How fast can a Penobscot 16 go when paddled solo? Depends on how close the lightning is. 

It was just another after work paddle on the Rainbow Reservoir section of the Farmington River. I met my friend Ken at the boat ramp in Windsor about 5:00 PM, and we headed upriver. It was hot & sunny at the time, and the last time I checked the weather service website at 3:00, they said 30% chance of a shower. Acceptable odds. 

We paddled along, me in my canoe and Ken in his strip-built 12 foot kayak. It’s an interesting boat he has. He took the basic hull shape of a Walden Vision, narrowed it, and sharpened the bow entry. Then he put a whitewater inspired deck on it, with the aft deck low enough that you can lay back on it, and touch your head on the deck. Mostly for easy rolling. It’s actually a very pretty boat. Anyway, I have all I can do to keep up with him in a canoe. 

About halfway to the rapids below Tariffville Gorge, there’s a shallow area. We got there, and I got out my canoe pole, and started poling. I’m not very good at it yet, but I do get some decent speed out of my efforts. I did this for the better part of a half mile, and then grabbed a paddle again, as I was a little unsteady standing up in power boat wakes. I’ll get the hang of it yet…….. 

We got to about a half mile from the bottom of the rapids, and the sun went behind some clouds. Very dark clouds. Uh-oh. Then the unmistakeable sound of thunder was heard. Great. We’re 3 ½ miles from our cars at this point, but the clouds appeared to be going off to the north of us. We headed back as fast as I could paddle. About halfway back, the dark clouds were beginning to get closer, and the thunder was almost constant. But, it was still quite a way off, so we agreed to hug the shore, get out at the first sign of the storm hitting, and wait it out under the canoe. 

By this point, I was going faster than I had ever paddled a canoe solo, and my shoulders and back were screaming for mercy. But, there was no slowing down now. We rounded the last bend before the ramp, and came upon a power boat that was on shore. The owner was getting everyone but himself and one other person onto shore, and under cover. He was going to take the boat back to the ramp, and pick up his passengers afterwards. By now, we could see the boat ramp, and Ken’s truck. The sky was black, and we could see the lightning flashes in the distance, but there was no rain between us and the ramp, and the wind was just starting to come up. We went for it. We got to the ramp, and were met by other boaters who had already loaded up, who helped us load up. Just as we were all getting in our cars, a bolt of lightning hit in the woods right next to the parking lot, and the rain started. Hail followed very soon afterwards. A very close call, closer than I ever want to have again. 

What we didn’t know was that the weather service revised the forecast at 4:00, and issued a severe thunderstorm warning. Lesson learned: A weather radio, preferably with an alert feature, can save your life on a day when you and the weather service are not sure what the weather’s going to do. As I already have a marine VHF, I’m going to start carrying it in fresh water for the use of the weather channels on days when the weather is questionable.