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Sea
Kayak Guides
It is truly the guides that
make the company.
It is the guides that
turn a good trip into a fantastic trip. Most of our
kayak
guides have been with Kingfisher for years
and it is because of them that we have many guests returning year after
year.
"Joël and Ellery were great fun. It actually
felt more like being on a trip with friends than with guides. They were
of course great guides, cooks, and paddlers, but it was other things
that really made the trip special." K.A. from USA
All of our
kayak guides are certified with the
Sea Kayak
Guides Alliance of British Columbia. As a company we
encourage and support our guides in continually improving their
kayaking, interpretive and leadership skills to in turn offer you the
best kayaking vacation possible.
Andrew Jones
With
over 20 years of paddling on both the east
and west coasts of Canada plus the Caribbean,
Andrew eagerly shares his passion for kayaking and the wilderness
with our guests. As owner of Kingfisher, Andrew's goal is to
ensure all clients have a fantastic time on whichever trip they
choose.
In addition to being on
the water as much as possible much of his energy and attention is
directed towards the hiring, training and retention of some of the
best kayak guides on the coast.
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Andrew
enthusiastically shares his knowledge of all the wildlife
encountered on our trips, from the smallest inter-tidal creatures to
the largest whale and how they are all
inter-connected. Experience from years of
teaching marine mammal and marine invertebrate
interpretation at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science
Centre are evident in the wildlife interpretative
focus of all our tours.
Andrew
takes an active roll in
the
improvement of training and certification of sea kayak guides,
operating standards for tour companies and the overall health of the
kayak guiding industry.
Andrew is the current president of the
Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia, chaired the
SKGABC Operating Standards Committee, sits on the
Industry/Government Joint Steering Committee on Guided Adventure
Tourism and is a director of the North Island Marine Mammal
Stewardship Association.
Andrew
is a Certified Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide
with the Sea Kayak
Guides Alliance of British Columbia and a Level 1 Sea Kayak
Instructor with the
Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association.
 Joël Lagassé
2008
will be Joël's seventh season with
Kingfisher. Joël had his first wilderness experience at age
two when his parents ran youth hostels along
the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park. Hiking,
x-country skiing, snorkeling and kayaking
have been a constant feature of his upbringing on
BC's Sunshine Coast.
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Joël
attended the University of Victoria where he completed
a Bachelor of Science in Geography with an emphasis on coastal marine resource
management. In addition to his experience as a sea kayaking guide,
Joël has worked on a commercial prawn fishing boat,
managed a local fish market and been a traveling cook for a French tour
company.
Joël is a Certified Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide with the
Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia and a
Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor with the
Canadian Recreational
Canoeing Association. Joël is
fluent in French and English.
 Ellery
Down
2008
will be Ellery’s 6th season sea
kayak guiding along the B.C. Coast and second
with Kingfisher. Growing up in the coastal village of
Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island, the ocean has always been a part
of his upbringing. Ellery has a passion for sailing, which led him
to become a sailing instructor during his high school years as well
as competing in sailing regattas. He paddled his first kayak as age
11 after building it from scratch out of wood scraps,
garden hose, and garbage bags.
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During the winter, Ellery
is hard at work finishing a B.A. in Adventure Tourism Management at
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, B.C. He also
holds a diploma in Adventure Tourism from TRU.
His travels have taken
him backpacking through Central America and to New Zealand where he
spent four months as a kayak, rock climbing, and sailing instructor.
When he does get free time you can find him ski touring,
snowboarding, rock climbing, mountaineering and sea kayaking in
local waters.
Ellery is a Certified
Level 3 Guide with the
Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia , a
Flatwater Canoe Instructor with the
Canadian Recreational
Canoeing Association, a swiftwater flood rescue technician with
Rescue Canada and an avalanche technician with the Canadian
Avalanche Association.
 Don Webster
2008
will be Don's fourth season with Kingfisher. Don was raised
in Northern Ontario, and spent his early childhood guiding fishermen
to his favourite fishing holes at his families fishing lodge. His
love of kayaking started when he answered a ‘kayak for sale’ ad.
Its bargain price could perhaps be attributed to its ‘slightly
burnt’ condition from a warehouse fire. Nevertheless, it floated,
and launched his career.
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His career in Adventure
Tourism has taken Don international,
with eleven
seasons of kayak guiding in Alaska, Norway,
Antarctica and BC. He has also conducted tourism development
in rural Patagonia, acted as a consultant for adventure tourism
operations, instructed avalanche courses, and worked as a
backcountry cat-skiing guide. He holds a Diploma in Adventure
Guiding from University College of the Cariboo, and a Degree in
Adventure Tourism Management from Thompson Rivers University.
When not guiding on the
coast, Don can be found cruising the BC interior, on a quest for
pristine powder skiing and the ultimate Americano coffee.
Don is a Certified
Level 3 Guide, Guide Instructor and Guide
Examiner with the
Sea Kayak Guides
Alliance of British Columbia , a Flatwater Canoe Instructor with
the Canadian
Recreational Canoeing Association, a Whitewater kayak Instructor
for the WKABC, an avalanche technician with the Canadian Avalanche
Association, a ski instructor with the Canadian Ski Instructors
Alliance, and holds a Level 1 ski guide ticket from the Canadian Ski
Guides Association.
 Kerry Onno
Kerry is a true local,
born and raised in Port Alice on northern Vancouver Island and has
been guiding kayak trips in the local waters for six years.
2008 will be Kerry's third season with Kingfisher.
In the off season Kerry's time is split between
working on the local ski hills and travelling.
In addition to kayak guiding in BC Kerry has led kayak trips in New
Zealand and this winter is heading to South America.
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 Sarah Richardson
2008 will be Sarah's
second season with Kingfisher. Sarah grew up on Southern Vancouver
Island and spent countless hours as a child playing in the woods
surrounding her grandparents’ home in rural Saanich. As a teen,
Sarah discovered the freedom and tranquility of the ocean through
sailing off the coast of Victoria. These explorations led to a
passion for the natural environment that propelled her to pursue
both her studies at university and a career in the outdoors.
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Over the winter Sarah is completing
the final year of a Bachelor of Science in Geography at the University of
Victoria. In addition to her experience as an assistant kayak guide, Sarah
has worked as a nature guide in North Vancouver, a forest tenures assistant
with the BC Ministry of Forests, a songbird researcher in northern Kentucky, a
whale-watching guide in Johnstone Strait, and a fisheries observer on Northern
Vancouver Island, as well as volunteering with children's programs at a local
nature centre.
Sarah is a Certified Assistant
Overnight Guide with the
Sea Kayak Guides
Alliance of British Columbia and has completed training endorsed
by the Whale Watch Operators Association Northwest as a Marine Mammal
Naturalist, as well as training in presentation skills from Interpretation
Canada.
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