Glenn wrote from the last TR I posted this:
"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."
So in order for Glenn to get his answer I thought I'd post the last leg of the trip. Hell, I'm not getting out on the water until spring so what else is there to do?
End of the Trip
Fifteen years ago a couple of guys planned a trip that would follow ancient canoe routes from the St. Lawrence Seaway through the heart of Maine to the ocean and then follow that crossing portage trails used for thousands of years. Going by the monikers of Scooter and Hal we took to the task. It took us three different attempts to paddle it all by canoe but we did it. This July we did the final stretch. Here's our story.
July 24, 2015
It was finally happening. The final push on our trip that we started fifteen years ago. We met at Cousins Island and loaded up a car for the drive to the putin at the boat ramp in Brunswick, ME. Our goal was to paddle back to Cousins following ancient canoe routes down the coast. Our goal for the day was to paddle out to Merrymeeting Bay and camp on Bird Island.
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]Loading Boats[/TD]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]Hal's Ready[/TD]
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Still within sight of the ramp an osprey plunged into the water behind us and rose with a fish flying directly over our heads. From out of no where a bald eagle came in for the steal and a quick clashing of wings between them found the fish falling back into the water. It was an amazing sight and happened so quickly neither of us could take a picture.
Now part of our plan was to sail as much as possible and the wind shifted and we quickly set up sails and off we went. I had spent a fair amount of time rigging up a rudder for the Disco and it had worked in a test run but with all of the weight I had the rudder was too narrow and couldn't handle it so I had to resort back to using my paddle. Before we could set up sails though Hal had to modify his mast thwart, seemed to have shrunk or something. Leatherman's are good for something I guess.
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]Grinding out the mast thwart[/TD]
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I've tried to add a movie of us sailing but the file is too big so here's a link to canoe sailing into Merrymeeting Bay:
http://youtu.be/b5rcXQgMws8
We sailed out of the Androscoggin River into Merrymeeting Bay and starting looking for Bird Island. It was a beautiful day and it was so relaxing to just be under wind power but unfortunately it was the only time we hoisted our sails. We finally found the island but I wasn't all that impressed with it.
Just ahead was another island that offered a much better site, Brick Island so we sailed there and set up camp. A beautiful place to be. After camp was set up we got dinner ready and had a few cocktails and sat out on the rocks and watched the show, the sunset and it was magnificent.
July 25, 2015
Woke up to what else but rain! Both Hal and I were a little groggy from our beverages but had a nice breakfast and coffee out of the Almighty Coffee Pot, a companion for many years now. Something odd did happen though while it was perking, it wasn't. I took the lid off and the stem where the water shoots up was clogged which was very odd as this had never happened before and I always wash it completely before storing it away. I used a stick to clean it out and it wasn't long before we had a cup of hot joe.
We packed up and put in as the confluence of the Andro and the Kennebec was just around a point. Holy Crap, the Kennebec was cranking out to sea but as we rounded the point the headwind was slamming us in the face. A typical day for Scooter and Hal except this was a very strong headwind which against the out going tide made for some interesting waters.
We ran through the Chops, the Chops being a narrowing in the Kennebec where the waters can get crazy from what we've been told and read, with no problem but all of a sudden I was feeling a bit shaky. I caught up with Hal and he looks at me and says he feels like he's going to hurl! I said Puke! Yeah, you stupid crap, whatta think it means! I was starting to feel down right crappy. At one point I looked over my shoulder to see where Hal was and thought I'd fall in! Something just wasn't right. With a lot of work we made it to a boat ramp just above Bath and took a break. Hal was looking pretty bad and my legs were shaking and I felt like crap. Remember that clogged coffee maker? After some discussion we could only think something unhealthy got into it and was the culprit.
Hal relieved his stomach while I kept feeling worse and worse. We stopped in Bath and got some water and Rolaids and kept going heading for the Winnigance Portage. Below Bath Boat Works we veered river right to Winnegance and away from the Kennebec. The stream leading in was low so we waited out the tide and slowly made our way in to it where we were suppose to cross under a bridge. As we sat there twiddling our thumbs I looked over and said to Hal that it wasn't a bridge but a dam! Oh man, if I could have gotten a picture of Hal's face it would have been priceless!
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]Sitting in Winnegance Stream waiting for the tide[/TD]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]The danged bridge[/TD]
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[TD="class: tr-caption"]Hal looking for an opening on the Winnegance[/TD]
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Our only alternative was a unplanned and short portage! Hal was rallying some but I was feeling worse and worse. We had to off load all of our gear, haul it up a short but steep slope, cross the road, dump it and go back for more and then our boats. Suckfest! It took us over an hour! With that finally done we pushed my canoe into the rather nasty put in, cattail and tall weeds. Hal pushed my canoe and dang, the whole thing moved! It was floating island! I've heard of these but never seen them. Pushing with a pole I was able to widen the gap enough to get out in to the main body of water. [TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
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[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Pushing out. The whole shoreline was floating bog stuff[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I wish I had a picture of Hal poling out of that mess but I barely broke my camera out all day. We paddled up to the end of this stretch expecting to find the channel to the portage but all we found was more and more and more of the cattail floating bog mess and it was across the entire stretch of land. We kept searching for an opening but could not find any. It was getting towards dark and we needed to find a campsite which we did but it was a party spot for kids we found out later but made due.
