Columbia River Kayaking started with a handful of mismatched kayaks, an old pick-up truck, and Ginni Callahan. The first office, a 1971 Winnebago parked in Andrew Emlen’s sheep pasture at the end of the road in a county without a single traffic light, was connected to the world via a scratchy phone line that ran over the woodshed, along the pasture fence, through the barn, and into the Winnebago window. On this was built the first CRK website.
The original idea behind CRK was to run multi-day downriver B&B trips on the lower Columbia River. This idea failed for several reasons, most notably the lack of B&Bs on the river. Meanwhile Ginni kept her regular job at Skamokawa Center as a guide and kayak instructor until the sale of the center inspired her to really make a go of CRK in 2003. Making up in enthusiasm for what she lacked in business sense, Ginni ran classes and trips anywhere the tides made it possible: Astoria, Nehalem Bay, Willapa Bay, and Skamokawa Center itself.
In late 2005, the bank turned her down for a pre-approved mortgage loan, muttering something about insufficient income, but the Lending Company of Mom and Dad came through to help with the purchase of a derelict 21-acre dairy farm on Puget Island, saying, “the bank doesn’t know what you can do with a piece of land, and we do.” Then they flew back to NJ in their superhero capes, and Ginni went to work.
With oceans of help from Mark Whitaker, Levi Helms, and several other kayakers, she renovated the house, hacked a trail through the cottonwood forest to the waterfront, busted sod to plant a small market garden, drove the 1971 Winnebago to the new Slow Boat Farm, rented out the house, and hosted the first annual Lower Columbia Kayak Roundup in August 2007.
By now, business had expanded to the point where it there was too much work to be done by Ginni alone, and throughout the summer of 2007, a series of lengthy and productive meetings led to the reorganization of Columbia River Kayaking as a member owned LLC, incorporating all the local kayak guides in the area who were working with the Skamokawa Center as independent contractors. Reorganization papers were signed in October and a couple of weeks later, Ginni headed south to warmer regions to get to work on her other new venture, Sea Kayak Baja Mexico.
Columbia River Kayaking, LLC is now owned by six kayakers. The original handful of mismatched kayaks has grown up into a high quality fleet of Nigel Dennis Kayaks, Valley Sea Kayaks and Wilderness Systems touring boats. The original instructional curriculum has evolved over the years into one based on the internationally recognized BCU standards. The scratchy phone line has been replaced with a high-speed DSL connection. The old pickup finally retired to Mexico in 2011.
