Paddleboarding to Montreal, NYC and Toronto

What a summer it has been!

After paddleboarding from Ottawa to Montreal in early June, I resumed my journey on June 23 on the Richelieu River south of Montreal, crossing the border into the United States and heading down Lake Champlain, the Champlain Canal and Hudson River into New York City. After a few days in “the city,” as it’s called in much of the New York state, I took a bus up to Albany and began paddling west on the Erie Canal, reaching Buffalo in less than three weeks even with a couple of rest days. A fun, fast trip down the Niagara River (under the Peace Bridge to an exit about a mile above Niagara Falls) and pair of difficult days of paddling around the western tip of Lake Ontario brought me to Toronto and break time. I’m back home in Ottawa for a bit, spending time with my family and getting ready for the fourth and final leg of this journey, from Toronto to Ottawa, starting in mid-September. (It’s impossible to encapsulate all of this into a couple of paragraphs. That’ll require a book! Coming in spring 2025, hopefully. But my Instagram ac count has the day-to-day play-by-play of the trip so far.)

The paddling and camping has been amazing, but really, it’s the people I’ve been meeting — both the folks I arranged in advanced to interview and spend time with, and the strangers who I came across on and around the water — that have made this such an incredible experience. When I was on the Erie Canal, people waited by the water’s edge to say hi when I passed by; they gave me water and snacks, offered me places to stay. People seem to have time to connect with one another when water is part of the picture. Water slows things down. It can also be dangerous, which I think is another reason we take care of each other in blue space. I’m still processing the experience, and getting ready to get back onto the water. For now, here are some photos from the past few weeks, and links to some of the media coverage my journey has received.

NPR Radio

CBS T V

B uffalo New s

Times of Lo ndon

CBC Radio Metro Morning (To ronto)

CBC Radio Ottawa Morning

Orleans Hub (N Y )