Ontario family paddles for 8 days down St. Lawrence River as part of multi-year canoe journey

An Ontario family paddled for 195 kilometres downstream on the St. Lawrence River this summer, in pursuit of a mission to canoe all the way from Guelph, Ont., to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Howarth and Shute family left from Berthierville, Que., a small town between Montreal and Trois-Rivières, on Aug. 7 and arrived in Quebec City last Sunday. 

Their canoe journey started six years ago, when some members of the family decided to explore the rivers near Guelph, their hometown.

Jeremy Shute, the patriarch of the family, said their goal at the time was to paddle "to the bigger river, to the lake, and just go downstream and eventually get to the sea, get to the salt water, get out as far as we could."

The family canoes for about two weeks every summer, picking up where they left off each year.

Their first trip started from the Speed River in southern Ontario, which inspired the group to name itself "Speed to Sea." The group has since canoed on Lake Erie, the Niagara River, the Erie canal and Lake Ontario.

For this latest leg of the trip to Quebec City, 11 people decided to join. Shute paddled with his wife Leslie, sons Kofi and Nigel, his brother Jason, his brother-in-law Frank, some of his nieces and nephews and a few friends.

Shute told CBC's Quebec AM that the group was struck with the kindness of the Quebecers they crossed paths with.

"We've met so many people, and they've been so generous, so helpful, so kind," he said. "That part of it I'd say also really stands out to me."

He described their arrival to Quebec City, after eight days on the water, as "spectacular."

"It was pretty amazing," he said. "You come up to the bridge and you're really moving, like we were going much faster than we thought."

Paddling under the Quebec