About Florence Oregon Area Kayakers (FOAK)

Florence Oregon Area Kayakers (FOAK) is a community group of more than 1,700 paddlers from the Siuslaw region and other communities that connect through Facebook. FOAK encourages and promotes kayaking activities at our numerous waterways. They plan community paddles year-round, and during the summer months, plan monthly raft-ups and a 10 Days on 10 Waters adventure. The group has organized well-attended annual workshops and invited prominent paddlers as speakers at various events for the last few years. 

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FOAK’s last education event in 2024 was an indoor education event and we heard that people wanted to get outside. For 2025, FOAK has combined their popular kayaking demo day with educational info to give participants plenty of time to talk to local organizations and each other about outdoor recreational activities. 

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Siuslaw Vision has been a wonderful community partner with FOAK. Siuslaw Vision’s mission is “building a better Siuslaw community together” and we specialize in connecting and celebrating our region’s people, so Siuslaw Vision is serving a central role in weaving celebrations of our region’s natural resources and the people who help keep them healthy, and helping participants connect with each other for conversations and activity planning.

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The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce has featured FOAK for providing resources for local paddlers, kayakers, and canoeists. Here is a link to their feature article about FOAK. 

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We also want to recognize the countless others who support FOAK in various ways—whether by attending our paddles, sharing safety tips, or helping a fellow kayaker at a launch site. We truly could not do all that we do without the collective passion and support of our entire paddling community. Thank you for being part of our journey on the water. We are incredibly grateful for your time, talent, and shared passion for paddling the Central Oregon Coast.

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FOAK would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our resource partners for their generosity in sharing their knowledge and assets with us. We want to give a special shout-out to some of our dedicated FOAK members.

• Dina Pavlis: Our sincere thanks to Dina for her leadership in starting FOAK in 2015.

• Patti Godwin: As the driving force behind FOAK today, Patti’s vision and passion have been essential in determining how to best share our resources with the community. She is instrumental in establishing our key community partnerships and remains the leading person ensuring FOAK continues to thrive.

• Jen Yocum: Our FOAK Safety Coach has been paddling throughout the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years. She has taken numerous kayaking classes and is refreshingly candid about what that experience means, offering guidance without claiming expert status and sharing lessons learned through trial, error, and nearly every mistake imaginable. We deeply appreciate Jen not only for her hard-earned wisdom, but for her steady presence. Those lucky enough to paddle alongside her benefit from her quiet calm, thoughtful perspective, and the kind of joy that reminds us why we got on the water in the first place.

• Annette Chihorek: For her incredible generosity in allowing us to link to her Super Water Trails website and app, providing invaluable navigation tools for our community.

• Bev Scott: Our talented webmaster, whose expertise keeps this site running and whose beautiful photography and videos capture the spirit of our local waters.​