SATURDAY WORKSHOPS

TIMES

WATER AREA A

WATER AREA B

LAND AREA C

 10:00-12:00pm

Assisted & Self Rescues

Patti Stevens

1:00-3:00pm

BC Marine Trails Grand Opening

BC Marine Trails Grand Opening

3:00-5:00pm

Yves Aquin

SUNDAY WORKSHOPS

WATER AREA A

WATER AREA B

LAND AREA C

10:00-11:30am

Mike Jackson &

Al Dunham

12:30-2:00pm

Greenland Rolling

Gerhardt Lepp

12:30-2:30pm

Kayak Cookery

Hilary Masson

2:30- 4:00pm

Greenland Rolling

Gerhardt Lepp

12:30-2:30pm

Continued from 12:30pm workshop

Edging & Bracing

Stephan Meinke

SATURDAY

10:00-12:00pm

Water Area A

Assisted & Self Rescues

Patti Stevens

Water Area B

Towing

Mike Jackson

SATURDAY

3:00-5:00pm

Water Area A

Paddling on Edge

Yves Aquin

Water Area B

Intermediate Strokes

James Vasilyev

Land Area

C

British Columbia Paddling Destinations

Kirby Stevens

SUNDAY

10:00-11:30am

Paddling on Edge

Yves Aquin

Water Area B

Rolling

Cody Hartikainen

Charts & Navigation

Stephan Meinke

SUNDAY

12:30-2:00pm

Water Area A

Greenland Rolling

Gerhardt Lepp

Intermediate Strokes

James Vasilyev

Kayak Cookery

Hilary Masson

SUNDAY

2:30-4:00pm

Greenland Rolling cont.

Gerhardt Lepp

Edging & Bracing

Stephan Meinke

James Vasilyev

James is a sea kayak instructor and canoe instructor (river and lake) and general avid outdoorsman. He has paddled extensively in and around Vancouver Island and many wonderful destinations in central Canada, and worked as a guide and outdoor educator for a university. In another world, he also gives sound financial advise!

Hilary Masson

Hilary Masson has been guiding sea kayak expeditions for over 8 years. Working for Gabriola Cycle and Kayak, with their shared meals approach, taught Hilary early on in her career the ins and outs of provisioning and camp cooking. This sparked her passion as a foodie combing her love of seafood and edible plant harvesting while breaking out of the typical 'camp cooking' paradigm. This experience led her to become the Paddle Meals contributor to Wavelength Magazine, a kayaking publication from her hometown Gabriola Island. For the last five years Hilary has been a part owner and lead guide for her family's company Baja Kayak Adventure Tours based in Loreto, Mexico. She spends her winters creating delicious meals out of the freshest produce and seafood from Mexico while camping on the beautiful coast and island of the Sea of Cortez. In the summer months she has a company called Silva Bay Kayak Adventures where she does fully catered trips to an off the grid cabin, on a small island near Gabriola. Her summer company also runs youth outdoor leadership camps, kayaking and yoga, dinghy sailing and Standup Paddle Boarding! www.bajakayakadventures.com

Mike Jackson

Mike Jackson is a Victoria paddler and science teacher. He enjoys tinkering with technology for the outdoors and has been using GPSs for kayaking for many years now. His on line journal is available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~mjackson/pblog where you can see some of the results of his work with GPS and navigation.

Patti Stevens

Patti started kayaking later in life, using the kayak as transportation to go wilderness camping. As she paddled more and more, she fell in love with just being on the water. Now, kayaking has become as much a part of her life as the outdoors.  In her spare time, Patti assists her partner, Yves, with their company, Go Kayak www.gokayak.ca What a better way to combine a little work with a whole lot of play!

Patti is a Paddle Canada Sea kayak Skills Level 2 Instructor.

Yves Aquin

After being an avid canoeist for many years, Yves started sea kayaking in the Prairies, on the northern Saskatchewan lakes in 2001. When he moved to Victoria in 2006, he decided to specialize in sea kayaking instruction and founded Go Kayak, a sea kayak instruction company www.gokayak.ca An outdoor lover since his teens, he’s been involved in various outdoor clubs throughout Canada whether in rock climbing, hiking, biking and kayaking. Play is the term he uses most often to describe his passion for the outdoors. Come play and enjoy the beautiful environment that your region has to offer.  It’s worth a try.

Yves is a Paddle Canada Sea kayak Skills Level 2 Instructor.

Gerhardt Lepp

Gerhardt is a SKGABC Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide and Paddle Canada Level 1 Instructor. He has spent the last 20 years exploring the west coast kayaking, mountaineering, hiking, and running rivers. He climbed all the "Island Qualifiers" with the Alpine Club of Canada. Gerhardt has worked as a park naturalist and ranger in Alberta. He  has been involved in search and rescue operations for 12 years as a ranger, ski patroller, Ground Search and Rescue and Coast Guard Auxiliary. His formal education is in environmental science and information systems. His career has included building information systems for weather, avalanche control, VHF networks and wildlife inventory. Gerhardt enjoys getting out of the office and working as a  kayak guide in the summer. He loves adventures in wild places. 

