Peter Macfarlane's 2023 Solo Paddle of the Androscoggin, Kennebec & Dead Rivers of Maine & New Hampshire
in a Cedar-Strip Canoe by Otter Creek Smallcraft

Trip stats, Before & after photos ...

The numbers

  • Total miles: 435.2*
  • Total days: 18
  • Paddling days: 18
  • Rest days: 0
  • Average daily mileage (all days): 24.2
  • Average daily mileage (excluding shuttle): 23.1
  • Longest day: 36.4 miles (Day 17)
  • Shortest day: 11.9 miles (Day 12) or 8.1 miles of paddling on shuttle day (Day 15)
  • Days with a significant headwind: 10 (at least)
  • Days with a tailwind: 2
  • Number of nights in camping hammock: 11
  • Number of nights in a real bed indoors with a shower: 3
  • Number of nights in other covered accommodation: 2
  • Number of nights with no shelter: 1
  • Number of capsizes: 0 (just!)
  • Number of rides offered: 1
  • Number of rides accepted: 0 (other than requested shuttle)
  • Initial pack weight: 42 lb
  • Canoe weight: 37 lb (about 41 lb including paddles, poles & PFD)
  • Number of moose sightings: 1
  • Number of bald eagle sightings: dozens and dozens
  • Number of beaver sightings: ~6
  • Number of musk rat sightings: 3
  • Number of otter sightings: 0
  • Number of mink sightings: 1
  • Number of pharmaceuticals consumed: 0

* Measured using Google Earth's ruler function along the route that I took (to my best recollection).

Before and After

How the hull fared, viewed from the stern

At the end of the trip (left) & After a re-finish (right)

Et Cetera

My freewheeling brain was prompted by the headwinds on days 2-6 inclusive to add to the Headwind Song that I came up with on the NFCT in 2018, so, with continued apologies to Wade Hemsworth ...

Down the mighty Androscoggin in a small canoe
Aeolus is a-wonderin' what to do.
I turn to the east and I turn to the south
And Aeolus is a-slappin' me in the mouth.

The headwind, the dratted headwind
Always a headwind no matter where I go.
I'm tired of the headwind slappin' my face in southern Maine-ee-o-ee-o
In southern Maine-ee-o

Up the mighty Kennebec in a small canoe
Aeolus is a-wonderin' what to do.
I turn to the north and I turn to the west
But Aeolus is a-thinkin' that he knows best.

The headwind, the dratted headwind ...

My journey started in the vicinity of Route 2, so when it put in a reappearance in the region of Skowhegan and Norridgewock, it provided a sense of familiarity, which led, with apologies to Simon & Garfunkel, to the following:

Hello Route 2, my old friend
Two thousand miles from end to end.
You keep appearing right within my view.
It's like you know where I am heading to.
And the noise of your traffic fills my ears, yes it does,
And it destroys the sound of silence.

Two thousand miles or maybe more
Your traffic makes an endless roar.
It fills the morning and the evening air,
A stark reminder that you're ever there.
And the noise of your traffic fills my ears, yes it does,
And it destroys the sound of silence.

Website design © Peter Macfarlane

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