Older Trip Report

[Glenn MacGrady]

I figured you'd go for the Sheepscot River after leaving Damariscotta Lake, but didn't know about the mighty Deer Meadow Brook route. You're lucky it had enough water to float you most of the way but not so much as to damage your perfectly pinned (upright!) canoe.

I've now predicted from Google maps the remainder of your Chinese puzzle route to Cousins Island. We'll see.

 

[goonstroke]

...
We headed up the road, a hill, and within five minutes ran into Diane and Russ. Diane asked what was up and where we were headed. It turns out we were there for another hour as their backyard is a fish ladder for alewives and is slowly being rebuilt. To date they have raised donations enough to do a about half of the ladder. The rebuild began last year and it is beautiful, rock work that is amazing to see as it jigs and jags across the drops. She said that last year over 100,000 fish made it and they are estimating that when it is done they will see over 400,000. The ladder is definitely one of those have to see to believe sights. I could only admire the craftsmanship!
...

I read about that project. People in the 1700's were pretty smart!

Apparently there's still work going on: https://damariscottamills.org

 

[dougd]

The Final Round

July 6-09

Wiscasset, Financial Rape at the Store, and the Back River:

Another early start and we had the tide against us again. It was slow but it made us work none the less. After we left the mosquito's quit us but their relatives came to visit in force, midges, no see ums just making their selves at home...on my neck, my ears, my eyes and with no wind to fight them off I spent more time slapping myself then paddling. We kept up our pace though and finally entered the Sheepscot River and a whole new watershed. We kept up the pace and finally made Wiscasset and tied off at the local dock. We walked along the waterfront and only found the tourist shops and had to ask where a store was that actually sold food, beers, and white gas. No problem, just a mile walk or so but we did it and found what we needed. We got to the checkout and my eyes nearly bulged out of my head when the bill came to over sixty bucks! Christ, suddenly we are both digging into our wallets to see what we had for cash. As we walked out one of us said, “So, we just got raped!” My wallet was empty. Everything fit into one small box.

Glad to be done with Wiscasset we headed out and pondered whether to take the Sheepscot with an out going tide or the Back River with an outgoing tide. I still can't figure out why I wanted to do the Back but we did, I think Hal said it would be shorter. Worked for me but then again I can tend to the lazy side. As we headed down the river the water was against us, didn't make any sense to me as it should have been flowing the other way. We were far enough along to be committed but with hindsight we could have easily set up sails and caught the current back to the Sheepscot but no we just headed on down into fighting the current and it was brutal. My lower back was a mess, felt like grated glass grinding and I was hurting worse than I had in a year. I grew frustrated and had some tantrums but in the end I just kept paddling. Tantrums are nothing more than swearing at the top of my lungs or under my breath, throwing my paddle down hard enough to bounce it off the gunwales, and looking for a boat ramp where I can call a taxi to the nearest bar and a bus home.

We made it to Castle Island and I decided that the Back River is called that name for a reason, the current comes back upstream while the Sheepscot flows out or it knew Scooter and Hal were coming along! The island has a sweet site, part of a camp but we had it to ourselves. Tent platforms were in abundance and we set up a tarp over on for a cooksite while I claimed on for myself. Hal rigged up his hammock in perhaps the most wind blown piece of real estate on the island. It worked out good as all the visitors from Deer Meadow Brook had followed us and were hovering on the other side of the island. The wind was steady as we hung out on a rock outcropping looking at where the Sasanona River flowed by. It was a no fire site so we just huckered down behind the tarp and made some dinner and then fired up water for soup and the likes. The weather was for more rain to move in and a cold spell as well. As I faded off to sleep I could hear the rain move in and I was wondering about the morning. My last thoughts for the night were that the Back River was breed for motorboats!

July 7-09

Soup, Oatmeal, Wind, Coffee, and Walks:

When I woke up I could hardly move. It took me a minute to figure out how to get off my back and into a sitting position Hal was up already and getting ready to pack from all apperances and I blurted out I was to hurting to paddle and let's take the day to let me heal some. No argument at all from Hal. I think our vow from years past about this type of thing stuck. I give Hal a lot of credit. I spent a good part of the morning just laying down and stretching as much as possible. There was a tailwind blowing but I can't say much about the tide. After a few hours I ventured out of my tent and tenderly walked around. I was quite happy about the platforms as I could stand instead of squatting to cook up some grub.

