Through the Gates of Hell

Through the Gates of Hell

There are odd place names that sometimes appear on a map, and you wonder where they came from.  One is: Hell Gate, or Hell's Gate.   This comes from the Dutch: Hellegat, which actually does mean "hell gate".   In Dutch it refers to a constriction, usually in a tidal estuary, where water is channeled into a set of rapids that reverse with the tide.   Probably the most famous Hell Gate is on the East River, in a set of narrows that separates the Randalls Island/Ward Island complex from Queens in NYC.  I've heard that the flow hits 6 knots in this Hell Gate.  In Maine, there is a channel connecting the tidal parts of the Kennebec River and the Sheepscot River, where there are two narrow necks that produce a substantial amount of current with the tide cycles:  Upper Hell Gate and Lower Hell Gate. 

I took a circumnavigation trip with Dan Carr last weekend (17-18 August 2013) around Arrowsic and Georgetown Islands.    The pair of islands is bounded on the east by Sheepscot River and on the west by the Kennebec River.   The north end is defined by the Hell Gate connector, aka Sasanoa River, and on the south by the Gulf of Maine.   

The entire loop is 33 miles and passed through some pretty interesting areas, with lots of wildlife - a fearless mink, porpoises, jumping sturgeons, and ospreys everywhere.  The tidal flows are really wacky in the area, and it's a guessing game just when and were the currents is going. 

Chart of circumnavigation

We put in at Fiddler's Reach, a public boat landing, around 10:30 AM on Saturday, Aug. 17th.   Low tide at Bath that day was 15:00, approximately.   We caught the outgoing tide on the Kennebec and made excellent time downstream.

Dan on the Kennebec

Conditions were near-perfect - there was very little wind, the sky was crystal clear blue, and the temperatures were moderate - in the 80's.    We stopped briefly at a spot called Mill Pond, where there as a dam, presumably constructed to create a weir for a mill.   Old wooden posts projected from the water near the dam.   Judging by the area covered by the pilings, I guessed it was home to a sizable lumber mill at one time.   

We went further downstream and passed an area that was the site of the Popham Colony.   In 1607, a George Popham sailed from Plymouth, MA in two ships with 120 people to establish the colony at the mouth of the Kennebec.  The colony lasted only one year.   Deaths, winter storms and dissension contributed to the colony's demise.   Later settlers in Bath were able to make a better go of it upstream. 

The point of land on the western end of the Kennebec creates a constriction and was the site of a fort, Fort Popham.   It was originally constructed during the war of 1812 to guard the mouth of the Kennebec, and then underwent a large construction during the Civil War.   It was manned on and off until World War I, and then finally abandoned for good. 

The constriction at Fort Popham creates a fairly strong tidal current, which fans out into the Gulf of Maine on the ebb.   This area has something of a reputation for nasty conditions.  When we passed through, it was on the outgoing tide, and there was little wind, so it was pretty calm.   On the other hand, if there was a strong wind out of the southwest, and a spring tide running, I could see that this area could be pretty freakish and definitely to be approached with caution.  Nearby Popham Beach is popular with surfers.   When there's a swell going, I'm told there's a pretty good break there.   As it was, the swells were maybe a foot and a half. 

We paddled over to Stage Island and had lunch around 1 PM in the intertidal zone. 

View from Stage Island, looking toward Ft. Popham and Popham Beach.

There was a lot of boat traffic about, and a large number of jumping fish, some them clearly sturgeons.

After lunch, we inspected Salter Island from the water, and then headed north up through Sheepscot Bay.    As we were paddling up into the Sheepscot River, we saw a couple of porpoises swimming downstream - beautiful creatures.  It was a bit of a slog up the Sheepscot - not much in the way of interesting scenery, save for the cluster of Five Islands.    One thing that was curious was the pattern of swells.   Since studying about wave piloting in the Marshall Islands, I like to pay attention to the swells.  There was a distinct swell from the east and one from the south.   As we got further up the Sheepscot, the eastern swell got extinguished and the southern swell got amplified by the necking-down of the bay into the river. 

We crossed the river with the purpose of making camp at a MITA Island.   As we pulled up, we saw a couple of tents set up and were mulling over the possibilities of camping at nearby islands.    We got out and walked around.   One of the guys offered to move one of the tents to let us put ours and camp for the night.   We gratefully accepted the offer.  All told, this was a 21 mile day, helped with a fast tidal current.   We pulled up around 4:30. 

Now, here's a fun thing.   Rather than make a major meal, Dan and I both packed some freeze dried food for dinner. Dan had brought a bottle of red wine for the evening.   One of the folks in the other party came by and asked us if we wanted some lobster for dinner.   We were a blown away.   They had a motorboat and were going to make a run to Boothbay Harbor to get some lobsters.   We had to ask a couple of times to make sure we were hearing them correctly, but yes, they were going to fetch us some lobsters.    

Two guys in the party motored off to Boothbay.   Dan and I sat, sipping some scotch and water and admiring the view, while two girls in the group played with dogs on the beach.   After some time, the guys returned with the lobsters.   One of the women asked us if we were ready for some lobster.   Sure!

