About Sea Trek

Bob Licht founded Sea Trek in 1982. He has been in the Bay Area since 1969 when he graduated from UC Berkeley. He taught in inner city schools in New York and returned to the Bay Area to teach in the alternative outdoor adventure programs at Tamalpais High School from 1971-1978. In 1973 he started a commercial whitewater rafting company on the South Fork of the American River. In 1975, he began exploring the waters of Baja California, Mexico and started one of the first commercial sea kayaking companies from the town of Loreto, Baja Sur.
Having gotten excited about the potential of exploring the Baja coast and seeing the potential of the kayak as another conveyance for adventure, he began paddling in San Francisco Bay. The possibilities for experiencing adventure were endless. The ever changing wind and current conditions were as much a challenge as any whitewater river, and he didn’t need to drive hours on congested highways to get to the put-in. He sold his river company in 1982 and immediately opened Sea Trek at Schoonmaker Point in Sausalito. As they say, the rest is history. Sea kayaking grew from an unknown adventure activity where Bob knew every person that paddled on the Bay to a mainstream sport with thousands of people enjoying the fruits of kayaking and paddleboarding on saltwater.

Galen Licht has been paddling since about the time he could walk. His love for kayaking has taken him to rivers all over the US, Chile, and Canada. He won the 2010 Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Contest and has been in the top three in World Championships in Spain, Costa Rica, and Ireland. Galen graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Environmental Studies. His studies took him to Peru to study climate change and the impact it is having on the livelihoods of rural Andean populations. After completing his studies, he continued to work in the outdoor education and leadership industry. As Director of the UCSC Wilderness Orientation Program, he introduced a sea kayaking program that has continued to attract students of diverse backgrounds. Prior to Sea Trek, Galen worked with NOLS leading 30-day expeditions in Alaska. He has taught leadership skills to US Naval cadets, college students, corporate executives, teens, and a variety of inner-city groups. He now lives on a 36-foot motorboat in one of Sausalito’s marinas with his wife and son.

Steve has been guiding, developing programs, and managing for Sea Trek for over 28 years. He has enjoyed paddling in Chile, Alaska, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Wales, BC, and Baja. Steve has been our Baja Program director for over 15 years. With the advent of SUP, Steve has been focused on developing exciting inter-island adventures via paddleboards on our traditional kayaking routes down in Baja.

Mitch has fulfilled numerous roles over more than 26 years at Sea Trek. He’s been a lead guide and instructor in Sausalito, and a head guide on our Baja trips. While he’s currently our staffing and programs manager, you’ll also see Mitch guiding and teaching local trips. Besides having a passion for the outdoor lifestyle, Mitch is an author of 11 books. Topics include instructional stand-up paddling and kayaking guides, historical fiction, children’s stories, and more. If you’re curious: Mitchpowersbooks.com

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jules grew up sculling and kayaking from a young age. Her passion for the water and this lifestyle came to her when she moved to New York City in early 2005. It was in the Big Apple where Jules dove headfirst into the watersports industry by becoming a certified guide and instructor at Manhattan Kayak Company at age 19. A decade later, she ventured into her first solo, unsupported expedition when she paddleboarded around Long Island. Six months later with LouAnne Harris, Jules paddled 1500 miles from NYC to Miami on an unsupported expedition by SUP, becoming the Atlantic SUPergirls.

Lover of all human-powered watercrafts, Jules kayaks, surfskis, paddles prone, SUPs, paddles outrigger canoes, and still sculls occasionally. Windsurfing is her next big challenge!

Art is an avid cyclist, mad mechanic, world traveler, and attempted poet. Art spends his free time free diving, tinkering or dreaming up his next big trip, be it bicycle touring, hiking in the Sierra Nevada, or threading a roadster through mountain passes in New Zealand. His favorite paddling experiences include Baja, Thailand, the mighty Mississippi, and backwater bayous of SW Florida. Art defines a good day as one in which he spends more time in the water than on land.

