A Dorset adventurer is nearing the end of his 6,000-mile kayaking challenge to raise money for good causes.

Most people put their feet up when they retire, but Royal Navy veteran and former ambulance service emergency care assistant Steve Chard is not your average new retiree.

He’s about to complete a mind-boggling 15-month solo paddling trip through north America’s coastal and inland waterways.

Sixty-one-year-old Mr Chard hopes his efforts will raise a combined total of £10,000 for four charities.

They are the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Kidney Research UK and Walking with the Wounded.

Mr Chard, who retired from his job with South Western Ambulance Service at Dorchester in late 2017, set out from Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 1 last year.

His route took him to the St Lawrence River, through Ottawa, along the mighty Mississippi River to Florida, and up the eastern seaboard.

He is due to complete his trek — an extended version of what yacht crew members call ‘The Great Loop’ — by arriving back in Halifax on August 16.

The challenge, which has seen Mr Chard kayak past the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour, is his way of “celebrating retirement.”

It is also his way of bowing out from fundraising after running marathons, swimming and cycling long distances to raise about £12,000 for charity over the previous 12 years.

Mr Chard, purely an amateur kayaker, only took up the pursuit in 2013.

He spent 200 days paddling 2,000 miles, mainly off Dorset’s coast, in preparation for the trip, and is averaging about 20 miles per day in American waters, resting every fourth day or so.

Bridport-born, Mr Chard grew up in the town and is a former Colfox School student who now lives in Piddletrenthide.

A retired Petty Officer Artificer, he served 13 years in the Royal Navy, then worked at the Admiralty Research Establishment at Portland.

He later took up a health care assistant job in the renal unit at Dorset County Hospital, before joining South Western Ambulance, working at Bridport and Dorchester.

Mr Chard is a member of the Volunteer Wessex Military Band, Weymouth Concert Brass, and St Swithuns Band, Bridport.

He is currently in Dipper Harbour, New Brunswick, and has only got part of the Nova Scotia coastline to navigate before he completes his loop back to Halifax.

To follow Mr Chard’s progress, and to make a donation, log on to www.facebook.com/paddlewithsteve/