Michael Richard Smith lit a cigarette while speaking with members of the media on a wharf in Boston Harbor on Dec. 4. The 49-year-old Maine native said Tuesday that he’s been paddling the waters of metro Boston since at least late summer with all of his possessions aboard a 14-foot, 40-year-old aluminum canoe that he patches with duct tape when necessary.

Michael Richard Smith steadied his canoe at a wharf in Boston Harbor.

Smith piloted his canoe in Boston Harbor.

Smith carried a briefcase and a satchel as he walked up a gangway at a wharf in Boston Harbor.