Ginni Callahan on her farm with her Arctic Tern 14 kayak she built herself.

A week or so ago I had the pleasure of getting to paddle and photograph kayaker Ginni Callahan for NRS water sports. I met Ginni in early June at a Greenland kayaking festival, SSTICKS, and we got to talking about taking some photos.

Ginni has been a kayak guide down in Baja Mexico for the past 15 years; the beach is her living room, the Milky Way the ceiling over her bed. Each winter she migrates south to Guide for her company “Sea Kayak Baja Mexico” as the season’s change and the northwest warms up Ginni migrates back to the Colombia River and her kayak co-operative “Colombia River Kayaking” .

This is where Ginni and I met up to play in the lapping waters and fluctuating tides of Skamakawa WA. Here old growth trees dip out over the water and cliffs are scattered with Indian paintbrush and maidenhair fern that soak up foggy breezes rolling from the Pacific Ocean.

Ginni Kayak Sailing on the Colombia

Ginni has been paddling for over 30 years, and paddles with the grace and ease of a coho salmon. Ginni is certified by the BCU as a 5* Sea Leader and a Level 4 Sea Coach, and by the ACA as an Advanced Open Coastal Instructor. As good as she is a paddler she is an inspiring person. She is a breast cancer survivor, and Organic gardener. When she is home in Washington she tries to grow 50% of her food. We spent one evening working in her garden, Ginni with a pair of loppers pruning back the raspberries, I on my hands and knees searching the bushes for bright succulent berries. As she clipped and I picked the sun came out from under the clouds and bathed her garden and barn in warm light.  We dropped our clippers and berry buckets and ran to the car, grabbed Ginnis Arctic Tern 14 Kayak off the top, and rushed into the tall grass field to capture a few photos in the golden light. Her spontaneous attitude and exuberance for life and play is an inspiration. I was very lucky to get to spend some time working and playing with her before she flew back to Tahiti where she had left her boyfriend and sailboat. Right now they are sailing amid Tropical Island for an un-known amount of time.

Ginni knows she will be venturing into the waters of New Zealand soon and I wish I could figure a way to get over there and play with her. But for now I’m happy I got to eat raspberries in her garden and capture some great photos of her in her Northwest playground.

Here is a link to her adventures!
http://kayaktravel.blogspot.com/