01:27 AM EDT on Monday, July 25, 2005

BY CYNTHIA NEEDHAM
Journal Staff Writer

LINCOLN -- Imagine it's one of those really hot days. You know, the ones when your legs stick to the couch and you start fantasizing about midwinter snow squalls.

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

Peachie Berthiaume, 72, of Scituate, kayaks - with about 40 or so other recreational explorers - on a recent Tuesday night along the Blackstone River at the Cumberland- Lincoln line.

Now, imagine you've ditched the sofa for a kayak. You're whisking across the water, the breeze in your hair, the waves lapping on the edge of the boat.

Sounds like a nice idea -- but let's guess, you've got no boat and no experience, right?

That's where the folks at Great Canadian Canoe & Kayak and the Blackstone Valley Paddle Club come in. One call, and $10 a person, will get you a rental canoe or a kayak, some basic instruction and a few hours on the Blackstone River.

They're called evening paddles, and they're happening every Tuesday night, all summer long.

By now you've probably heard a bit about this river -- at least, if you've been reading this paper. But here's an easy way to get out there and see it up close, even if you're one of those "too busy to try it" types.

More than 50 people hit the waters along the Cumberland-Lincoln line on a recent Tuesday evening, just after 6 p.m. Skilled paddlers in Spandex gear glided their boats into the water near Kelly House, underneath Route 116, while newcomers slid nervously down the embankments.

Among them were a wary reporter with little idea how to maneuver a canoe and a photographer with too much camera equipment.

Lucky for them, volunteers from the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor were there to help. A half-dozen of them bobbed around in kayaks, their eyes on the novices. And yes, they're trained in rescue efforts, though they promise they've never actually had to do more than dry off a few "accidental swimmers."

Within minutes, the volunteers coaxed the shaky pair from The Journal into a synchronized stroke and a few smiles. Then they were off to teach the skilled paddlers some fancy new tricks.

"You'll be fine," Peachie Berthiaume, of North Scituate, exclaimed from her kayak nearby. "Last week was my first time, and I got caught in the limbs of a tree. Went right over like a teakettle!"

At 72, Berthiaume's got more energy than most people half her age. She's a skier, a bowler and a tennis player. So when she heard about the Tuesday-night river trips, she knew she had to check them off her list.

She called her daughter and athletic sidekick Linda Pimentel, 50.

"Get ready," she told her. "It's time to learn to kayak."

"It's such a nice way to spend an evening," Berthiaume, said, "meeting so many nice people and having so many laughs."

With that, she zipped away, greeting other paddlers, her yellow kayak disappearing in the rainbow of boats -- reds and greens and oranges that bounced along the water.

Each Tuesday night throughout the summer, the paddle club tackles a different section of the river. They paddle on Wednesday nights, as well, but those trips are strictly BYOB (bring your own boat), so for beginners, Tuesday is the best bet.

Now in their fifth year, the evening paddles started as an offshoot of an annual canoe expedition down the Blackstone River. When word got out about the trip, organizers from the Heritage Corridor and the paddle club started cooking up a plan to get more people out on the water.

In the five years since, the midweek trips have become just as popular with newcomers as they are with serious boaters.

"We love that," Blackstone River Valley Park Ranger Daniel Wegner says. "People learn about the river by being out on it. It's a way to engage the public in what we're doing, in terms of cleanup efforts and the health of the river, as well as the history of the area. Often, they'll be out there asking questions about the mills or whatever else they see."

Back on the water that Tuesday evening, the sun was beginning to set. A breeze came up. The river was flowing fast and high.

Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski

Wayne Leary, of North Smithfield, carries a kayak to the launch site near the Ashton Viaduct along the Blackstone River in Lincoln.

Some paddlers gunned through the rough patches with deft strokes, sweating from the exertion. Others trailed behind, idling their boats as they checked out the birds that flew overhead.

An hour later, with the headwaters of Pratt Dam in Lonsdale looming, it was time to head for shore. They'd traveled just over two miles, but most paddlers said it seemed they'd been transported worlds away.

As she stepped off the river and adjusted to life back on land, Woonsocket resident Chris Brackett said she felt energized.

"It's so beautiful out there. My insides are still all butterflies." Like so many of the paddlers, Brackett had fought the traffic, after a long day at work in Providence, to make it down Route 146 in time for the excursion.

But as she scaled the embankment, the stresses of her day had drained from her face.

"It's absolutely exhilarating," she said, beaming. "And no one had to fish me out!"

The not-so-seaworthy pair from The Journal made it off in one piece, as well. There was one close call with a tree, and some mild profanity resulting, but no one went overboard. So let's not talk about it.

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How to get there

For information about paddling tours on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, visit www.ricka-flatwater.org .

Those interested in renting a canoe or kayak for the Tuesday-night excursions along the Blackstone River should call the Great Canadian Canoe & Kayak Co., at (508) 865-0010. Boat rentals are $10 a person; they include paddles, life jackets and waterfront boat delivery and pickup. Rentals are limited, so call a week in advance.

No rentals are available for Wednesday-night tours, but those interested in bringing their own boats should call the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor at (401) 762-0250 for information.

All tours begin at 6:15 p.m. -- but plan to arrive a little early. Great Canadian will escort drivers to the end-point of the tour and shuttle them back before the trek begins, returning participants to their cars.

Suitable clothing and water-appropriate shoes are suggested. And don't forget bug spray.

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This week along the Blackstone

Highlights of events along the Blackstone in the week ahead:

WEDNESDAY

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Fishing trip on the Blackstone. Bring gear, bait and fishing license to enjoy catch-and-release fishing aboard the 49-passenger Blackstone Valley Explorer, leaving from Central Falls Landing, Broad Street and Madeira Avenue, in Central Falls. Tickets are $10 for an adult and one child; $4 for additional children; and $6 for adults. Call the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council at (401) 724-2200

THURSDAY

Noon to 12:50 p.m. Thursday Bag Lunch Riverboat Tour. Cruise on the Blackstone Valley Explorer. Minimum 15 passengers. Reservations required. Call (401) 724-2200. All seats $7. Central Falls Landing, corner Broad Street and Madeira Avenue, Central Falls.

FRIDAY

Noon to 1:15 p.m. Millbury Lawn Concert Series, Main and Elm Streets, Millbury, Mass. For information, call the Town of Millbury, at (508) 865-3477.

SATURDAY

5 to 9 p.m. Jazz on the Blackstone at River Island Park, off Bernon Street, near Market Square, Woonsocket. Call the City of Woonsocket, at (401) 762-6400.

SUNDAY

1 p.m. and 3 p.m. British Tea Tour along the Blackstone River, aboard a British Canal Boat, leaving from Central Falls Landing, Broad Street at Madeira Avenue, Central Falls. All seats $17.50. Reservations required. Call the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, at (401) 724-2200.

1 to 4 p.m. Blackstone Valley Explorer Wilderness Tour. Cruise the river aboard a 49-passenger tour boat. Public tours leave from Central Falls Landing, Broad Street at Madeira Avenue, in Central Falls, at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. $7 general admission; $6 for seniors or children. Call (401) 724-2200.

3:30 p.m. Sunday Concerts on the Canal. River Bend Farm Visitor Center, Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, Oak Street, Uxbridge, Mass. (508) 278-7604.

5 to 6 p.m. Sunday Concerts on the Common. Slatersville Common, Route 102, North Smithfield. (401) 767-2200.

SOURCE: Blackstone Valley Tourism Council's Web site: www.tourblackstone.com

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Keep up with the Summer on the Blackstone series, at:

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