Kayaking across Fundy to fight cancer

He crossed the Bay of Fundy from Saint John to Digby by kayak, pulling his small craft ashore on a beach near fishermen’s wharf about 3:30 p.m., just over 10 hours after setting out.

The crossing was Lockyer’s second attempt. Weather last summer was against him, but he was committed to the trip and to aiding the fight against cancer.

His friend Jon Kenyon, who shared Lockyer’s love of sea kayaking, had been battling leukemia for more than a year when the trip was originally scheduled last summer.

Kenyon died Dec. 9, but his wife and parents were on hand Saturday to greet Lockyer as he arrived his Digby.

Lockyer’s efforts have raised $12,500 for the Canadian Cancer Society, and he hopes that might climb a little higher yet.

This year’s trip was in jeopardy even before it began.

Reg Hazelton of Digby had intended to use his boat to accompany Lockyer, but electronic and hydraulic problems sidelined the boat at the last minute.

Dave Taylor of Centreville immediately agreed to fill in and arrived in Saint John with his boat Distant Thunder a half-hour before Lockyer’s planned departure.

In his boat, Taylor closely followed the kayak. Visibility was usually a hundred to two hundred metres. To keep track of both boats in the busy waters of the Bay, the Coast Guard station in Saint John demanded hourly position updates.

“It was a good trip, but really foggy,” said Lockyer on Sunday from Smith’s Cove, where he was staying with his father Norm.

“I didn’t see anything until we got to Point Prim, although I did hear the ferry passing.”

His father was nearby on Taylor’s boat and said his son was “a hurting puppy” after the 10-hour crossing, but Lockyer laughed that off the next day.

“I’m a little stiff,” he admitted, “but if I had to go paddling today I could.”

Further donations can be made at the website www.committed2thecore.com