Perfect

The Providence Canoe club is dedicated to the premise that if your canoe is more fragile than your adventurous spirit, then you need a different canoe. Canoes should not be treated like a glass figurine. They should be happily used to take us across any waterbody we so choose regardless of the bushes, logs, ice, or cliffs that are in the way.

The goal of the club is to provide an online forum to meet other canoe explorers, for discussing awesome and terrible spots to canoe in RI, MA, and CT, for organizing group paddles, and to share stories and pictures. Membership into the club is free, but we ask that if you join in group paddles to enroll in membership. The main perks of membership are a free bumpersticker (not yet designed – if you have awesome ideas, please let me know) and email notifications of upcoming paddle events.

For early membership enrollment, email providencecanoeexplorers@gmail.com

For a taste of recent Explorations –

A friend recently bought a new Mohawk Nova canoe. On it’s inaugural trip, we did laps around Cass Pond in Cumberland at midnight. We could not see how shallow the pond was, but we certainly felt and smelt the mud that we disturbed with every stroke. Don’t paddle there.

On the Nova’s second trip, we (Samantha, Chelsea and I) explored the Bungay River in Attleboro. We expected to find a small stream through classic New England bogs which would eventually open up to a sizeable river. Our put in point was at the end of Mary Kennedy Dr., with a short walk down the water treament driveway to the river. The put in point was fairly difficult to find, which probably should have been a sign to turn back before even putting in. We eventually found a ditch that went into the woods and we went for it. The stream was beautiful, we saw turtles, fish, and all kinds of wildflowers. But, the stream was only about 4 feet wide at the maximum and we encountered all kinds of problems with shallow spots, logs blocking our path, and turns too sharp for our 16 ft canoe. After about an hour of hauling the canoe across the logs, we had made it about 100 ft and decided we would never make it home by dark. We turned back.

All in all, the Bungay River has great potential, but only during high-water stages. I think dry conditions prevented this from being the perfect ride, and we may have been the first dopes to try and paddle down it. But, it was a fun and lovely adventure.

Bungay River Location in Attleboro, MA

Bova’s Nova on the way to the Bungay River.

Chelsea and Bova and foliage

A happy paddler in her new canoe.

Our entry point was the small tributary at the end of mary Kennedy Rd. Requires a small walk down a gravel driveway.

Logs were abundant across the little stream, which made paddling difficult.