The 2020 Sea Kayak Festival organisers are Sea Kayak Club WA’s, Steve Haddon, Tony Beswick, Les Allen, Steve Foreman, Jenni Harrison, and Nerissa Worwood, along with Paddle WA’s, Rosalie Evans. You can contact them via email – fest@seakayakwa.asn.au and develop@paddlewa.asn.au.
Organising Team SKCWA
Steve Haddon
I am so lucky. I started paddling about 25 years ago at Swan Canoe Club. I was instantly hooked even with the frustration of trying to paddle in a straight line in a slalom boat. Paddling was totally absorbing and was a fantastic stress relief at the time. I soon got into the adrenaline (read aaahhh) of white water and participated in a few Avon Descents. Other commitments have come and gone so my time for paddling has also come and gone over the years.
I have been paddling in a sea kayak for a few years now. I am constantly amazed by the ocean with the variability of colours, waves, animals, rocks and reef. From calm glassy water to breaking waves that appear out of nowhere. Paddling gives a different perspective to the power and beauty of the ocean. Can’t wait to be on the water again.
Tony Beswick
Tony recently retired to do more kayaking and mountain bike riding. He mainly paddles and rolls a Greenland kayak with his mates around Hillarys. He is currently attempting to qualify as a Sea Leader. He delights in riding big swells and a month-long paddling expedition in Antarctica has been the highlight of his short kayaking career.
Les Allen
I’m a PA Senior Instructor and Assessor and have paddled most of the WA and East coast as well as Tasmania. I was one of the founding members of the Sea Kayak Club and started the Paddle Fest 10 years ago. Which now makes me an old man who still loves kayaking.
Jenni Harrison
I have been sea kayaking since 2012 and became an instructor in2016. Since then I’ve spent the last three years paddling the best bits of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. I’m now back in Denmark and loving paddling what I have realised is the best sea kayaking coastline in Australia. I look forward to sharing my skill and experience, especially with women, and look forward to the day when I am not the only female in the Albany Sea Kayak Club.
Nerissa Worwood
Nerissa Worwood fell in love with kayaking at an early age, paddling down the Snowy River as a four-year-old on family camping trips. After having lived (and paddled) in Tasmania, QLD, NT and NSW, she moved with her family to Perth in 2016, where she is actively involved with her kid’s Sea Scouts Group. Prior to moving to WA and joining the SKCWA, she was a member of the NSW Sea Kayak Club where she gained her Sea Skills. Nerissa is looking forward to the diversity and beautiful scenery of Albany as well as meeting new paddlers.
Organising Team Paddle WA
Rosalie Evans
Sea Leaders
Paul Cooper
I have always had a passion for paddling even as a boy. Making canoes out of corrugated iron with my mates.
In 1972 I joined the Swan Canoe club and competed in the 1972 Australian Slalom Championships in Cowra, N.S.W.
In 2006 I became a member of the Sea Kayak Club and in that time have acquired my Sea Skills and Training certificates.
One of the greatest passions is helping and teaching new paddlers skills and promoting the sport in any way I can.
Colin Priest
My name is Colin Priest. I’ve always loved the outdoors and travelling to remote places. I got into paddling about 30 years ago and enjoyed exploring our rivers by canoe and kayak. I joined Swan Canoe Club in 1993 where I was introduced to kayak slalom and spent many weekends kayaking at the Harvey whitewater slalom course. In 1994 I became a flatwater instructor and in 1996 a whitewater instructor and slalom coach. I started sea kayaking about 20 years ago and in 2004 became a sea kayaking instructor and a Paddle Australia assessor. in 2012 I completed the Cert IV in Training and Assessment. I enjoy passing on my kayaking skills and introducing people to the joys of kayaking. I have been instructing and leading kayaking trips with Swan Canoe Club for over 20 years, training and assessing club members for Paddle Australia awards since 2004. In 2015 I was awarded life membership of Swan Canoe Club.
My favourite part of sea kayaking is going out on multi-day trips in remote areas, which I have done here in WA, interstate and overseas. In 2017 after retiring from my day job I joined the Sea Kayak Club WA, with the aim of getting involved with more sea kayaking activities.
Les Allen
Les Allen is on the organising committee as well as a speaker.
Read about Les above and in the Speaker’s section.
Jenni Harrison
Jenni is on the organising committee above. You can read about her there.
Judy Blight
I have paddled for 20 years and have enjoyed extending myself in the past but now I’m enjoying paddling to see marine and bird life in different places in Australia and overseas. I also enjoy teaching beginners Greenland rolling. I had the pleasure of being the President of the Sea Kayak Club WA for 10 years.
Ann Smithson
I have always been a passionately keen outdoorsy girl, and started kayaking regularly when I moved to Western Australia 10 years ago. I particularly enjoy kayak expeditioning, and succeeded in my aim to lead remote kayaking trips in WA. I also enjoy passing on my kayaking skills, and have been involved in instruction both through UWA and SKCWA. I am proud to have completed an Avon Descent, and am an enthusiastic and very competitive rogainer. Professionally, I am an ecologist and conservation biologist. After many years in academia in the
UK lecturing in conservation biology, my move to sunny Western Australia lead to working in the science section at Kings Park researching our native plants. I am now an independent ecological and botanical consultant, and enjoy bringing my passion for understanding wildlife to a wider audience.
Callan Gault
I‘ve always been into watersports of any kind – fishing, surfing, windsurfing, power boating/skiing, sailing and scuba diving to name a few. I started paddling about 8 years ago for a bit of fun and quickly found that it helped my core strength and improved my dodgy back – it also scratched my itch for adventure.
I’m a sea leader, and an AC instructor. I’m grateful to be involved in the sea kayaking community because it is full of fantastic people.
I find the power of the ocean, wind and waves exhilarating and love nothing more than battling the elements in a storm!