Kayaking and coffee

Rick Matthews circumnavigates the County by kayak

Rick Matthews is an award-winning photographer with a passion for world travel and outdoor adventure, both of which are evident in his photography. Recognized as one of the top water sports photographers in North America, Rick was the official photographer for the World Europe Class Sailing Championships held in Hamilton and for Rapid Media at the World’s Freestyle Kayak Championships in Spain and the World Slalom Championships in Maryland. His images have appeared on the covers of such publications as Adventure Kayak, Rapid, Canoeroots, Kanawa, and Paddler.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Rick recently completed a 349-kilometre trip—by kayak—around Prince Edward County’s

The idea came to Rick, and his wife Wendy, during the Covid years. But they knew they had to prepare for the adventure.

“We had done a lot of expedition trips in Alaska, Queen Charlotte, and canoe trips in the north. When I was working for Rapid Magazine, there were people who were going to circumnavigate Australia, or Greenland, and it was all about the hardship. There was all these hazards. And I thought I would like to circumnavigate the County, but do it at a point where I can paddle for the day, take my kayak out, go and have a coffee at Enid’s and have a shower,” says Rick.

During the lockdown days, the couple drove around the County mapping out a plan. They tried to figure out where they could put the kayak in and take it out.

“There are a lot of places where there is just no access,” says Rick.

The original thought was to break the trip up into legs and complete it in one spring and summer season. The adventure started on June 24 of 2022, with the first leg from the Murray Canal to the Bay Bridge in Rossmore—a total of 17 kilometres.

Rick explains that what should have been a normal trip, changed rather quickly.

“When I started it was pretty calm, but when I got half way down, the wind had come up and of course with the long reach, the waves were really building. I had to pull out and put a spray skirt on. But by the time I got to the bridge, I was in three-foot waves,” says Rick.

Because a kayak is so long, it has a drop down rudder in the back, and when he started going down wave, the rudder would come out of the water causing him to have no steering ability.

“You are kind of surfing the waves, which is a little unnerving,” he says.

Wendy accompanied Rick on the first few trips, but they realized quickly that they were covering twice the distance, as they had to paddle back to their vehicle.

So, at that point, Wendy took on the role as the designated shuttle driver.

“I would drop Rick off at the starting point, then go about my day for a few hours, and meet him at the end point,” says Wendy. “One day I think I drove 300 kilometres. I dropped Rick, then had something to do in Picton, then had to come home and go back and get him.”

There was no order to the trip. It all came down to wind and wave conditions. Rick was introduced to a smartphone app from the local surfing community that would tell him all the information he needed.

“By having it all mapped out, I could decide whatever day I was going out what wind and weather conditions were. A lot of the northern side of the County is sheltered. Once you get to the south shore it’s quite exposed,” says Rick.

Rick talks about some of the interesting County features and wildlife he discovered on his adventures. From coyotes and otters on the south shore, to water snakes that he thought were weeds at Long Reach.

“When I went east from Waupoos, there is a huge cliff face, and there was bald eagles nesting there. When I was going by there, the eagles flew out. That was impressive.”

The south shore was one of his favourite trips.

“The flat rock goes way out. I was like 200 yards from shore, and you think you have a lot of water, and then you will hit your paddle on a rock.”

The trips were all going smoothly, until he was paddling on his 14th of the 22 legs, and he had what would turn out to be a major setback. The day started out as any other paddling day.

“I had golfed the day before, and my shoulders and upper back were sore that morning. I went out and paddled 17 kilometres near Weller’s Bay. My back was getting really sore so I went to shore and laid on the warm sand to get some heat on my back, and it didn’t feel any better, because it wasn’t my back.”

Wendy picked Rick up and took him home, where Rick realized the pain was really different, so they drove to Picton Hospital, where he was quickly sent off to Kingston, needing two stents for his heart.

“The worst part of that was the ride on County Road 49,” he jokes.

That put an end to the 2022 paddling season.

“Doctors were not in approval he should be out paddling by himself,” said Wendy. “Nor was I.”

The 2023 season started off strong, but again ended in a setback as Rick hit a deer with his car, meaning the kayak couldn’t be transported.

This year, he had three legs left to complete, and he finished on Thursday, October 24. The final leg of the trip was from Connie and Pierre Lebrun’s back yard near Huyck’s Point to Carla Court, where the entire Carla Court Crew was waiting with champagne to celebrate the occassion.

Earlier this week, Rick and Wendy reflected on the journey, and achievement.

“It took a long time to do all of these shuttles, but it was fascinating,” says Wendy. “On land, I was discovering all of these places. There are places that are so interesting, and some are even bizarre.”

“When we first moved here, we had done a lot of kayaking in other parts of the world, and we thought Lake Ontario would be pretty boring. But once we started going out, we realized the shorelines here are also really interesting. It wasn’t what I was expecting,” says Rick.