So, maybe 20 minutes later, she returns with two paper plates with steamed lobsters on them, a cup of butter, some cracking implements, and two ice cold coronas!   Damn!   What a deal.   After 20 miles of paddling with a clear blue sky, porpoises and sturgeons, tents set up, a woman brings us some lobsters and beers right up to the picnic table on the beach.    Now, I think I'm going to have to go real deep into my memory banks to come up with a nicer time than that.   Seriously!

 

Two really happy guys and their lobsters. 

Crepuscular rays at sunset.

Just to top things off, crepuscular rays emerged following sunset - beautiful.   The stars emerged with a half moon.   Venus was bright in the western sky following the Sun into the west.   Just about every summer constellation was vivid and it was hard to take our eyes off the heavens.   Finally, we hit the sack.   

I got up around 3 AM to take care of the call of nature and saw Jupiter rising in the east, along with the Pleiades, Taurus and Orion - harbingers of winter. 

After sunrise we got up.   Dan wanted to catch as much strong current as he could going through the Hell Gates, so we kind of dawdled at the campsite, slowly packing up.   The couple who masterminded the lobster run from the night before swung by, and we chatted.   They live in Harvard, Mass, and were staying at a summer home they had in the Five Islands area.   Nice folks (if you couldn't have figured that out already).  

We crossed back over the Sheepscot, seeing a couple of osprey nests on the way. 

Osprey on buoy off of Powderhorn Island

We made our way up a channel leading to Lower Hell Gate.   On the way, we stopped at Beal Island, which is home a number of campsites, and supposedly a nice cabin, owned by the Appalachian Mountain Club. 

For a modest fee, the cabin can be rented.   We scouted the island, but couldn't locate the cabin.   As we paddled away, we was a small weasel-like critter scurrying around on the water's edge.   It seemed totally oblivious to our presence, and jumped into the water several times, evidently hunting for food and rolling around on it's back.   Dan was pretty sure it was a mink, but when I got home, my son James' girlfriend, Hallie said it was definitely a river otter.   You decide.

Mink or river otter?

Next up was Lower Hell Gate.   We'd been paddling against some current, but the connector between the Kennebec and Sheepscot narrows down along Beal Island and just to the north.   Here there were a decent set of tidal rips starting to build.   Since I'm still a bit of a neophyte when it comes to current play, Dan stepped me through some maneuvers, like eddy turns and the like.   I had fun getting up onto a top-wave hydraulic, and Dan laughed at me trying to conquer it to the glassy water above, saying "you're can't fight gravity."   It was pretty fun.   

We crossed up into Hockomock Bay.   This is effectively a holding basin between Upper and Lower Hell Gates.    The order of filling of the Bay, and the drainage from the Kennebec into the Sheepscot is confusing.   It reminded me of some AC circuit problem where you had to figure out the phase of the voltage on a capacitor in a complicated circuit.   Come to think of it, I probably could create an equivalent circuit model for this.   OK, yeah, I'm a nerd.  

Dan pointed out the entrance to the Back River.   The Back River is a slough that passed from Hockomock Bay and empties into the Kennebec near Ft. Popham.   It has a lot of marshes on either side of it, and has a reputation for have some of the nastiest green-head flies and mosquitos in these parts.   We avoided it. 

Next, we headed up the second narrowing - the so-called Sasanoa River, and Upper Hells Gate.  The current was definitely pretty stiff through this part, and we were fighting it.    At the actual narrowing that comprised Upper Hells Gate, it actually wasn't terribly difficult.   We eddy hopped, and then punched through the Gate, ferry-gliding to the opposite side.   From there, we paddled toward the Bath Iron Works.   

"Stealth" conning tower under construction at the Bath Iron Works.

The Bath Iron Works builds ships for the US Navy and we saw a destroyer under construction.   The conning tower is of a new design that supposedly reduces the radar signature of the vessel.   

Now, coming out of the Sasanoa River and reentering the Kennebec was instructive.   The tidal flow from the Kennebec obviously has to divide: some of it enters the Sasnoa, and the rest of it goes downstream.   When we hit the fork of the two rivers, there were strange currents, creating odd standing waves.   Dan said that he'd never seen these before.   I reckon with all these interconnecting rivers and bays, nearly every moment on the tidal cycle probably has its own peculiar characteristics in any given spot.   The Lower Hell Gate definitely had more current moving than the Upper Hell Gate, and I would've guessed the opposite, but that may have just been the tidal cycle we were on. 

The paddle down to our put-in/take-out point was pretty fast as we now had the current with us in the Kennebec.   Dan asked if I'd like to try a BBQ place in Bath called Beal Street BBQ.   The option was either Beal Street BBQ or an old piece of sausage moldering in one of my dry-bags.   Hmm....which to choose?   

Anyway, we got off the river around 1 PM.   Day 2 was 12 miles, and I had a great pulled pork sandwich in Bath before beating it down the road back to Boston.   

Great trip! 33 miles total.