Our Coaches
We choose our coaches at Ontario Sea Kayak Centre with the utmost of care. All of our kayak instructors are skilled and passionate paddlers with decades of experience. They are all Paddle Canada certified instructors and have their Wilderness Medical training. They are excellent communicators, they are thoughtful and kind, and most of all they know how to have fun on the water. We know that people learn best when they are relaxed, having a good time and most of all laughing. We strive to create a classroom where you will thrive. You can rest assured that taking a course or trip with OSKC means you are getting some of the highest trained instructors in Canada.
Our Culture
The culture of OSKC is one of acceptance and encouragement. We all started as novice kayakers and we remember that first foray into kayaking. We share everything we can with our students to help them become independent, skillful kayakers. We’re available every step of the way to answer all of your questions, build all of your skills, and share our love of nature from the seat of a kayak. We acknowledge that kayaking was founded as the traditional skill of survival of the first indigenous cultures in the high Arctic. We honour this heritage by teaching skills with contemporary and traditional paddles. We also acknowledge that the locations we teach and guide kayaking are the traditional territories of the multiple indigenous groups.
OSKC Coaches
James Roberts
James started kayaking at 18. Since then his paddling career has taken him all over the world as an expedition leader and senior kayak instructor.
Dympna Hayes
Dympna is co-owner and operator, of Ontario Sea Kayak Centre along with her partner and husband James. She loves sharing her craft with others through her coaching on skills courses and through her guiding while on kayaking trips.
Greg Mason
Greg has been paddling and teaching kayaking on Georgian Bay for around 25 yrs… since he was not but a wee grasshopper.
David Johnston
David Johnston has been introducing people to the sport of sea kayaking for the past 20 years. He is a senior instructor trainer with Paddle Canada.
Jeff Phaneuf
Jeff has been a teacher/coach (volleyball & rugby) at Ursuline College in Chatham for almost a quarter of a century. He is now combining his passion for teaching/coaching and the outdoors.
Ray Boucher
Ray Boucher lives in Wawa Ontario with his wife Patty. Ray has been a school teacher and an x-ray technologist, and enjoys spending his time working and recreating in the outdoors.
Melissa Heaman
Melissa grew up visiting Parry Sound every summer, where her love of being on the water began.
Joedy Ebert
Joedy has been teaching teenagers for 25 years but she has always recharged at and on the water. She got her Paddle Canada start with OSKC 10 years ago, spending the years since padding the shores of Lake Ontario and the Niagara waterways. She is thrilled to be joining the team at OSKC.
Jeff Arbing
Jeff is the primary instructor/mentor for all new recruits with a large southern Ontario Police Service. He also instructs senior level adult education, mental resiliency/leadership and supervisory courses.
Chris McCarthy
Chris is a L1 Sea Kayak instructor who has been paddling southern Ontario for the past 10 years.
Kyle Steward
Kyle Steward has been one of our instructors since 2015 and his passion for the sport is infectious. Kyle is a very skilled Greenland roller and kayak instructor.
Heather Stewart
I love helping people find their connection to their kayak… Yoga for Paddlers is a great way to find how to move and be one with the boat.
Patty Boucher
ling canoes and kayaks since she was a child in Northern Ontario. Patty is a certified level one kayak and paddleboard instructor. She has training in guiding kayak and canoe trips on the Great Lakes.
Scott Rosborough
Scott Rosborough has been paddling and teaching for Ontario Sea Kayak Centre for eight years and is one of our best rolling instructors. He is a Paddle Canada Level Two Instructor, A Paddle Canada Rolling Instructor and he has his Level Three Skills.
OSKC Guest Coaches
Marcos Simental Saldaña
Born and raised on the Baja peninsula, Marcos has been working on the ocean since 1998. A talented sea kayaker and fisherman he is our Baja local knowledge and super-guide.
Mathew Sutherland
As a Chef I have had a passion for cooking and for the outdoors that
has lasted for as long as I can remember. More recently been excited to bring memorable
culinary experiences to remote locations.
Karl Vollmer
Karl is a Paddle Canada Sea Kayak Instructor Trainer. He has also been a volunteer member of the Paddle Canada board and skill development committees for years.
Tim Gallaway
Tim began his kayaking career as a guide and ACA instructor at Woods & Water Ecotours in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when he was in college. He cut his rough water teeth on the rocky shores of Lake Superior.
Alec and Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin
Alec and Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin are paddlesport coaches from the Chicago area known for their playful and accessible coaching style. They are the owners of Have Kayaks, Will Travel, a paddlesport coaching business that organizes trips and courses.
Jarrod Gunn McQuillan
Jarrod Gunn McQuillan is the owner/operator of Cloud 9 Adventures and lives in St. Peters Harbour, PEI with his wife Heather, and their two children Finlay and Emma. Cloud 9 Adventures focuses on offering high quality sea kayak coaching and instruction to all levels and abilities throughout the Maritime Provinces
James Manke
James is an international Greenland kayak instructor local to Victoria British Columbia. His passion is shared around the world and it has taken him to some amazing places, recently back from Chile where he taught at the very first sea kayak symposium there.
Erik Ogaard
Erik is forever drawn to the water and is truly in his element when paddling and coaching. He is equally passionate about sharing the paddling experience through instruction, coaching, guiding, mentoring and building a healthy paddling community.