"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."
So in order for Glenn to get his answer I thought I'd post the last leg of the trip. Hell, I'm not getting out on the water until spring so what else is there to do?
End of the Trip
Fifteen years ago a couple of guys planned a trip that would follow ancient canoe routes from the St. Lawrence Seaway through the heart of Maine to the ocean and then follow that crossing portage trails used for thousands of years. Going by the monikers of Scooter and Hal we took to the task. It took us three different attempts to paddle it all by canoe but we did it. This July we did the final stretch. Here's our story.
July 24, 2015
It was finally happening. The final push on our trip that we started fifteen years ago. We met at Cousins Island and loaded up a car for the drive to the putin at the boat ramp in Brunswick, ME. Our goal was to paddle back to Cousins following ancient canoe routes down the coast. Our goal for the day was to paddle out to Merrymeeting Bay and camp on Bird Island.
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Loading Boats[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Hal's Ready[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Still within sight of the ramp an osprey plunged into the water behind us and rose with a fish flying directly over our heads. From out of no where a bald eagle came in for the steal and a quick clashing of wings between them found the fish falling back into the water. It was an amazing sight and happened so quickly neither of us could take a picture.
Now part of our plan was to sail as much as possible and the wind shifted and we quickly set up sails and off we went. I had spent a fair amount of time rigging up a rudder for the Disco and it had worked in a test run but with all of the weight I had the rudder was too narrow and couldn't handle it so I had to resort back to using my paddle. Before we could set up sails though Hal had to modify his mast thwart, seemed to have shrunk or something. Leatherman's are good for something I guess.
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Grinding out the mast thwart[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I've tried to add a movie of us sailing but the file is too big so here's a link to canoe sailing into Merrymeeting Bay:
http://youtu.be/b5rcXQgMws8
We sailed out of the Androscoggin River into Merrymeeting Bay and starting looking for Bird Island. It was a beautiful day and it was so relaxing to just be under wind power but unfortunately it was the only time we hoisted our sails. We finally found the island but I wasn't all that impressed with it.
Just ahead was another island that offered a much better site, Brick Island so we sailed there and set up camp. A beautiful place to be. After camp was set up we got dinner ready and had a few cocktails and sat out on the rocks and watched the show, the sunset and it was magnificent.
July 25, 2015
Woke up to what else but rain! Both Hal and I were a little groggy from our beverages but had a nice breakfast and coffee out of the Almighty Coffee Pot, a companion for many years now. Something odd did happen though while it was perking, it wasn't. I took the lid off and the stem where the water shoots up was clogged which was very odd as this had never happened before and I always wash it completely before storing it away. I used a stick to clean it out and it wasn't long before we had a cup of hot joe.
We packed up and put in as the confluence of the Andro and the Kennebec was just around a point. Holy Crap, the Kennebec was cranking out to sea but as we rounded the point the headwind was slamming us in the face. A typical day for Scooter and Hal except this was a very strong headwind which against the out going tide made for some interesting waters.
We ran through the Chops, the Chops being a narrowing in the Kennebec where the waters can get crazy from what we've been told and read, with no problem but all of a sudden I was feeling a bit shaky. I caught up with Hal and he looks at me and says he feels like he's going to hurl! I said Puke! Yeah, you stupid crap, whatta think it means! I was starting to feel down right crappy. At one point I looked over my shoulder to see where Hal was and thought I'd fall in! Something just wasn't right. With a lot of work we made it to a boat ramp just above Bath and took a break. Hal was looking pretty bad and my legs were shaking and I felt like crap. Remember that clogged coffee maker? After some discussion we could only think something unhealthy got into it and was the culprit.
Hal relieved his stomach while I kept feeling worse and worse. We stopped in Bath and got some water and Rolaids and kept going heading for the Winnigance Portage. Below Bath Boat Works we veered river right to Winnegance and away from the Kennebec. The stream leading in was low so we waited out the tide and slowly made our way in to it where we were suppose to cross under a bridge. As we sat there twiddling our thumbs I looked over and said to Hal that it wasn't a bridge but a dam! Oh man, if I could have gotten a picture of Hal's face it would have been priceless!
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Sitting in Winnegance Stream waiting for the tide[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]The danged bridge[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Hal looking for an opening on the Winnegance[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Our only alternative was a unplanned and short portage! Hal was rallying some but I was feeling worse and worse. We had to off load all of our gear, haul it up a short but steep slope, cross the road, dump it and go back for more and then our boats. Suckfest! It took us over an hour! With that finally done we pushed my canoe into the rather nasty put in, cattail and tall weeds. Hal pushed my canoe and dang, the whole thing moved! It was floating island! I've heard of these but never seen them. Pushing with a pole I was able to widen the gap enough to get out in to the main body of water. [TABLE="class: tr-caption-container, align: center, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0"]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: tr-caption"]Pushing out. The whole shoreline was floating bog stuff[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I wish I had a picture of Hal poling out of that mess but I barely broke my camera out all day. We paddled up to the end of this stretch expecting to find the channel to the portage but all we found was more and more and more of the cattail floating bog mess and it was across the entire stretch of land. We kept searching for an opening but could not find any. It was getting towards dark and we needed to find a campsite which we did but it was a party spot for kids we found out later but made due.
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