Chris Spelius was a 1984 US Olympic Team Kayak Member, a Bronze Medallist in the 1991 World Freestyle Kayak Championship in Wales, England. He has won numerous freestyle, flatwater and slalom events around the United States and the World as a sponsored paddler with Team Dagger. He was also a member of Team Timex during the filming of PaddleQuest in 1995. His last professional freestyle competition and victory came in Norway in 1997. He was a longtime instructor at the Nantahala Outdoor Center and the Otter Bar Lodge Kayak School and worked as a raft guide at Holiday River Expeditions and Grand Canyon Dories (now OARs). His tenure as a kayak instructor has afforded him the opportunity to appear in numerous kayak instructional videos over the years. As a kayak designer for the Dagger Canoe and Kayak Company, Chris designed the Crossfire and the RPM, which went on to become the biggest selling kayak in the history of the sport. Chris' first ever descent of the Niagara Gorge in a kayak, which was televised by ABC Sports, garnered him and the sport international attention. In the year 2000, Chris was recognized by Paddler Magazine as one of the “Paddler's of the Century” for a lifetime of dedication to the sport of whitewater kayaking. Chris is a graduate of the University of Utah.

Chris first visited Chile in 1980 and worked as a raft guide on the Bio Bio River. He later coached whitewater kayaking on a grant from the International Olympic Committee to help develop kayaking as an Olympic sport in Chile. Chris first paddled the Futaleufu River in 1984 and has been personally guiding kayak trips in Chile since the 1985/86 season. While spending more time in the office attending to the operation of his business, his zeal for instruction has not diminished. His instructional philosophy and dedication to excellent instruction permeates the entire Expediciones Chile staff. A complete biography can be found here: Chris Spelius.




Fergus Coffee was born in the United States to British and Canadian parents. With his English accent and New England background Fergus is truly kayaking's "international man of mystery". When not working in Chile he spends the off-season as the head of instruction at the Zoar Outdoor Kayak School in New England. Fergus is an active competitor in freestyle and extreme kayaking. In 2006 he placed 16th in the Teva Mountain Games, Homestake Extreme Kayak Race. Fergus has also paddled and worked extensively in Europe, Canada and New Zealand. Chris met Fergus while teaching a freestyle clinic at Zoar Outdoor and was so impressed by his racing background, instructional talents, organizational abilities, and people skills, that he recruited him to work in Patagonia.

Michael Powers involvement with conservation causes and work as an adventure photojournalist has involved him with kayaking expeditions all over the world. He is a commander in the Tsunami Rangers, an “extreme condition” sea kayaking team featured in numerous television productions and publications, and co-authored the book “Extreme Sea Kayaking" with fellow Ranger Eric Soares. Michael’s story and photos about paddling the Futaleufu from the Andes to the Ocean will soon appear in Canoe & Kayak Magazine. Michael is totally excited about returning to Patagonia this coming season as a special Expediciones Chile sea kayak guide. Michael's old and new friends who paddle the wild, breathtakingly beautiful Rio Palena from the Andes to the Sea, can then look forward to seeing their most extraordinary shared adventure published in a major U.S. paddling magazine.




Pablo González is a kayak instructor with exceptional paddling technique and teaching ability but he prefers kayaking Class IV water over the big Class V drops of the Rio Futaleufu. He joined the Expediciones Chile team in 1997 and has worked with us in the United States on top of serving as a whitewater instructor and Chile sea kayaking guide. Pablo was born and raised in Chile. He is a graduate of the prestigious Universidad Católica in Languages: English and American Literature. He taught at the Chilean North-American Institute in Santiago, Chile for few years, but at the age of twenty-four he traveled to the United States to get involved in the sea kayaking scene and outdoor recreation industry, something very new in Chile in those days. He is certified in Swiftwater Rescue (CATA) and has his guide's license for Class IV-V whitewater. Pablo has be trained under the ACA Kayak Instructor Curriculum in North Carolina – but the certification is not formally recognized in Chile. For the past six years Pablo has been the owner of his own adventure travel company, GradoSur Expediciones, based out of Santiago de Chile.

Pablo is fluent in both Spanish and English, so if you are lucky enough to have him as you instructor or Patagonia sea kayak guide you will really have the chance to see Chile from a native perspective and meet some of his local friends. You might also discover his guitar playing, as he is the instigator of many of our après sea kayaking activities.

Other Patagonia Sea Kayaking Vacation options: Sea Kayaking in Chile - Andes to the Ocean, Chile Sea Kayaking – Patagonia Odyssey , Patagonia Sea Kayaking - Andean Odyssey , Sea Kayaking Patagonia – Chiloe Archipelago, Sea Kayaking Chile – Espolon Crossing, Sea Kayaking in Patagonia – Hornopiren.

Downloadable pdf: Chile Sea Kayaking