Open Boats at Zoar Gap

Don’t know how many of you folks are in the northeast, but if you are you have probably been to a dam release on the Deerfield River. You can do the big stuff on the Dryway, or easier stuff below the Fife Brook Dam. We went Saturday and did the run from the Fife Brook Dam down to the Shunpike Rest Area. The biggest rapid on this section is Zoar Gap. I had heard that last year’s floods had changed the Gap, and things definitely got moved around a little. Cutting from the center to the left was easier, and there was a nice shoot down the left side. Here are some open boaters going through - I’m at the end.


The downriver race was Sunday, so there will probably be some videos of tandem boats going through. I haven’t seen them yet.

You don't have a pump?

Glenn MacGrady said:

You don't have a pump?

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Nope - I don't have a pump. I've thought about it, but never pulled the trigger. For most of the stuff that I do it is easy to get to shore to empty the boat. Also a nice excuse to get out and stretch. For that run I don't need one - I got to the bottom dry (very unlike me). Not like the second guy who went through the two big drops in the middle and made it look easy, and then switched on the pump.

Just curious. I'm anti-pump simply because I'm old and pumps have no part in my paddling history. But I sense that a significant portion of the current generation of open canoeists is pumped by pumps.

Great video and even better run.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Just curious. I'm anti-pump simply because I'm old and pumps have no part in my paddling history. But I sense that a significant portion of the current generation of open canoeists is pumped by pumps.

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Could be that the current generation in interested in running continuous stuff where a pump is helpful, if not essential. There are times when I wish I had a pump, but I don't run a lot of continuous stuff where I can't get to shore or where a swim would be dangerous.

Erik, I watched your collage video of various runs of Zoar Gap over the years, and see that you used to paddle an Encore, which I own. I don't recall whether your Outrage is regular or XL, but I'd be interested how you would you compare it to the Encore in terms of stability, turnability, accleratability, dryness, and anything else.

Mine is a regular Outrage, not an XL. I am 240 lbs, and back in the day people would have said that I am too big for an Outrage. Now people bigger than me are paddling 8' boats. I do have to be really careful to lean going into turns or the boat will come out from under me. Not sure if that is the boat, or me in the boat. Other than that it has been great. Even at my weight it is very dry. Spins on a dime. Paddles easy - what's not to like.

I still have my Encore - paddled it for years and loved it. It is a foot longer than the Outrage, but it also has a lot of rocker. Kind of tough to compare, but if something happened to the Outrage and I needed to go back to paddling the Encore, I'd be OK with it.

Here is the second drop on yesterday's run through the gap.


The Millbrook posse was there yesterday, but I didn't paddle with them.

Looks like a pretty serene ride despite what the rapid looks like. Safe to assume higher-than-normal water levels and wise choice of lines?

The level was a little higher than usual. Typical release is between 800 and 1,000 cfs. The release on Saturday was between 1,000 and 1,200 cfs - not enough to make that much of a difference. As long as you catch that shoot next to the big rock on the left, it is not that bad.

There have been three different versions of the "Gap" since I started paddling in 2006. Back in the old days there was an easy "sneak" route on the far right (red). That went away with Tropical Storm Irene in 2012. After that, I usually eddied out at the top and tried to go right or left of "Oh crap Rock" in the middle of the second drop, with mixed success (yellow). After flooding in 2023 things got moved around again. The eddy at the top got squirrely, the right line got blocked by rocks, but cutting directly from right to left got a lot easier (blue). There has always been a kayak line of the far left (green).


My history running Zoar Gap now stands at 20 attempts with 12 successful, 6 swims and 2 walks. I’ve made it through successfully on my last 4 attempts - getting better, but it has also gotten easier.

eckilson said:

There have been three different versions of the "Gap" since I started paddling in 2006.

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I only paddled Zoar Gap in the 80s and early 90s. I recall eddying out at least once and maybe twice in left bank eddies before the final tail of the rapid.

One time I paddled tandem in a black Perception Chattooga canoe that Jim Michaud had given to the Connecticut AMC chapter. Jim was the ultimate hair boater in New England, who paddled class 4/5 all over the country, open and closed. Do you know if he's still around? He'd be well into his 80s.

I saw Jim this spring at the Knightville section of the Westfield. I'm pretty sure he was paddling his Outrage. He is in the far right in this picture:



There are a couple of eddies on the left leading up to the Gap. If it is busy you need to stop there to queue up and wait your turn. There is also an eddy on the right behind some big rocks just above the rapid. It's a nice place to line up for the run.

I haven't done it tandem yet - would be a lot easier now since it is more of a straight shot through.

eckilson said:

I saw Jim this spring at the Knightville section of the Westfield. I'm pretty sure he was paddling his Outrage. He is in the far right in this picture:

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Wow. Good for him.

eckilson said:

There are a couple of eddies on the left leading up to the Gap.

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Maybe the the rapid was very different in the days when I paddled it. I definitely remember entering right of center and aiming for an eddy on the left bank about half way or more down the rapid. Maybe the one just upstream of where your green and blue lines diverge. Recalling who my bow paddler was and the crappy architecture of the Chattooga hull, it's likely we needed to bail in that eddy.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Maybe the the rapid was very different in the days when I paddled it. I definitely remember entering right of center and aiming for an eddy on the left bank about half way or more down the rapid. Maybe the one just upstream of where your green and blue lines diverge.

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Could be - the rapid has changed a lot over the years. "Oh Sh!t Rock" is in the middle of the rapid now, so you can't go right down the middle without bouncing around a lot - its one side or the other.