YARMOUTH, N.S. — If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of kayaker Steve Chard as he paddles his way along the coastline towards Halifax in late July, early August. Just look for the guy wearing the pink hat. If you’re a good Samaritan, you’ll offer him a place to stay and a bite to eat. He’d appreciate a soft bed after travelling close to 10,000 kilometres.
Chard left Halifax last year on June 1, heading off on a Great Loop – north along Nova Scotia into the Gulf of St Lawrence and up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec and Montreal, then to Ottawa via the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal, back down to the Great Lakes and into the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. He cut across Florida, then headed back north towards Nova Scotia.
In all, he made his way along four Canadian provinces and 22 American states, navigating some of the biggest lakes and waterways of North America.
For the most part Chard did the trip solo, but at times others joined him for a bit.
He had no support staff to assist him, just “kind-hearted people.”
“I contacted as many kayak clubs and marinas before I started and asked, ‘when I paddle past, please guys could you help me?’”
People have reached him through his Facebook Page “Kayak 'The Great Loop' -paddle with Steve” with offers of help.
His emotions are conflicting as he nears the end of his odyssey.
“I’m excited and proud. I sort of do want it to end and don’t want it to end,” he said.
He’s had some adventures: capsizing twice – once in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, in wind-generated waves and again in the Bay of Fundy when he and a paddling companion were hugging the shore along rock ledges because of thick fog. Turbulence from the backwash tipped his kayak.
His first two months he dropped 46 pounds from all the exercise. During a stop in Ontario, his cousin’s wife, alarmed at his appearance, took him to a pharmacy for a protein supplement.
His most valued item on the trip? His spray skirt and drysuit.
“A really good, tight-fitting spray-skirt around your cockpit is important. I also wore a drysuit with a long-sleeved shirt beneath,” he said.
He hugged the coastline as much as he could, but sometimes that wasn’t possible.
“There were crossings of big rivers like the Potomac where you can see the land on the horizon but it’s a long way away,” he said.
The border patrol officers were scratching their heads over what to do with him when he crossed into the U.S.
“I actually did it by road, with the kayak on a trailer and they just couldn’t understand why I wasn’t coming in by air or cruise ship. They don’t expect Brits to cross the border on their feet or in a kayak… so they grilled me.
You see, Chard is from Piddletrenthide in the County of Dorset, England.
“I’ve only come over, literally, to do this and then I’ll be going home to blighty (British slang for home,)” he said.
He has strong support from home and therein lies the story behind the pink hat.
Half the members in his kayak club back home are police officers. Chard says they went to a bachelor party and came back wearing pink cowboy hats.
“We think they stole them off the ladies at the hen party. They took me out for a training weekend and one of these got plunked on my head and they issued the challenge. You are going to wear that pink hat around the whole Great Loop, Steve,’” he said.
The original pink hat made it as far as Connecticut but then the wind snatched it. The people Chard was staying with for two or three nights (he paddled on the days in between) surprised him with another pink hat after seeing how upset he was.
Chard is paddling to raise money for nine charities: four British, three American, and two Canadian. The charities honour veterans and the military, kidney research, and ambulance and hospice services.
So far he’s raised a total of $8,000 and anticipates more donations.
The HMCS Sackville is planning an official reception for him in Halifax on Friday, Aug.16.
How you can help
Visit Chard’s Facebook Page and message him if you want to put him up for a night or assist in other ways.
Donate to one of the charities he is fundraising for:
Canada’s Naval Memorial Trust, HMCS Sackville
Kidney Foundation of Canada
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
American Kidney Fund
US Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, CT
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance
Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Dorchester, Dorset
Kidney Research UK
Walking With The Wounded
