Our Team

When a person is beginning kayaking, he/she is often nervous. We recognize this and do our best to ensure that all participants in our Texas Kayak Trips are comfortable. Part of the way we do this is in the manner in which we select guides and instructors. We look for teaching ability and kayaking competence, but also for people who can inspire confidence and can replace any member of the team at a moment’s notice if needed. If a member of our team ever forgot what it was like to be a beginning kayaker, it would be time for that team member to retire from leading Texas Kayak Trips. Our team includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Herb

Herb got into kayaking so he could fish areas where others could not, but found introducing people to kayaking was more rewarding than catching fish. Soon he was introducing members of his church to kayaking. Then the group grew beyond members of his church. His fleet grew to 17 kayaks. After several re-builds, his trailer will carry 16 kayaks and the gear to go with them.

He has lost track of the number of people he has introduced to kayaking. While many of them are very healthy young and middle-aged people, there are also many in their 60s and 70s and even people with limitations. Herb successfully introduced an 89-year-young lady to kayaking last year.

Herb is constantly teaching and helping whatever group he is leading to have a good time. At the end of the day, he has had a better time than anyone. Isn’t that the kind of guy you would like leading the group you go out with?

As you can see, Herb is an avid kayaker and believes everyone should take up kayaking. His wife, Judy, does not agree, but then she does not insist that he play the organ, one of her passions. To better care for those who kayak with him, he maintains an Advanced Wilderness First Aid Certification. While he can apply a traction splint to a broken femur and then do a scoop rescue (insert an unconscious person into a kayak in deep water) he works at prevention so he will never have to put those skills to a test.

Herb is a certified kayak instructor and teaches at least one class per month. His teaching style, and he uses the same style when leading trips, has been described as that of a loving grandfather teaching his beloved 16-year old daughter. He uses this style, even when his students are older than he is. Herb leads at least two nature kayaking trips per month. Some of those trips take 4 to 6 hours, and some require several days of primitive camping. A few have as many as 30 participants; most are of a more manageable size. The trips may include

Studying 10,000-year-old Indian art in caves that can only be reached by water,
Drifting past Whooping Cranes as they feed on crabs,
Smelling the fish-breath of dolphins as they surface close to a kayak,
A quiet moon-lit paddle on Lake Lady Bird Johnson, Austin, TX, to watch 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats fly,
Drifting down the wild and scenic Rio Grande with 1,200-foot-high cliffs on either side.

Herb works to accommodate all who want to be his clients. Some are as young as 2 years of age, and one gave up kayaking when she was 88, just to shut her kids up. They figured they, in their 60s, were too old to kayak, so she must be way too old. If a lady turns over, he refers to her as a mermaid and goes into the mermaid rescue mode. Some 60- and 70-year old ladies turn over on purpose just so they can earn the title: Mermaid. One regular client uses a Scooter for mobility. So no matter what your circumstances, if you have a desire to kayak, we will do our best to help you achieve that goal.

To learn a little more about what Herb does when not kayaking, click here.

Craig

Craig is certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR. He is also an American Canoe Association Certified Kayak Instructor. When not leading tours or classes, he is a criminal investigator and has a passion for kayak fishing. Here we see him with his 16 foot Sit-on-Top Tarpon kayak, on a trip at the Guadalupe River State Park.

If he leads you on a kayak camping trip, as the embers of the campfire die down, ask him about the time a herd of wild donkeys came to visit during a kayak camping trip and sang opera. If he does not furnish sound effects, ask him to add the sound effects. He cannot get the echo off the canyon walls, but he can come close.

You can learn more about Craig’s adventures while kayaking by reading his blog

Patty

Demonstrating the correct way to reenter a kayak in deep water is easy; however, the first time you try it, you may find that there are numerous ways to do it wrong. Patty has the ability to demonstrate all of them in a very realistic manner, and explain what caused the problem. She can repeatedly do a demo and still keep a grin on her face as she explains what she is doing for the 30^th time. When she is finished, she can effortlessly slip into a kayak under very adverse conditions.

She is an expert doing the paddle swim (using a paddle for power while swimming), so we joke that she does not need a kayak to go kayaking.

Patty is constantly aware of activities going on around her and is usually the first responder when a person appears to be having problems.