The Bay of Fundy is slightly closer to the Helicopter SAR resources, however the strong currents and lack of large population centres means there is limited access to Hospitals or Coast Guard water resources.
This is a very large volume, high speed, tidal race with very few exit points. There are also occasional logs/debris floating in the river as well as powered zodiacs during the tourist season. Separation from your boat and or lost gear are the biggest hazards. Always paddle with multiple people, and you should have a very strong self-rescue/roll. If you miss the take-out you could be on the water for significantly longer than expected, so you should have ample water/food to stay in your boat for 6 hours.
Access
Shuttle Setup Time: ~45min
PUT-IN
Our primary put in is at the public park next to River Runners just past the town of Maitland. During the summer their parking lot can get quite busy, so they have asked us to park down by the basketball courts once we’ve unloaded our boats. At the very least park as far away from the building so as to not interfere with tourists and visitors to the small center. They have always been very friendly with us, please do as they ask so we can maintain a positive relationship. To put in follow the mow’d path up over the bank towards the wooden pier that stretches out onto the mud. We put in on the left side, usually dragging our boats past the grass and then using our kayaks like a sled and sliding them down the hill to avoid getting stuck in the mud.
TAKE-OUT
Our primary take out is at the green creek bridge on riverside road. just off of Pleasant Valley Rd. Just before the bridge the road widens and there is room to park 2-3 cars there. We have had gear stolen from this location so it is not recommended that you leave any valuables in your car parked here, and to make sure that you leave one person with the boats at the end of a run. If you get off the boar early you’ll have to slog through thigh-deep mud to get up the slope to the parked cars. If you wait long enough, especially on large tidal days you can paddle almost all the way to your car. Green creek can be hard to spot from the river if you’ve never been before so it’s always strongly encouraged that you paddle with someone who knows the river your first time. It can be identified by looking for a giant cannon up on the hillside Bore Left after anthonys nose, if you see the cannon, it’s time to get off the river.
Gauge
Feature Start is 3 hours after low tide at Burncoat head
All tidal information is based off of Burncoat head tidal times. The tidal bore arrives at river runners about three hours after low tide at burncoat head. This can change by 15-30min depending on tidal range, wind etc. It is easy to tell if it’s already passed when you arrive as the river will increase in height quickly, and the current will be going inland.
Best conditions: Low river (late summer without recent rainfall), 14-15m tidal range, Minimal Wind. **
** In 2015 Leigh Woltman and Karl Vollmer paddled the tidal bore at the 18 year high, over 16m, it was a unique experience, which will happen again in 2033.
Run timing
The tidal bore is a very fluid feature and must be timed very precisely. Each feature forms up and dissipates in 10-15min at any one location. You need to be in the right spot at the right time, as due to the current and size of the river there usually isn’t time to re-position once a feature has started. The larger the tide the short the time between features, generally. The below list is from tidal bore runs between 14 and 15meters. Different tidal variances and weather will cause the timing to shift, once you’ve run it a few times you’ll be able to just adjust on the fly.
Timing for hitting the features is listed below in Bore time, which is the number of minutes after bore arrival. When the bore passes you at the top of the river note the time on your watch and use it to plan your down-river progression. Positioning is relative to the ocean flow, not the river’s natural flow. When looking inland (upriver) Bore Left is on your left, Bore right is on your right.
B+0 – Bore leading wave, expert option is to wait Bore Left against the sandbar and ride the wave in 3-4″ of water. Quite risky as a capsize results in hard impact with sand.
B+10 – Small standing waves near launch site Bore Right, these do not always form
B+15 – Small standing waves near Bore Left where it opens into the basin, these form if there is currently a sandbar in that area, changes through-out season
B+20 – large circular eddy forms Bore left where it opens into the first basin, can be hard to time, but fun to spin around in
B+35 – Bore right standing waves should start forming on far right bank of open basin
B+45(ish) – After open basin waves turn to haystacks, move down and pause at top of narrow section (This is the Killer K) once you see the waves forming get in and enjoy the right (16ft vertical is possible, non-breaking so not scary!)
