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Our
Expert Staff & Kayak Guides
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"I don't have enough praise for your
staff, they made the kayak trip! Their joy and enthusiasm, wit and intelligence, and superior
people skills surpass any guided trip I've taken before - diving trips, Outward Bound, all
of them."
Anne Norton, Wasilla, AK |
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Our
Kayak Guides & Expedition
Leaders
The most important resource you have in the field is your
kayak guide. That's why we've taken a major step beyond ordinary kayak outfitters in selecting and
training our kayaking guides. Our leaders are chosen not only for their extensive experience
in outdoor instruction, but also for their comprehensive knowledge of natural history.
Each kayak expedition features guides with academic credentials and often publications in their
field of study. All Sea Quest Expedition leaders are committed to provide you
with the best experience possible - you will find them knowledgeable, enthusiastic,
patient, reliable, and above all, fun!
Our San Juan Island sea kayaking guides are
primarily biologists and environmental scientists. They will make sure
that you see the most and learn as much as your curiosity will bear.
They are gifted naturalists, teachers, camp cooks, and trip leaders who
have dedicated themselves to continually improve their skills. Our sea
kayak guides undergo the most rigorous and lengthy training program of
any kayak outfitter on San Juan Island. In addition to the previous experience
they bring, our guides must spend two full weeks in our own intensive
kayak guide school. Most other outfitters in this region spend only one
to three days (if any) in preparing their kayak guides for this demanding
occupation. |
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We
Will Take Care of You
Your safety and well-being is our most important goal. Our
kayak guides are
experienced in making our outdoor adventures exciting and stimulating, yet with a very low
risk factor. Their training and judgment, combined with careful preparation assures this.
In addition, every kayak guide carries a marine radiotelephone to summon assistance should it be
needed. It can also help in the event one of your loved ones at home wishes to contact
you.
One of the pleasures of guiding sea kayaking trips is getting to know a
variety of people, all of whom enjoy the outdoors and moving lightly through it. It's a
great way to make new friends. |
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Meet Some of our Kayak Guides
Martine Springer got her degree in environmental education after
spending a couple of years traveling around the country on board the bus of the National
Audubon Expedition. She has lot's of experience with young adventurers as a former
instructor at the Imaginarium and the Alaska Center for the Environment. Martine has
worked in a variety of unusual and remote locations, including a high altitude medical
research camp on the slope of Mt Denali, Alaska. Since then, she has settled into the life of a
sea kayak guide, leading trips for us over the past fourteen years from Alaska to Baja. Her
guiding prowess has been colorfully described by Tim Cahill in the January '93 issue of
Outside Magazine and by Bruce Barcott in the August '94 issue of Men's
Journal. In 2001 Martine
was featured in a television special concerning the San Juan Islands
community of killer whales called
"Cry of the Orcas". The documentary focused on the
conservation problems facing the continued survival of our local
whales. Several years ago she took over the reins as the expedition director of our organization.
 Mark Lewis is the founder of Sea Quest Expeditions and a
professional sea kayak guide with over twenty years of experience. He displays the broad range
of expertise typical of our instructor/guides. Mark is the senior author of a
popular book on the birds of the San Juan Archipelago, has been a research associate of
The Whale Museum, and an instructor at Skagit Valley College. He has
lived for twenty-six years on San Juan Island in the heart of orca waters. Mark first started kayaking when he
was nineteen and has since paddled in Alaska, the Great Lakes,
Cape Hatteras, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Baja California, tropical Mexico,
Costa Rica, and Belize. Mark founded Sea Quest in 1989, after several seasons of
independent guiding.
Sam
Vittardi is a co-founder of Sea Quest Expeditions,
a staunch environmentalist, outdoor adventurer, and naturalist. His
enthusiasm, boundless energy, and experiential teaching style draw more
favorable guest reviews than any of our other guides. Diagnosed with
terminal brain cancer twenty-one years ago after a failed surgery, Sam
amazingly survived and flourished after experimenting with diet and
herbs. Perhaps his indominatable spirit was the most important aspect of
his surviving cancer and he is now a pillar of strength and health who
enjoys sharing his insights to those who are interested.
Fred
Sharpe holds a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser
University. He studies the underwater feeding dynamics and behavior of predators,
especially the humpback whale. In the past he was a field instructor for the North
Cascades Institute and the Olympic Institute, as well as the chief biologist of Intersea
Research and a staff biologist at Olympic National Park. Fred is the co-author of several
books: Voyaging with the Whales, Birding in the San Juan Islands and Wild Plants
of the San Juan Islands. A prolific author, he has published numerous
scientific papers. Fred has been conducting whale research expeditions in Alaska
and is our expert birding guide for the Olympic Peninsula and outer coast of
Washington.
Sandy Chancey has
been kayaking since the sport arrived in the Pacific Northwest. She's
also been involved with the manufacturing of kayaks and freelances as
the "kayak fixer" for all the tour group fleets in the region. Sandy
has been studying the natural world for nearly sixty years and owns one
of the most extensive natural history libraries we've ever seen! Besides
sea kayaking, she also teaches a range of other outdoor activities from cross-country
skiing to wilderness survival to animal tracking. Sandy often serves as a consultant to wildlife
biologists who need to learn tracking skills to properly conduct their
research.
We now have sea
kayak guide and office
positions open for the next San Juan Islands season, spring
through fall of 2008.
Please click here for details if you are
interested in applying and be sure to contact us soon!
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About Our Company | Trips We Offer | More Information
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Email us or call
(360) 378-5767 or toll free (888) 589-4253 |
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Click on the links below to learn more about our exciting
offerings:
San Juan
Island Washington Sea Kayaking Trips and Tours with Orca Whales:
Friday
Harbor Sea Kayaking Vacations in the San Juan Islands and Puget
Sound,
Baja sea kayaking
trips, Baja kayaking vacations, and Baja sea kayak tours,
Glaciers and Icebergs: Alaska sea kayaking Tours and Trips in
Southeast Alaska,
Sea kayaking Trips and
Tours in British
Columbia Canada. |
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