Stranded paddlers safe after ordeal 12 rescued on Chesuncook Lake island

CHESUNCOOK – Twelve canoeists were rescued by wardens Wednesday after being stranded overnight on a small island in Chesuncook Lake.

The men and women, in their 40s and 50s, had paddled the West Branch of the Penobscot River and Chensuncook Lake when high winds and waves prevented them from going farther, according to Warden Ron Dunham of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The group decided to stay the night on a small island off Caribou Point after one of the canoes overturned in the water, he said.

When it appeared the canoeists could not make it off the island on Wednesday because of the high waves, the men and women flagged a passing paddle boat, telling the occupants that they needed help, according to Dunham. The paddle boat occupants apparently felt they could not land on the island because of the weather so they called the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department, which in turn notified local wardens.

“Fortunately they all made it back safely with a little bit of a blip in their trip,” Dunham said Wednesday. He said the group of friends, who had seen an advertisement of the trip and decided to try it, should have had larger boats with the amount of gear they carried with them. The gear included tents, sleeping bags and cooking utensils, he said.

The canoeists were identified as Gary Basso and Terry Francis, both of Michigan; Charles and Marcia Lyons of Mount Desert Island; Laura and John Sheridan of Hancock and Ellsworth; Brandan and Mark Hooper of Burnt Hills, N.Y.; George Mitchell and Billie Mitchell, of Bar Harbor; and Claire and Linda Risner of Michigan.

Earlier in the week, the group left their vehicles in Chesuncook and left by van with their canoes for the Lobster Lake boat launch, Dunham said. The canoeists traveled the approximately 21 miles on the West Branch of the Penobscot River and then approximately 16 miles of Chesuncook Lake before one of the canoes tipped over in the water, he said. He said the winds were blowing from the southwest, which made for a long and hard paddle.

“They did the right thing for calling for help,” Dunham said. “It’s a pretty strenuous activity to get to the end of the lake.”

A warden aircraft was sent, but it was too windy for it to make a landing, Dunham said.

Four game wardens and an Allagash Waterway ranger went to their aid in a 17-foot Boston Whaler owned by the Allagash Waterway and a 17-foot Lund boat owned by the warden service.