This big guy is arguably Sea Trek’s laziest staff member. You can find him sleeping on the dock, taking dips to cool off, and sleeping some more. Oreo is also our seal liaison. He says, “Do as I say not as I do, please stay 100 feet from all my seal friends on the water.”

Peter has been paddling seriously since 2003, and guiding and instructing since 2009. He is certified by the ACA as a level 4 Open Water Sea Kayak instructor. He loves paddling in the rock gardens of the exposed coast, and is a member of the Neptune’s Rangers Ocean Whitewater Team. He was the founder and editor of California Kayaker Magazine. Originally from New York, Peter has an MBA and worked in corporate international marketing, including having lived in Korea and Japan, but has since chosen the quieter life of a kayak professional.

Leigh founded OnBoardSUP Yoga in 2009 and has been teaching here in Richardson Bay ever since. She is a founding member, instructor trainer, and advisor for the Professional Stand Up Paddle Association (PSUPA) and has stand up Paddle ster Certificates with the PSUPA, U.S. Coast Guard, and World Stand Up Paddle Association (WSUPA). In addition to teaching yoga, Pilates, and fitness classes on the boards, Leigh guides for Sea Trek, teaches SUP certifications, lessons, clinics, and leads at least two Sea Trek Baja retreats annually. For information on her yoga classes, check out the OnBoardSUP website.

Sarah has been a core instructor for Sea Trek for over 20 years. Before arriving to guide trips, Sarah swims a couple of miles in the bay or pool at sunrise with U.S. Masters Swimming teammates. The love of the water is a family affair as her twin daughters and husband occasionally work at Sea Trek as well. In addition to guiding kayakers, Sarah spends three days a week training 90+ year-olds at a senior community and coaches a couple of swim clinics in the evenings. “The scheduling can get crazy, but I love working with people, so it is worth all the effort.” Any free time is spent going to Bolinas with the family for sunset surf sessions. Sarah has led trips and travelled to over 65 countries in the past. No doubt in the future, traveling will be added to the calendar as well.

Over the past two decades, Carey has established a career as a diversified fitness and outdoor industry professional. As a host, producer, and developer, his television and radio credits include Targeted Sports on the Health Network, Adventure Center on the Outdoor Live Network and Sirius Satellite Radio, and Adventure Racing 101 on the Sportskool Network. Carey was a master instructor in the international launch of the Spinning indoor cycling program and co-lead educator in Equinox Fitness Club’s Fitness Training Institute. His video credits include “Plyosport” and Body Bar‘s “Sports Zone.” ACA L3 Coastal SUP certified, Carey is a career paddle sports and adventure racing instructor. He’s worked for the Manhattan Kayak Company, Genesis Adventures, Discover Outdoors and Mike’s Paddle. With a graduate degree in industrial design and certificate degree in apparel design, Carey additionally has an extensive professional background in product design and development for outdoor and paddle sports. He is co-founder of Bluemonic and previously of Suplogix pioneers of the SUP EMG study with Travis Grant.

A French American world traveler, avid adventurer, and two-time Guinness World Record Holder, Cyril has lived in France, Spain, England, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, and the US and speaks five languages fluently. An adventure seeker since childhood, he backpacked around the world for a full year at the age of 25. As an ultra-endurance athlete, Cyril has a long list of expeditions under his belt, including the Catalina Crossing Challenge (4x), the California 100, the Moloka’i Hoe (4x), the Yukon River Quest (3x), and the Great Pacific Race. He mostly paddles surfskis, outrigger canoes, and sea kayaks.
In the summer of 2016, Cyril and three teammates successfully rowed across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawai’i in an expedition of just under 40 days, earning them a Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing. His most recent record was achieved in the summer of 2022 after completing a 91-day solo, unsupported Pacific Ocean crossing from Monterey, CA to Hilo, HI in a custom kayak. You can learn more about his adventures on Cyril’s website.
Cyril is a natural extrovert and loves to interact and learn from people. As a passionate paddler, he loves to share his knowledge and experience with fellow water lovers of all levels.