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Sam Crowley - sam@seakayakspecialists.com (Click here to see photos of his ender at the 2004 Surf Confluence in Wawa) Background: Sam started paddling in 1991 following the Siren’s call into the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin. He paddled there for two seasons before moving to the San Francisco area for 14 months where he learned to kayak surf and roll in conditions. Leaving a decade long career in computer engineering, he returned to the upper Midwest in quest of a new lifestyle. After some wandering, he spent two seasons guiding for Northern Waters Adventures in Munising with trips primarily to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Grand Island National Recreation Area as well as several to Isle Royale National Park. During this time, Sam worked towards becoming a massage therapist and opened a practice in Marquette. Guiding was good experience but Sam realized to continue expanding his skills and experience (as well as avoid burning out), he needed to instruct and work with paddlers at all levels, not just beginners as well as personally paddle on more extensive trips. This is a seed that started the formation of Sea Kayak Specialists. Certifications:
Paddling Trips:
Favorite Trip: Over the summer of 2007, I circumnavigated Ireland. I started in Dublin on June 1 and headed south. During the first two weeks of the trip, I enjoyed the first of two calm weather periods. After that, the worst summer since records were kept in the 1850's started to make itself felt. The second day on the west coast, I pulled into Black Ball Harbor on the Beara Peninsula. Little did I know I was to spend 10 days here because of the winds. During this time, successive gale (winds 40+ mph) force and one storm (55+ mph) force winds struck. According to the local fisherman, the rest of the summer was to be this way. During this time, I began to doubt it was going to be possible to finish the trip and I even began to comtemplate ending it here. Fortunately for my sanity, a family on holiday took me in during this time. They treated me like a member of the family. I was always in Eventually a weather window opened and I was able to continue. One of the highlights was stopping at Skellig Michael, a 6th-9th century Celtic Christian monastery located on an island 10 miles off of the mainland. The photo at the left is the view from the chapel of Little Skellig and the Kerry coastline. To be honest though, the west coast of Ireland was a great place to paddle with its incredible scenery, the people in small towns and its paddling challenges. Besides the weather, other hazards included high speed ferries, tidal currents at 6+ knots, large tidal ranges and the incredible taste of Guinness in the local pubs. But the winds still dominated. During one two week period, I had seven paddling days and seven wind bound days. In the last 200 miles, daily winds were at a sustained 25 mph. Covering 150 miles over 8 days during that times, I had headwinds. It was a relief to reach Dublin Bay on August 20th. Circumnavigating Ireland again proved to me how great it is to travel by sea kayak. Seeing the Irish coast from the seat of a sea kayak cannot be replicated in any other way. Paddling into and camping by small towns offers a unique view of local life. A trip like this inspires me to travel other places. It will just take me a while to find a place without wind... Click here to visit the Ireland 2007 website. Instructing Philosophy: I am addicted to sea kayaking, I want to see others addicted as well! Sharing the sport is how I view instructing. I was lucky to start out by being around skilled people who loved the sport and wanted to share it as well. Their passion was infectious and they encouraged me to higher levels while being humble about their own ability. The interesting part of sharing the sport is I learn as well. It doesn’t matter if I am working with a person who has never paddled before or an instructor candidate with years of experience, everyone has shared something with me that has helped me to become a better paddler and/or instructor. Progression is a big part of how I instruct. By building a base before advancing to the next level, a student builds skills in increments which helps to make complex skills easier to learn. The trick is in providing the right amount of challenge (not too much or too little) for the people present. Done right, this leaves people feeling excited about the sport and with a greater confidence in their skills. Instructors that have most influenced me: Nigel Dennis from Wales and Gail Green from Bayfield, WI are paddling instructors I have been most inspired by. Nigel is a paddler with a tremendous amount of experience that he brings to the lesson. Gail brings an incredible awareness to the classroom with a personality that engages and challenges everyone. She taught me how to focus on the students while teaching . Hal Zintel, a graduated student who taught several of my engineering classes in university, taught me to make it funny. No matter how complex the problem, Hal would have us laughing. He made learning enjoyable. Future Goals: For years I have focused on attaining higher levels of instructor certification. Given my experience and the place where I live and work, I feel I am at the level of what I can achieve for a reasonable effort and pay back. Now I am looking at building my paddling experience. The past couple of years I have traveled a greater distance to take longer trips in different areas. In ‘03 I traveled to the Pacific Northwest to learn more about tides and reacquaint myself with paddling on a open Pacific shoreline. In ‘04 I traveled to Finland to learn about paddling on international waters. In ‘05 I traveled to the Queen Charlotte Islands (or Haida Gwaiis to it’s First Nation) to travel more extensively along an exposed coastline. In ‘07, I circumnavigated Ireland solo. This took everything about me as a paddler and pushed it to a higher level. Now I want to visit other great places for paddling including Scotland, Chile and possibly Japan. Favorite Jokes: How does a snowboarder introduce themself? Sorry dude!
What did the Buddhist Monk say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything!
A Panda Bear walks into a restaurant and orders a meal. After completing dinner, it pulls out a gun and shoots the place up and starts to walk out. The owner stops him and says, why did you do it. The bear says, that’s what I do, look it up in the dictionary and walks out. The owner clearly puzzled, pulls out a dictionary and it says: Panda Bear - a large mammal. Eats, shoots and leaves.
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vited for tea and dinner in addition to hikes, watching movies, and rides into town. It reminded me of family get togethers growing up (I am 100% Irish). Their hospitality made this the best part of the trip. The weather made it the worst part of the trip.
