After just a short time on the water it’s clear Stony Lake lives up to the name. Pines lean dramatically from rocky islands as we glide past in our kayaks, en route to a high bluff overlooking scenic Burleigh Falls. Alex Grant, owner and lead guide of Lovesick Kayaking, shepherds us into a sheltered bay where we can safely pull a shore.
Our group is happy to stretch and break for lunch after a full morning. The day began with a lesson on safety and basic paddling strokes, progressing quickly to a tour of Upper Stony complete with a primer on the Trent-Severn Waterway and Indigenous history. We’ve spotted turtles basking in the sun, taken in a shoreline of brilliant fall leaves, and practiced our technique in the lake’s quiet bays.
This tour is something of a victory lap for Grant, who’s coming off a successful opening season for his new business. “It’s been a fantastic first year,” he says. “I set myself a target of taking over a hundred people out on the water, and beat that target. People have just been so happy, and reviews have been amazing—and just the smiles on people’s faces have been so worth it.”
Grant first began dreaming about opening his own kayaking business after noticing that despite the region’s reputation for excellent canoeing and kayaking, there was very little infrastructure in place for paddlers who wanted instruction or guided tours. “I saw that gap,” he says, “and thought, ‘Let’s give people the opportunity to get out here with really high trained guide, proper wilderness first aid, and Paddle Canada training. With good quality touring kayaks, so people can get the full experience.”
As a trained kayak instructor and wilderness first responder Grant has the chops to show even seasoned paddlers a trick or two, but finds introducing newcomers to the sport equally appealing. “I get the whole range,” he says, recalling a number of clients who signed up for their first boating experience. “It’s quite incredible that after about thirty minutes of brief training, people get it.”
Grant’s instruction is important because poor technique wears out a paddler’s arms much faster, a shame when there’s so much to see in the area. “This is such a beautiful part of Canada,” he adds, listing Burleigh Falls, Stony Lake’s hundred-year-old St. Peter’s Church, and abundant wildlife sightings among his favourite attractions.
He’s also a regular fixture on the popular Eel’s Creek paddling route and Lovesick Lake, which gave Lovesick Kayaking its name. Originally from Brighton, England, it was partly the beauty of the Kawarthas encouraged Grant to make Ontario his adopted home. Though he’d long enjoyed time on the water, the COVID pandemic accelerated plans to start a guiding business. He jokes that kayaking “was the ideal pandemic sport,” since people could get together for a paddle while maintaining plenty of distance.
Now with the pandemic in the rearview mirror and a successful year under his belt, Grant hopes to book even more custom tours in 2025. Upcoming dates and contact info are available on lovesickkayaking.ca, as well as the associated social profiles. As our group returns to the docks at the Burleigh Falls Inn that afternoon, it’s clear he’s managed to squeeze in a few more satisfied customers before winter hits.
We thank Grant as we head home, recalling his maxim that any day on the water is a good day. “It’s meditative, it’s exploration, it’s physical exercise. You put that all together…” he tails off, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, it’s wonderful.”
