KTC Owners and Guides

KTC is owned and managed by six founding owners who also serve as our company's kayaking guides. They include Capt. Paul Peterson, Jackie Russell, Cheryl Rorabeck-Siler, Brenda Wallace, Capt. Mark Wittwer and Marc Hinz. The owners have elected Marc Hinz to serve as the company’s initial Chief Executive Officer.

(left to right): Marc Hinz, Jackie Russell, Cheryl Rorabeck-Siler, Capt. Paul Peterson. Water rescue and instructional training with Gini Callahan in Summer '06.

Our guides receive regular trainings in water rescue and safety, maintain current 1st Aid/CPR Certifications, and are registered with the Oregon State Marine Board. Most of our guides have been awarded a professional 2 Star Certifications from the British Canoe Union.

Our guides include:

Captain Paul Peterson: At the age of 8 years old he helped his family operate a boat rental company on Netarts Bay. His professional career includes 15 years as a commercial fishing boat captain and experience working in the coastal forests as a logger.

Capt. Mark Wittwer

Captain Mark Wittwer: Commercial fishing/shrimp boat captain of 10 years, currently the manager of Pacific Oyster’s Tillamook Bay operation and former business owner and founder of a multi-million dollar shell fish operation based out of Netarts Bay.

Brenda Wallace: Former fishing boat crew member and currently employed at Whisky Creek Shellfish Hatchery.

Brenda Wallace

Cheryl Rorabeck-Siler: Biology teacher for 12 years at Tillamook High School, animal rescue volunteer at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, and current business owner of Wild Eye Imagery, a nature photography company.

Jackie Russell: Office Manager at the OSU Extension Office in Tillamook.

Water rescue and instructonal training with Gini Callahan in Winter '05. Ginni Callahan - Owner Columbia River Kayaking (lower left); Brenda Wallace (upper left); Capt. Mark Wittwer (center); Cheryl Rorabeck-Siler (right).

Marc A Hinz: Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Kayak Tillamook County. As the former Director of Continuing and Community Education at Tillamook Bay Community College he founded the Watershed Activities To Estuary Recreation program (WATER), which served as both an outdoor recreation program and an economic development initiative. This nature-based tourism program offered educational walks, hikes, van tours, hang-gliding, tide pool interpretation, kayaking and charter boat tours and won the Gene Leo Memorial Award at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in April ‘05. Marc currently sits on the steering committee of the Tillamook County Water Trail Map project being spearheaded by the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. The end result of the project will be a county-wide system of connected water trails as well as printed map for regional distribution and possibly an interactive on-line map.