited at the Stairs for longer than we would have liked, which left a few getting a bit chilly and having to find the spots of sun to stand in or shove off for the far side to wait in the sun closer to Northern’s lunch site. With the trickier stuff out of the way, we set off for the lower portion, taking our time enjoying the wave trains and slower waters on our float out to the ball field, arriving at the leading edge of the bubble before any commercial trips. Many thanks to Allan for his shuttle service and the engaging discussions that came along with it!
K1: Artem Aleksashenko, Jeff Bickford, Jake Bordeau, Charlie Berliant, Devon Carter, Suzanne Cole, Gary Cole, Sean Green, Mark Nelson, Scott Nelson, Greg Winston, PPCS wannabe: Matt Parker Shredder: Patti and Tom Rutka OC1: John Brower, TC: Kenny DeCoste
With the threat of afternoon thunderstorms, 16 paddlers showed up for the first Canada Falls release of the summer season. While the temperature hovered around 80, the overcast skies kept the sun off our backs and made for a great day of paddling. The 500 cfs release is quite a bit less than the 750 cfs I’m used to. The first drops through the mini gorge were bonier than usual and made it challenging for the shredder to avoid the rocks. Everyone had good runs on all the drops, minus a capsize and 2 portages on the Slide. The TC finally managed to stay out of “Kenny’s corner”- the frothy pool below the drop on split decision on river left- and succeeded to redeem himself on this run. A few other boats circulated through the “corner” without mishap. On the second to last drop where most of us skirt the river-wide hole by a zig zag route on the far left shore, the skies opened up and rain poured down in buckets. No lightening but water ran down the front of my hydroskin which finally chilled me. While we retrieved the vehicles at the put in, the sun returned to dry us out. Everyone was a very capable paddler which made my job very easy as TC. 5 paddlers headed home and 11 of us returned to Roll Dam for an afternoon run.
