Mark Wells

Age: 71
Hometown: Coeymans Hollow
Residence: Mechanicville
Family: Three children, three grandchildren
Sport: Paddling
Other Sports: Hiking, pickleball, softball
Career: Retired from AAA Hudson Valley
Volunteering: NYS Canalway Water Trail Steward, Canalway Challenge Ambassador, former founder/president
of Kayaking 4 Meso, historic cemetery restoration

By Joanne E. McFadden

Mark Wells of Mechanicville had always wanted to try kayaking, but it wasn’t until a friend invited him for a paddle in 2011 that he got into the water. A week later, Mark owned his own kayak, and a love affair with the sport began. 

Later that year, Mark decided to take a leap and do what he calls a “statement paddle.” His goal was to raise money for research of a rare cancer in honor of his daughter, Linda. Nine years prior when she was 16, doctors diagnosed her with peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos. About 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma annually, and only about 10 percent of those have peritoneal mesothelioma. 

Despite his relative inexperience with kayaking, Mark was determined to complete a 16-mile paddle to raise funds and increase mesothelioma awareness. Word got out, and a local television station interviewed him. A few minutes after the segment aired, Patti Turi of Stony Creek, who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma when she was 43, called Mark and told him that she would accompany him. 

A friend of Mark’s also joined, and on September 24, two days before “Mesothelioma Awareness Day,” the trio launched their kayaks onto the Hudson River/Champlain Canalway in Schuylerville. Navigating the particularly high waters post-Hurricane Irene, they transited their way through Locks 4 and 3, ending in Mechanicville. 

Mark considers this first paddle for his newly created event, Kayaking 4 Meso, to be his most challenging. “I had only paddled a couple of times,” Mark said. “And then I decided to go 16 miles without knowing if I could do it.” The event also illustrates one of Mark’s defining characteristics. “When I set out to do something, I usually get it done,” he said. Over the 10 years of the event, Mark said he got a lot of “newbies” out on the water, took over 1,000 people through the locks, many for their first time, and in general, encouraged a lot of people to be involved in the sport he loves so much. 

The next year, 150 kayakers registered for Kayaking 4 Meso. Participation continued to grow. At its peak, 225 people navigated the locks together. “Mark created and organized this group for over 10 years, which brought many people to the Capital Region from all over the United States,” said Donna Larkin, owner of Upstate Kayak Rentals who met Mark in 2012. 

After a few years, Mark shortened the event to eight miles. “We paddled the Champlain Canal and then transitioned to Waterford’s Flight of locks,” Donna said. “We made a lot of close, loyal friendships because of Mark’s dedication.”  

A highlight for Mark was having his daughter paddle alongside him. “Every year, we invited [mesothelioma] survivors to come,” Mark said. At one point, he arranged for a pontoon boat to participate so that people who couldn’t paddle could still be part of the event. “That became a big draw for survivors to come,” he said. 

To remove any barriers for attendance, Mark waived their entry fee, and New York City-based attorney Joseph Belluck of Belluck Law donated funds to pay for hotel rooms for those who required overnight stays. For the last Kayaking 4 Meso, 10 survivors rode on the pontoon boat, some from as far away as Texas and Minnesota. 

“It was just an awesome experience going out there with all those kayaks at one time,” Mark said. He has great memories of emerging from Lock 2 to find a flotilla of tugboats greeting the group with a celebratory blasting of horns along with a dock lined with well-wishers. 

Kayaking 4 Meso required a multitude of logistics. “It had a lot of moving pieces,” Mark said. He talked to the NYS Canal Corp lock operators each year before the event, letting them know about the large group of kayakers who would be coming through. He organized shuttle buses to get participants to the start and back to their cars. He recruited volunteers to be out on the river to help and enlisted the assistance of the NY State Police and local fire departments. Other volunteers helped with the post-event barbecue. 