With the wind blowing hard, the cool temps, and the rain coming on and off we cooked. We emptied out our food bags and cooked up Oatmeal, Soup, Coffee, Tea, Dehydrated Meals trying to keep warm in our bellies. We were wearing a lot of what we had for cloths it was that chilly and damp. Naps were the theme of the day as well as walks around the island. The walks helped me with my back as long as I took it slow. Somewhere along the way Hal asked if this was fun anymore and I could only answer no. The weather had beat us down somehow, my back was a garbage pit, and the forecast was for more rain. One of us mentioned taking out at Bath and calling it quits. I think the agreement was mutual even though we were so close to Portland. It just wasn't worth it anymore. A call to our friend Andy to find us the next day for a ride back to our cars secured it all. To make it a night we mixed up the last of our cocktail mixes and toasted ourselves for making it this far. The rain came down hard as I settled in for the night, a perfect ending to the last night and trip I thought to myself.

June 8-09

Sasanoa River, Upper heck Gate, Bath and Bars, Going Home:

With the pouring rain I slept terrible waking at all odd hours. The wind was up when I finally got the gumption to crawl out of my tent and face the world. We packed up and headed out to find the section of the Sasanoa we needed to find. Of course if we had waited a few hours we would have had the tides with us but we were to eager I guess. We fought the ebb tide and as we ascended the river I had to go from point to point again and tucking into the eddies to make any headway. Hal was on the other side of the river doing much the same. We came to what I think is Upper heck Gate and I ferried right below so Hal and I were on the same side. I was in the lead and tired to paddle up against it. What folly! Despite all my paddling, swearing I was denied any upstream motion. I was scared to death of losing any forward momentum. In the end we both literally crawled our way over the kelp encrusted boulders lining our boats up the current. We fought the river hard and did come out ahead but whose to say who the real winner was in this fight.

Now, in the meantime the rain came in and it was a gusher. We both had to pull over at one point to bail from the downpours, about two inches of water from the skies in an hour and a half. In the skyline we could see the cranes of the Bath boatyards and we made for them. Coming out of the mouth of the Sasanona into the Kennebec we made our way upstream to a dock with a pavilion near it. We pulled out there, the rain still coming down.

In the end we piled all of our gear under our boats on the dock and went to a restaurant for breakfast lingering as long as we could to kill time. I swear the waitress seemed to be wanting to get rid of us, I thought with all the rain we would be smelling at least like rainwater! Our ride wasn't coming in until 4:30. With the rain still coming down hard we looked for another place to hole up, we choose the library. Reading periodicals for a few hours worked until we grew bored with it and a beverage was on our minds. Donning our soaked raincoats and with a steady downpour still going on we headed out and found a local establishment that catered more to our needs and wallets. We found one and called it our home for the next few hours. Our bartender, Roxy, was great. When we ordered a shot of Capt Morgans we didn't get a shot, we got a glass for the price of a shot. Perhaps it was our tale to her and our river rat appearance that made our stay tolerable to her!

A four-thirty call found us down at the boats again, a few beers to hold us over when Andy showed up. We loaded up and within forty-five minutes we were in Freeport at my car. We offloaded and headed to Cousins Island to get Hal his car. Done with that I was on my way home.

So, in the end we paddled, poled, and sailed almost 140 miles from Veazie to Bath, Maine. We were out for eleven days, nine of them being in rain, mist, fog, more rain and winds. Trying as it was it was fantastic to be out there.

__________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________


It wouldn't be until 2015 that we finished the last leg of the trip. I wish I had more pictures to add but a house fire destroyed the computer I had them on, I don't think the Cloud was around back then. The first leg started in 2000 but resides on Voodoocanoe.com and I won't post it here but a link to it:

http://voodoocanoe.com/from-the-sain...penobscot-bay/

Goonstroke, the ladder was amazing to see and I really wish pictures of had made it. If ever in that area you should look it up, a sight to see!

Hope you enjoyed the read. A Happy 2020 to all!

dougd

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Helluva a lot of work and discomfort, Doug. But as you say, fantastic to be out there. Did you lose much weight on the trip?

 

[dougd]

No, didn't loose any. Nice thing about these kind of trips is that you can hit a store/restaurant here and there and find something different to eat outside of what we brought along. Makes a difference vs true wilderness trips where you rely on what you bring!

 

[Gdwelker]

Nice to see a trip report with sailing canoes as the vessel of choice!

 

[Odyssey]

Next time I swear if I feel like complaining about a trip I'm on I'll remember this Doug's Trip From heck.
It's good you stuck it out together.