HRGF 2019 MENTORS | hrgf2017-r1

Bill Voss

Bill caught the “Greenland” bug at Delmarva in 2010 where he built his first F1 skin-on-frame kayak. His favorite roll is the front pry. He enjoys surfing and day trips on bumpy ocean water. However, he is certain he has attended more rolling practices than paddles. He “pays it forward,” usually spending part of each rolling practice tutoring, teaching rolling through AMC as a Sea Kayak Leader, and helping as a mentor at Delmarva and HRGF. He proves that even a big inflexible guy can roll with enough practice and mentoring.

Luke Rovner

Luke is a sea kayak instructor, with a focus on rolling and more recently, traditional paddling. After trying a Greenland paddle in a rolling session several years ago, he put away his euro blade and never looked back. He combined his experience as a photo and video professional with his love of kayaking and started Kayak Hipster, with the goal of capturing outdoor adventures and sharing kayaking tips.

Will Bigelow

Will is a founder of Massachusetts' Walden Qajaq Society (1999), which brought to Qajaq USA events a unique instructional method to teach rolling. That style is now used by many mentors and in many traditional kayaking events. Will started his mentoring in 2003; he has taught at all the QUSA events and is one of the most sought out mentors. Will has never met a stranger, quickly puts his students at ease, and makes qajaqing fun. Don't be surprised when you make that roll you thought was out of your reach.

Pam Powers

Meet Pam Powers from the northeast of the USA. Pam is a Greenland enthusiast. Rolling is her happy place, her Zen. You'll find her on the water as soon as it thaws in the spring and until the refreeze of the lakes in the fall. One of Pam's greatest achievements was the build of her own wooden kayak. Be sure to ask her about it as she loves to share her story.Pam is looking forward to getting acquainted with returning students and new ones and helping them achieve their goals.

See you on the water!

Pat Slaven

Pat has been kayaking since 2002. Her then-husband was always "working" on the boat. A couple friends took her out kayaking and she was hooked. She’d gone kayaking a few times in the previous decades but never realized the possibilities. She had quite a few years where she logged more miles in the kayak then her ex logged on the powerboat.

She has built 4 kayaks and is active in Qajaq USA. She has mentored at HRGF and also at Delmarva. She has served on YPRC Board in many capacities, including 2+ years as Commodore.

Btw her ex-husband is still working on the boat and she continues to explore local and remote water ways. Her next big kayak trip will be yet another week on the Mississippi this summer.

Lisa Kellogg

Lisa started using a Greenland paddle within a year of acquiring her first kayak (2001). Hooked by the grace and elegance of both the Greenland paddle and the mentoring ways, she’s a happy student of Greenland skills. Lisa has been learning and then passing on that knowledge while attending HRGF and the Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat for over 10 years; and SSTIKS in 2015. She thinks helping people roll and take their skills to a new level is one of life’s treats.

Chris King

Chris stumbled into kayaking late in 2012, and quickly found himself obsessed. Fall turned into winter and he discovered that he far preferred the foul weather days with wind and rain which led him to seek out a sexy used low-profile Greenland kayak, and then he needed to figure out how to roll it. A few years have gone by since then, and with a few more rolls under his belt, and even more love for foul weather and rough water, he became a founding member of Small Craft Advisory: a group of dedicated paddlers who love to teach each other both traditional and modern skills for both fair weather and foul. Having attended several Qajaq USA events since then, he felt it was time to pay it back, and has come home to roost at HRGF. When not paddling or rolling or surfing in a kayak, he is either buried in IT work, or treating patients as an acupuncturist.

Shannon Lonardo

Shannon is from Rhode Island and is new to the Greenland Kayaking experience. She was first introduced at last year’s HRGF. At first, she wasn’t sure she would do it because of her fear of being stuck in a sit in kayak (she has a sit on top) but a friend convinced her to try it. Although the friend wasn’t able to make it, she ran into some old friends and made a few new ones and quickly got over her fear of being stuck. Now, she’s stuck on Greenland style kayaking. Although her skills are still in beginner stage, she is looking forward to mastering a few with the help of her friends.

Shannon likes to be on the water and uses her kayak for fishing. At Delmarva last year she built her own skin on frame kayak and hopes, with the help of her friends, she will be able to master her kayaking skills. She also hopes to teach others how to fly fish from their kayaks. Join her this year to learn some new skills on fishing from your kayak.

Ed Lamon III

Ed’s first exposure to Greenland style paddling was a visit to the first HRGF at Norrie State Park. He fell in love with the elegance of the qajaq and the skinny stick. Sparked, he built his first Greenland paddle with plans from the Qajaq USA website. It was a wonderful teacher and dancing partner.

The following HRGF sparked his first skin-on-frame which he launched at the third HRGF in '05.

That led to a wall full of paddles and a house full of kayaks, 12 yrs. of the Delmarva Paddlers Retreat, a few visits to SSTIKS and every HRGF (-1, my daughter Heather’s Wedding).

He loves the dance. Pay it forward.

Taro Ietaka

Taro Ietaka is a professional naturalist specializing in fungi and terrestrial plants. As such, he had no interest in kayaking or the water until a paddling expedition forced upon him by work a few years ago. Ever since then he has been making up for lost time. Fungi have been neglected in favor of Greenland rolling. "A paddle isn't complete unless you end up wet." ACA-certified Coastal Kayak Trip Leader, L2 instructor, guide for Hudson River Expeditions.