Meet The Team
Tori Ayres
Founder & Guide
I followed my heart in the summer of 2016 and made a big cross country move from Nashville, TN to Bellingham, WA. Urged on by friends who said the Pacific Northwest was a healing place, I packed up my small car with just the essentials and took a huge leap of faith. I knew I wanted to work for myself, and after much soul searching and asking myself, "What are you passionate about?", the one thing that kept ringing in my ears was kayaking. All I had to do was look on the map of Bellingham, and I could see it was a paddler's paradise. There was much to learn, so I spent every moment I could of my first summer in Bellingham on the water. I can't wait to get out and show you all the beautiful places I've discovered!
Brooke Durkan
Lead Guide
Brooke hails from New England, where she grew up playing in ponds & streams, camping & canoeing in Maine, and saltwater fishing out of Salisbury, Massachusetts. After attending college in Vermont and then back home in Western Mass, she took her first guiding job, with Berkshire Whitewater. She fell in love with guiding and whitewater could have been it, but an injury on the river stopped her journey short. A couple years of washing around found Brooke back on the coast, where she took a job with a top-notch outfitter, Seven Rivers Paddling, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Once again, Brooke fell in love, and this time, with sea kayaking, it stuck. She guided two seasons in the coastal waters of NH and ME and found community, healing, and inspiration. In 2023, Brooke followed her biggest, wildest dreams, and made the move to the best paddler's paradise she could think of- the Pacific Northwest. Here is Bellingham she is so grateful to start her next chapter with Dragonfly Kayak, and for the opportunity to share some stories & play with you in these beautiful, world-class waters.
Austin Countryman
Flex Guide / Substitute Camp Counselor
Austin is a returning guide and substitute camp counselor from Enumclaw, WA. He went to Western Washington University and majored in Biology, and is grateful to consider Bellingham a true “second home”. An experienced outdoor educator and guide, Austin enjoys biking, bread-making, and running around Bellingham on his time off. Talk to him about birds!
Amber Pouley
Flex Guide
Amber is a returning guide. She usually rides bikes in the summer, but after discovering sea kayaking has really enjoyed getting out on the water as often as possible. When she's not recreating, she's probably at work at the hospital or hanging at a local brewery or cidery. She loves being able to share the beauty of our region in different ways: leading beginner mountain bike rides and now from off the shores of the Salish Sea.
Hannah Lindsey
Flex Guide
Hi, I’m Hannah! I am originally from Tampa, FL, but have come to fall in love with the Western states as I have been exploring them for a few years now! I moved to Bellingham in May of 2021 from Fraser, Colorado. Guiding people on adventures has become a passion of mine and have obtained my Masters in Tourism Management from CSU. When I’m not sharing the beautiful scenes around Bellingham Bay with you I can most likely be found mountain biking on Galbraith, skiing up at Mt. Baker, hiking up a number of trails with my dog, playing beach volleyball, or catching a ferry to explore one of the San Juan Islands. I look forward to meeting a multitude of new people and sharing the wonders that come with exploring the outdoors!