Region: Coastal North Carolina

As a kayak instructor, I want people to enjoy kayaking, but I also want them to be safe. The TRAK is the only foldable sea kayak that I feel comfortable teaching rescues with and that is what I find most appealing about the product. I want to provide the TRAK as the preferred product for folks looking at portability, performance, safety, and fun. 

You can reach me for a demo at GoodTidesKayaking@gmail.com. 

More about me:

Kayaking is allowing me to travel and see places that I would never have had the opportunity to go to. My ambition is to utilize my TRAK kayak to take me around the world and paddle in places that I only see on internet searches. I am a lover of maritime history and read everything I can on the Age of Discovery.

I grew up whitewater paddling in western Maryland on the north branch of the Potomac River as a teenager in the 1990'. I moved to eastern North Carolina in 2005 after college and started paddling recreational kayaks in the marsh for fun. I became a North Carolina State Park ranger in 2007 and started my career in Wilmington, but quickly moved to Swansboro, NC to work at Hammocks Beach State Park. This area offers some of the most pristine and dynamic sea kayaking in the state. The park did not have an active kayaking program in 2009, so I worked with my supervisors and non-profit support groups to create a park based paddling program. I also headed the creation of four paddling festivals to promote the highlights of the area. This is when I became involved with the American Canoe Association (ACA). I took my first L2 Essential of Kayaking Instructor Certification Workshop in 2014. I was able to travel to other state parks in the system and train rangers to lead kayaking tours of the parks they work at.

We continued to push the paddling program within the parks add SUP and Canoe instructors. Certification maintenance required hiring ACA Instructor Trainers (IT). I volunteered to obtain my IT and create an in-house certification program for rangers who wanted to become kayaking instructors. I received my IT in 2022 and have continued to certify instructors in the park service.

In 2022 I started a business. Good Tides Kayaking has allowed me to continue teaching and guiding outside of the park service. I have been hired by the GA River Network, the town of High Point, NC, and Brazoria county, TX to certify new kayaking instructors. This has allowed me to travel and see areas I would never have had the opportunity to see.

Many folks in eastern Carolina are retired and most want a reliable lightweight boat that they can transport and carry on their own. I purchased my TRAK 1.0 used for may personal reasons, but one particular reason was to show it to folks in the market for a lightweight portable boat. I enjoy showing my TRAK off to those who are genuinely interested. 

You can reach me for a demo at GoodTidesKayaks@gmail.com.