Stephan Meinke

Stephan is on the water every weekend in his kayak, taking a break from his weekly desk job as a software developer.  The season or the weather doesn’t matter much.  He enjoys challenging his abilities in rough water, surf, and current.  In the 6 years that he has been kayaking he has paddled extensively in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island, both east and west coasts.  With the assistance of BCU and Paddle Canada trainers and his own enthusiasm and persistence, he has developed his skills to a high degree, and is not planning to stop learning.  Before discovering kayaking Stephan spent his weekends with the same sort of attitude, enjoying skiing, backpacking, caving, and scuba diving.  As a Level 2 Paddle Canada Instructor he volunteers with the Nanaimo Paddlers to coach paddle skills, deep water rescues, and rolling.  In his rare ‘quiet’ time, Stephan enjoys editing some of his more interesting trips and creating little video shorts which interpret his particular perspective of, and love for kayaking.

Kirby Stevens

An avid sea kayaker for over thirty years. Kirby has a degree from UVIC in Geography, specializing outdoor recreation and tourism. Over the years has been involved with numerous kayaking clubs from local to national levels. In 1997 Kirby started a kayaking map business, Coastal Waters Recreation, presently has over 3 dozen titles covering the west coast. Kirby is a well known speaker at paddling events in the United States and west coast of Canada, has been a regular speaker for 18 years at the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium, Port Townsend, WA.

Cody Hartikainen

For as long as Cody can remember, he has loved the outdoors! He spent many years working various jobs, but it wasn't until working as a sea kayak guide did he find his passion. He feels life is for learning, and the best possible way to learn is to teach others. Guiding and instructing allows him to continue to learn while facilitating education for others.

Steve and Cindy Scherrer - 2010 Workshop Presenters

Paddling a canoe at age 10 got Steve hooked on watersports and he has been an enthusiast ever since.  Cindy started paddling when she met Steve in 1983, which launched a love affair with paddling that continues to evolve. Whitewater, flatwater, kayaks, canoes, creekin’, squirt boats, competition, cata-rafting, sailing, kayak surfing, sea boating… it’s ALL good.  They were co-founders of Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe in Portland, OR and worked the retail/ instruction/ guide scene for nearly 20 years.  They sold the shop in 2004 and now work as an integral part of the Confluence Watersports team.  Working closely with R and D fine tuning and testing the design of boats and gear allows them plenty of opportunity to paddle.  Steve is an ACA Instructor Trainer Educator in Advanced Open Water and Cindy is an Open Water Instructor and is excited to share her experiences of the mental and physical challenges women face. Making their home in Ocean Park, Washington allows them to paddle year ‘round in one of the countries finest paddling environments.

Alex Matthews - 2010 Workshop Presenter

Alex is the author of 3 books and and 1 instructional DVD on sea kayaking. He is a frequent contributor to paddlesport magazines and is active as a shaper and designer. Check out his newest book Sea Kayaking: Rough Waters at www.helipress.com

Gary Doran - 2010 Workshop Presenter

Gary Doran is the Head Sea Kayak Instructor/Guide and Programmer at Ocean River Sports in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He has been a sea kayak instructor and guide since 1996, and has paddled in the Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver Island, Baja, and the Great Lakes. Notable expeditions include Isla Angel de la Guarda, Baja, and Cape Scott, Vancouver Island. Gary is certified through Paddle Canada as a Sea Kayaking Level-4 Instructor and Level-2 Instructor Trainer. As well, he is certified through the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC as a Guide Trainer and Level Three Guide. He holds degrees in Education, Environmental Science, and Biology, and is an accredited Leave No Trace Trainer.

Andrew Woodford - 2009 Workshop Presenter

Andrew has worked as a leader in the outdoor community since 1993. He has been involved in a number of businesses and was a founding member and Director of Operations for Power to Be, an adaptive recreation business on Vancouver Island. He was also the founding member/Instructor of Kindred Spirit White Water. He is an Intermediate Instructor Trainer with Paddle Canada, a Certified Lead Guide with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of B.C. as well as a Level 2 Swift Water Rescue Technician. In addition he has worked in the head offices of Seaward Kayaks and holds many certifications outside of the paddling world.

Doug Alderson - 2009 Workshop Presenter

A leader at the national level, Doug has been a contributing member of Paddle Canada since the inception of the national sea kayaking program. He currently serves as the western Canadian representative on the Sea Kayak Program Development Committee. As a Senior Instructor Trainer Doug is responsible for training paddlers and certifying instructors at all levels from sea to sea to sea. Doug is also a BCU certified senior Instructor and the author of four books. Sea Kayak Strokes: A Guide to Efficient Paddling Skills, Rocky Mountain Books. Victoria May 2007. Sea Kayak Around Vancouver Island, Heritage House & Rocky Mountain Guidebooks. Victoria BC. Mar 2004, Sea Kayaker Magazine's Handbook of Safety & Rescue, Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw-Hill, Camden Maine. Mar 2003, and Sea Kayaker's Savvy Paddler, Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw-Hill, Camden Maine. Mar 2001.

Michael Pardy - 2009 Workshop Presenter

www.skils.ca

Michael has been messing around in canoes and kayaks for over 25 years. From his early days as a canoeing guide to his current role as Executive Director of the Trade Association of Paddlesports, Michael has taken on many roles in paddling. He is a lead guide, guide trainer, and examiner with the SKGABC; he is a Senior Instructor Trainer with the Canadian Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association. Guiding and instructing paddlesports for over 20 years, Michael also has extensive retail and business experience in paddle sports. He coauthored the 2002 Handbook of Sea Kayak Safety and Rescue, published by Ragged Mountain Press, and writes the occasional article for a number of paddling magazines.