Mark remembers one year when the paddle had just started and he received a call that the large doors on the second canal lock of the course wouldn’t open. Nevertheless, he and the dozens of paddlers with him forged on. “I was banking on it getting fixed before we got there,” he said. Sure enough, before the large group arrived, maintenance workers had made the doors operational again. 

Over the decade that Mark hosted the event, it raised over $150,000 for mesothelioma research.

Paddling the canals – Mark has a wide range of canal experience. He completed the all the challenges of the “Canalway Challenge,” a program sponsored by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and the NYS Canal Corporation. He completed the challenges, which include distances of 15, 90, 180 and 360 miles. The last three distances were all completed in his kayak.

He also kayaked the entire Champlain Canal – through all 11 locks – in 2022. Since the locks are only open 10 hours a day, it took him three days, a total of 20 hours including lock time. He had a car waiting at the end of each day, drove home and then returned the next day. His first attempt in 2021 was foiled because he had accidentally and unknowingly cracked his kayak while entering the water. He wasn’t in the water long before he sank. The following year brought success. 

For the enjoyment of others – Around the time Mark retired Kayaking 4 Mesothelioma six years ago, Mark has been a volunteer for the NYS Canalway Water Trail Stewardship Program, another collaboration between the Erie Canalway and NYS Canal Corp. The goal, through the help of volunteers, is to maintain the safety and cleanliness of the waterway’s 450 miles and their public access sites. 

Mark maintains four 10-mile sections of the Champlain Canal that have 13 boat and canoe/kayak launches. From May 1 to October 31, he spends about 20 hours over the course of a month visiting sites on both shores of his waterway sections at least two times, sometimes three to four if he feels they need more attention. He clears brush, picks up garbage, records any damage to launch sites that require repairs and notes any other maintenance issues such as lawns that need mowing. As a canal ambassador, he chats with boaters, paddlers, fishermen and other canal users. 

“We’re mostly concerned with the launch sites because that’s where the bigger problems are,” he said. Mark takes a Golden Rule approach to this volunteer work. “I like to kayak, and when I go to a launch site, I want it to look nice,” he said. “I want to make sure it’s in good shape for the rest of the paddlers and boaters to get in – no weeds, no trash, no problems.” He notices that good maintenance breeds respect. “The launch sites that are kept in prime shape all look nice and are well-manicured – you rarely find any issues there because people respect them.” 

Another volunteer position is as a safety navigator for the annual Paddle the Canals event hosted by Erie Canalway. Mark helps people get in and out of the water and keeps paddlers out of harm’s way. 

Out of the kayak – Kayaking is just one part of Mark’s extremely active lifestyle. He also hikes year-round, plays pickleball five days a week, and plays baseball on Saturdays, and throws in an occasional game of cornhole. The water, though, seems to nourish both body and spirit in a big way. “I just like being out there by myself on the water,” he said. 

Favorite place to paddle – A 35-mile section of the Hudson River/Champlain Canalway from Waterford to Fort Edward. It has less boat traffic than the Mohawk River/Erie Canalway and is cleaner than the bottom end of that river. “I pretty much know all the sections like the back of my hand,” Mark said. 

Where every paddler should paddle at least once – The Hudson River near Fort Miller, a historic hamlet in Washington County, from Champlain Canalway Locks 6 to 7. This includes the Snook Kill and Moses Kill, that branch off from the Hudson. “You can go exploring,” Mark said, noting that few people know about these beautiful streams.

Most beautiful place encountered while paddling – In the fall at Brant Lake in the southeastern Adirondacks, near Chestertown. “That’s got some spectacular views,” Mark said of the 12-mile lake perimeter. “It’s a pretty quiet lake, not much boat traffic.”

Joanne McFadden (mcfaddenfreelance@gmail.com) is a swimmer and distance walker who lives in Saratoga County. She had an absolute blast participating in last year’s Paddle the Erie Canal bicentennial event, transiting the Waterford Flight of locks with her husband and 250 other paddlers.