B+1hr20 – Killer K over next two turns later in sight of bridge you may get nice waves on either inside or outside of turn (left or right very much depends on sandbar alignment
B+1hr40 – Bore Left right after bridge where river turns sahweet wave forms, I’ve ridden this one for 20+ min
B+2hr – Across entire Bore, under the power lines across the river stuff is everywhere, enjoy
B+2hr30 – Bore left at Anthonys nose (in sight of power lines before next bend in river) giant eddy line can be super fun to power across
B+3hr00 – Head towards Green River (Bore left at bend in river by anthonys nose) you’ll see a flat area and grass with a river carved through it, head up that a ways until you hit the bridge (and road)
This feature works on an outgoing tide, while there is some distance below this feature before the open Bay, rescue and safety should be discussed and set up ahead of time to prevent a swimmer from being washed out into the bay of fundy.
The bottom of this feature is hard, sharp rock, long boats that have struck bottom have had massive gouges cut in them, and even a rudder ripped off. Care should be taken especially as the water becomes more shallow. There is also evidence of construction materials from the bridge which may also be present in the water.
Later in the feature the hole can become violent and appears retentive, with large whirlpools forming below care should be taken to ensure proper safety, always boat within your limits.
Access
There is ample parking alongside the road, and up the street a bit. Please avoid taking up the parking spaces at the Walton Pub so that local patrons can use them. Also please grab a burger, beer or beverage at the pub after, they’re friendly, they look out for us and have been very accommodating of our presence.
Gauge
Tidal Range at Burncoat head is used. I would target spring tides to get a good ride. In general, it seems worth surfing when the Burntcoat Head high tide is 14 metres or better, 14.5 is best, 13.5 is doable.
12.4 metres high, falling 9.9 metres
A feature formed but it was very small and not fast. The top wave was the only thing surfable, but it quickly formed into a true ledge with a hydraulic that was too steep to do anything. The features got shallow very quickly. At this level the corner wave (middle wave) doesn’t form up before the top wave comes in.
13.3 metres high, falling 11.4 metres
Was able to get some surfing out of it, the waves are really small and hard to do anything. Pretty slow and got shallow quickly – maybe had 30 minutes of surfing before it was too shallow. No corner wave until later.
15.1 metres high, falling 15.2 metres
High volume feature. Took longer to form as the extra water depth likely meant it took longer for the water to fall to where it could feel bottom. Waves were big and challenging. Top wave was not accessible from downstream eddy, eddy fence was just too high, but several people carried around and got good rides.
14.1 metres high, falling 13.2 metres
Good surfing level
13.5 metres high, falling 12.2 metres
Was able to surf but not as exciting as higher levels
14.7 metres high, falling 14.4 metres
Good features formed up. Top wave closed off from bottom eddies early. Dave was out in whitewater boat actually got to work some features.
15.3 meters high, falling 15.9 meters
Large features formed up, too much current/water for shortboats to stay on the wave more then a second or two, did not test long boats, but they might have had sufficient speed.
General Observations
Slack tide under the bridge is a little after Burntcoat head high water (10 20 minutes lag)
Generally arriving in Walton at Burntcoat Head high water gives time to gear up and then get in the water before the features start to show
It takes 45-60 minutes after Burntcoat Head high water for features to form, sea boats will be able to ride things first, probably another 20-30 minutes before short boats.
The pub next door appears to drain sewer directly into the river (is this legal?)
At neap tides, I would skip the Whopper, a feature seems to form but isn’t worth the drive for me
The rocks at the Whopper are very sharp. The bottom wave/then hole (the Whopper) gets shallower and shallower. Judgement has to be used when to stop paddling. Hitting your head would not be good, as the rocks take a lot of plastic off the sea kayaks when the make contact.