| Who am I? |
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Qualifications: I am an NDK sponsored paddler. I am also an ACA Advanced Open Coastal Kayak Instructor and a BCU Level 4 Sea Coach with an individual 5 Star Sea award and A1* and Canoe Safety Test assessor status. Background: I started paddling in 1991 in an open canoe, first on flat water, then on class II white water. In the early days I did a lot of multi-day open canoe trips on rivers in Eastern Oregon and Washington. In a quest to explore new rivers and survive the more challenging rapids that came with them I began white water kayaking in the mid 1990s. Around the same time I also started white water rafting. In raft or kayak I have run many of the rivers in Oregon and Washington up to and including class IV white water. Around class III-IV is where the anxiety starts to outweigh the enjoyment for me. Early in 2001 I started sea kayaking and loved it. Since then it has taken most of my time and I have been averaging almost 100 days per year on the water. In North America, I have paddled much of the Northern California and Oregon coast, Columbia River Estuary and Gorge, the Olympic Peninsular, Strait of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands and Deception Pass in Washington, the Brooks Peninsular on the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, and Kachemak Bay and Prince William Sound in Alaska. In summer 2006 I paddled solo down the west coast of Canada. In Europe, I have visited Anglesey, UK, several times to paddle in the tide races and overfalls of the Irish Sea. In February 2003 I kayaked the Strait of Gibraltar from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and crossed from Europe to Africa. I spent the spring and summer of 2003 in Norway. In various different trips I paddled in the Sogn og Fjordane region on the West Coast (North Sea), circumnavigated two of the Lofoten Islands, including a passage through the imfamous "maelstrom," and completed a 200km tour in the Norwegian Sea near Tromso at 70 degrees North. I have also done a day trip near Okaritu on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, but that was before I was really into it, so I don't really count it. Pictures from most of these trips are in the photo gallery. I have had the pleasure of learning from several excellent coaches, including Steve Scherrer, Tom Pogson, Mitch McKinnon, Karl Andersson, Russ Watt, Jeff Norville, Leon Somme, Shawna Franklin, Bryan Smith, Chris Duff, Nigel Dennis, Fiona Whitehead, Trys Morris, Olly Sanders, Rowland Woollven, and Mike Devlin.These people have shown me a wonderful new world and I am in their debt. In real life: I am a Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University. I also enjoy cross country skiing, mountaineering, and hiking, and I have been a professional level bicycle racer and coach. |
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