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- Feb 28, 2025
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Running Tannery Falls, Union River, ME, Spring 2026.
The water levels held up enough, the good weather prevailed and by the good graces of my very patient wife and family I was able to run the falls and surf the wave just below.
Pictured: above tannery falls at medium flow, below the tannery wave located below the falls about 50ft or so.
The last time I ran the falls in 2024 I beached our big flat yellow gazelle 17 rx full of camping supplies on the ledge that can be seen at river right. My wife was filming and watched in horror as the boat started to fill up with water. I remember saying, "It's okay, it's okay." As I tried to shimmy the boat off the rock. Eventually having accepted my fate I stepped out of the boat onto the rock and watched our canoe flip. Our camping gear and dry bags floated gently into the eddy pool at the bottom. (I lost my axe here too, but was able to retrieve it a few months later when the eater ran low enough in the pool below the falls) The boat was fine and so was I after that but it was a humbling experience that really sapped my confidence.
Before that in 2023 I was able to run the falls in my heavy Charles River 158, hardly the boat for the job, but the job got done all the same. That day I ran it 3 times before I got sick of lugging the boat up the portage trail and that was the height of my canoeing experience at the time! Oh the breadth of the spectrum of experiences that can be had while canoeing. Time was tight this fine Sunday afternoon and I'm still a bit out of shape or else I would've considered running the falls a few more times for good measure.
Getting started is the hard part, I peered and sneered, hemmed and hawed for several minutes before finally picking the line from the top and committing myself to the run.
Pictured: the view from the top of the falls.
It looks fairly hairy from any point along the run.
Pictured: the view from halfway down the falls.
Eventually I decided I would start at the top right, draw myself to the left and hope I can land in the chute at the bottom. Otherwise I'd get put out to dry on the ledge at the bottom and likely spin and roll into the pool below. A kayaker would rejoice at the opportunity to boof off that ledge and splat into the water, but for a 16ft canoe it's a less appetizing course of events. By some small miracle everything went to plan. The Penobscot rolled with my hips and a low brace kept us both upright through the run. I was on top of the world at the bottom of those falls, having successfully shown off to my wife and kids without taking a swim!
I am absolutely thrilled with the performance of the Penobscot in every situation I've put it into so far. It poles well, it tracks well enough, it's quick enough to get around but still stable enough for kids and the wife, and it's more seaworthy than most discussion boards on the internet would let on. Oft seen the comment of, "It's a flatwater boat that might be able to do a bit of class 1 or 2." Which always struck me as odd since from the moment of my reintroduction to canoeing I've seen dozens of people taking these boats through the circuit of whitewater races across the state with little hesitation. Whether it's ledge drops on Marsh Stream or Soudabscook, 6 Mile Falls during the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race or through the treacherous minefield known at Turtle Pit on the Millinocket X-Stream Canoe Race. The boat continues to perform for dozens of paddlers every spring.
Obviously there are better boats built for the purpose especially when weighed down with camping gear and additional paddlers but I would encourage all canoeists to really get to know their boats and to safely push their limits when they can. I think many of us would be surprised to find the true height of the hull's capabilities may exceed our own on many occasions.
After getting started on some real clunkers for boats I am endlessly shocked at the way in which an arched hull slips, slides and floats over the waves. I've had two canoes with hogged bottoms and two with flat bottoms before assembling my fleet last year and all four felt like they were getting ripped out from under me when in heavy water or waves; not so with the Penobscot or the Tripper.
All in all I am absolutely smitten with this boat and feel better about the progress I've made as a paddler than ever before. There's so much more to see and do from the seat of a canoe, here's to the hope that this hobby will be in my life and the lives of my family for years to come.
The water levels held up enough, the good weather prevailed and by the good graces of my very patient wife and family I was able to run the falls and surf the wave just below.
Pictured: above tannery falls at medium flow, below the tannery wave located below the falls about 50ft or so.
The last time I ran the falls in 2024 I beached our big flat yellow gazelle 17 rx full of camping supplies on the ledge that can be seen at river right. My wife was filming and watched in horror as the boat started to fill up with water. I remember saying, "It's okay, it's okay." As I tried to shimmy the boat off the rock. Eventually having accepted my fate I stepped out of the boat onto the rock and watched our canoe flip. Our camping gear and dry bags floated gently into the eddy pool at the bottom. (I lost my axe here too, but was able to retrieve it a few months later when the eater ran low enough in the pool below the falls) The boat was fine and so was I after that but it was a humbling experience that really sapped my confidence.
Before that in 2023 I was able to run the falls in my heavy Charles River 158, hardly the boat for the job, but the job got done all the same. That day I ran it 3 times before I got sick of lugging the boat up the portage trail and that was the height of my canoeing experience at the time! Oh the breadth of the spectrum of experiences that can be had while canoeing. Time was tight this fine Sunday afternoon and I'm still a bit out of shape or else I would've considered running the falls a few more times for good measure.
Getting started is the hard part, I peered and sneered, hemmed and hawed for several minutes before finally picking the line from the top and committing myself to the run.
Pictured: the view from the top of the falls.
It looks fairly hairy from any point along the run.
Pictured: the view from halfway down the falls.
Eventually I decided I would start at the top right, draw myself to the left and hope I can land in the chute at the bottom. Otherwise I'd get put out to dry on the ledge at the bottom and likely spin and roll into the pool below. A kayaker would rejoice at the opportunity to boof off that ledge and splat into the water, but for a 16ft canoe it's a less appetizing course of events. By some small miracle everything went to plan. The Penobscot rolled with my hips and a low brace kept us both upright through the run. I was on top of the world at the bottom of those falls, having successfully shown off to my wife and kids without taking a swim!
I am absolutely thrilled with the performance of the Penobscot in every situation I've put it into so far. It poles well, it tracks well enough, it's quick enough to get around but still stable enough for kids and the wife, and it's more seaworthy than most discussion boards on the internet would let on. Oft seen the comment of, "It's a flatwater boat that might be able to do a bit of class 1 or 2." Which always struck me as odd since from the moment of my reintroduction to canoeing I've seen dozens of people taking these boats through the circuit of whitewater races across the state with little hesitation. Whether it's ledge drops on Marsh Stream or Soudabscook, 6 Mile Falls during the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race or through the treacherous minefield known at Turtle Pit on the Millinocket X-Stream Canoe Race. The boat continues to perform for dozens of paddlers every spring.
Obviously there are better boats built for the purpose especially when weighed down with camping gear and additional paddlers but I would encourage all canoeists to really get to know their boats and to safely push their limits when they can. I think many of us would be surprised to find the true height of the hull's capabilities may exceed our own on many occasions.
After getting started on some real clunkers for boats I am endlessly shocked at the way in which an arched hull slips, slides and floats over the waves. I've had two canoes with hogged bottoms and two with flat bottoms before assembling my fleet last year and all four felt like they were getting ripped out from under me when in heavy water or waves; not so with the Penobscot or the Tripper.
All in all I am absolutely smitten with this boat and feel better about the progress I've made as a paddler than ever before. There's so much more to see and do from the seat of a canoe, here's to the hope that this hobby will be in my life and the lives of my family for years to come.
