Hampton man kayaks around N.B. in 31 days

Hampton man kayaks around N.B. in 31 days

Joe Kennedy, 62, says he paddled over 1,400 kilometres on the trip

Joe Kennedy has been kayaking his entire life, but this spring, he decided to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey kayaking around the whole province of New Brunswick.

The seed was planted eight years ago, when Kennedy and his wife paddled almost the entirety of the St. John River, also known as the Wolastoq, over a three-week period.

"That really motivated me to continue doing more multi-week trips," said Kennedy, who lives in Hampton.

"In retirement, I was looking at potentially a northern canoe trip, or you know, a more remote, exotic multi-week adventure, and then I realized that I didn't need to leave this province to have that experience."

Kennedy, 62, described the trip as "world class."

Kennedy's trip encircled as much of the province as he could, but he didn't include going around Grand Manan or Deer Island and Campobello — a trip he's done before.

And while he wanted to include the islands of Miscou and Laméque, when he got there, the winds were high and he decided not to.

Kennedy's trip started in May in Petit-Rocher, on the Bay of Chaleur, where he stored his car at a friend's place and got a shuttle to the upper reaches of the Kedgwick River.

At times, he had to walk from one water system to another. And most systems, he'd paddled on separate occasions in the past.

When he made it to St. Stephen, he switched from a river kayak to a sea kayak — an 18-foot fibreglass kayak built for speed and efficiency in open water — and paddled the Bay of Fundy to Saint John.

Then he took a three-week break, waiting for the water and air temperatures to warm. On July 1, he jumped back in, paddling from Saint John all the way to the end of his journey in Petit-Rocher.

All in all, the trip was more than 1,400 kilometres and 31 days of paddling.

"I had not paddled north of Miramichi before, so going along from Miramichi up to Shippagan was new, and then from Shippagan all along through the Baie des Chaleurs was new to me as well," Kennedy said.

While the trip was mainly solo, he did have some assistance.

Crossing over from the St. John River to the St. Croix River system, he used a canoe cart to independently walk his kayak. But five kilometres from his destination, he got a flat tire. and a Good Samaritan put his gear in her truck and drove him to North River.

And when he had to cross on land in between the Sackville and Port Elgin areas, he considered using his canoe cart to carry his kayak and gear for the 18-kilometre journey on foot.

But after his previous experience, he called his wife, who picked him up and drove him to Baie-Verte.

PHOTOS | Joe Kennedy's kayak trip around New Brunswick:

Kennedy was able to phone his wife every night, and he carried a spot satellite transmitter so she could follow his movement and emergency services could track him if he needed help.

"My wife has been the unfortunate survivor of many of my harebrained experiences," he said. "I have left her for weeks in the past, and she didn't really come out openly and say, 'Are you crazy?' Because she knew that I had the capability of doing this."

In preparation for the trip, Kennedy dehydrated food items to bring, as he wanted to pack as lightly as possible. Water was the bigger challenge because he always had to be looking for another potential water source on his route — whether that be a visitor centre, park or campground.

Kennedy only spent one night at a campground. The rest were spent on riverbanks, islands and other wild environments.

"It's ironic to me that you know you have to pay money to camp in a campground where it's loud and not nearly as pretty as camping on a wild island in the middle of a river, just you with birds singing all around you."

As a retired wildlife biologist, Kennedy was happy to see a number of seals, a school of sea bass that swam right underneath him and, when he was departing foggy Saint John Harbour, some puffins, thick-billed murres and razorbills, which are more often seen in the Machias Seal Island area.

Kennedy said the weather co-operated for the most part, and he only had one morning where he woke up to rain.

"Waking up on a beautiful sunny morning, calm morning, on a sand dune, having a pack of seals watch you drink your coffee, it's not hard to get going and get back on the water."

Kennedy said he doesn't think he would do the whole trip again, but he would definitely do sections of it.

He said he hopes his trip shows others that New Brunswick has a lot to offer in terms of backyard adventures.

"I was very, very happy to have been able to complete this project and show to other adventurers … that, you know, you can have your own interesting adventure without having to leave the province."

Hannah Rudderham is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick. She grew up in Cape Breton, N.S., and moved to Fredericton in 2018. You can send story tips to hannah.rudderham@cbc.ca.