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Sunday, April 24, 2005
Making waves
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ALNA — "It's like sledding," kayaker Brian Gehan said of the swirling white foam and spray around him. "Except on a wave." "Going uphill." Then, from his mini whitewater kayak, Gehan threw his head back and laughed, a true disciple of the danger inherent in the rips, rapids and hydraulic holes he came to explore. Spring whitewater kayaking is not widely popular in southern Maine. Gehan catches it where he can. And, since the tidal water of the Sheepscot River provides a constant series of tidal whitewater and hell-raising fun in Alna, Gehan, who lives in nearby Georgetown, can get this kind of mad paddling year-round. "It's like surfing, but the wave is stationary while the water is moving," Gehan said, "as opposed to the wave moving." Few whitewater kayakers patrol areas of powerful, turbulent water in southern Maine, said Kelly Fernald at Maine Mountain Works in Portland. "In the Portland area, there is not a store that specifically caters to whitewater paddling," Fernald said. "It's a tough market because the season is so short. It's a really niche group." This is why, Ben Davidson said, kayak retailers in the southern, coastal region of the state focus mostly on the touring kayak market. Davidson at Joe Jones Ski & Sports said there are certainly whitewater kayakers who play in the ocean in mini, oval kayaks perfect for flipping around on huge waves. But, Davidson said, their numbers are few. "Being a coastal type of town, there is so much more touring going on," Davidson said. The Sheepscot's reversing falls are two-directional falls in a tidal channel. Where the rushing river dumps downstream over a ledge into the tidal channel, the saltwater pushing up at high tide creates a system of waves and rips. To hit the area just after high tide is to find a thundering, thin avenue of 3- to 5-foot waves, the delicious churning whitewater Gehan and his kind crave. Gehan, a New Hampshire native, lived and kayaked in southern Maine and up near Greenville for 10 years before moving to California. Last year, he returned to Maine and settled a half-hour from Sheepscot Falls. Now he paddles there year-round. "The thing about the winter - you have to be careful of the icebergs. They'll float through the rapids. You have to be constantly watching what you're doing or you'll end up getting plowed over by one of the 'bergs," Gehan said. In a few months, he said, there will be days when it's crowded with other kayakers. But no matter when you go, the tidal water decides when you paddle. The Sheepscot River runs from Sheepscot Pond in Palermo. The West Branch Sheepscot River runs from Branch Pond, also in Waldo County. The two rivers join in Whitefield and run through Alna and Newcastle and back into Alna, where it turns quick and pours over the ledge. A DAY ON THE WATER Two weeks ago, Gehan hit it at 7 a.m., after driving up from Bath at 6 a.m. and paddling downriver. He paddled for most of 45 minutes, until the waves flattened out. While repositioning his small kayak, Gehan rolled right in the middle of the whitewater and found the ledge with his homemade blue metallic helmet. "Wow. It's shallow there," he noted. After flipping several times in the Sheepscot River's reversing falls two weeks ago, Gehan, wet and flushed, was breathing harder. He still found back-door paths into the center of the rapids. He skirted across the bouncing waves and found the perfect area of calm, that notorious "sweet spot." There he would plant his kayak facing up stream, reach behind with his short paddle, and carve the blade into the wave, much as a snowboarder does down a ski slope. At times, Gehan's location of the sweet spot was so exact, his body would sit perfectly still, while only his back arm reached around and appeared to guide the water around his unmoving kayak. The sight looks so strange that one time, Gehan said, a woman saw him doing this in the Androscoggin River and asked if he was "stuck." The difference in wave length, height and the strength of the sweet spot was imperceptible to those watching from a rocky ledge, which can only be reached by a canoe or kayak. But the difference to Gehan meant his fun was fading away. "This guy is starting to peter out," Gehan said of a rolling wave. Whether he's following a marine forecast or the tides at the mouth of the Sheepscot, Gehan said he never hits the tide right. The Sheepscot's rapids always seem to trick him. The falls are usually at the peak of their height and power about three hours after high tide, Gehan said. But he's come two hours after high tide, and found he was an hour late. Still, few places in the country offer whitewater year-round, he said. "It's a guaranteed thing," Gehan said. "You can show up late, and you're still going to have something." Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:
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