Our New Story | Scaling SUP

It’s the same thing every morning. I walk in here and my mind is blown. I breathe in the air, the fresh smell of lumber. I look at everything that has been accomplished, the stunning beauty of all the boards. I think back to changing the world one board at a time. That’s where it all started.

This feeling of gratitude, it’s overwhelming. The sense of progress, it’s unbelievable. I’ve done what nobody else has been able to do, sustainably build eco-friendly, hollow-core wooden boards. These paddleboards perform better. They’re shaped better. Simply put, they’re inspiring.

Little Bay Boards is here to change this industry, to change the look, to change the feel and to change the ride. I didn’t know I would tell this story, it’s a tale of dedication, nine years of being a student and a teacher experimenting and failing while refining the craft, the art of building boards.

Working with my hands I’m creating functional art and taking on the task of creating a better board for you, for me, for the planet.

At Little Bay Boards we are on a mission to bring a sustainable wood board to a foam-dominated industry and we are breaking that mold.

Step 1:
Our team selects the highest quality materials to go on each and every build, sustainably forested, reclaimed and salvaged woods are sourced – first for their beauty and then for their strengths. You can tell the lumber is the heart and soul of Little Bay Boards. It’s the backbone of our eco-friendly approach to building the best paddleboards.

I spent four years building a process and crafting custom boards. after building 300 boards by hand. I had the back pocket engineering to not only make the most artistic boards the world has ever seen but I had the knowledge to pass on my expertise to a team, a team that puts their all into every board we build.

Step 2:
Frames are cut to perfect precision, then laid out by hand and assembled. We offer a product unlike anything in this market. I know you wouldn’t expect the best hollow core wooden paddle boards on the planet to be born in Michigan, but it all started here.

As an organically grown company, it took me years to gain the knowledge and the wisdom to perfect my craft. Lots of dues, lots of don’ts. But never was my life without a board to be worked on. My little operation born in my parent’s garage was evolving. All the sacrifices, all the sleepless nights, all the hard work. Our Paddle boards were being seen worldwide. It was the opportunity I’d been waiting for and I was going to take it.

Step 3:
We press our uniquely designed shape and rocker profile out on our tables. I’m a master carpenter by trade. Building things is what I do. We built out a production facility taking the talent of hand engineering and combining it with state-of-the-art technology, then we put together a team of craftsman and laid out the work to building boards of scale, a process that used to take three weeks to produce one board now takes six days. That means more paddleboards for more people. That one accomplishment created, what is now known as Little Bay Boards.

Step 4:
By hand, we assemble our unique rail system and the board begins to take shape. What happens when your dream becomes reality? Little Bay Boards was finally on the map as an industry leader. Up to this point we’d be focused on building custom boards by hand one at a time, but the demand was at an all-time high and we wanted to get more eco-friendly paddleboards to more people. It’s time to scale. Space, employees, technology tools and equipment, production management. Each board is still hands-on, each board is still as eco-friendly as humanly possible, each board holds a piece of our heart.

Step 5:
Off to the glassing room where everything comes together. Upholding the traditions of quality that Little Bay Boards is known for, my eco-friendly boards were being, noticed by the industry
the Standup Journal was the first to acknowledge followed by a whirlwind of boards were making the pages of Beverly Hills Magazine, The Insider, scp-mag and countless others were telling my story.

Sir Richard Branson even got on board getting the board delivered to his private island. Adding the earth-friendly resin almost zero carbon footprint and the sweat of building by hand we supply a board unmatched in this industry.

Bringing in the O’Connor brothers to help lift my dream was a wish come true. They understood my mission, our mission, rideable art for the masses. Each step is as important as the next, rooted in our cause to make an impact one, board at a time.

Nine years of being a student and a teacher, experimenting and failing while refining the craft, the art of building boards, all because of my inability to tell my daughter “no.”

She opened up a new whole world of possibilities, a new life.  It’s the same thing every morning.  I breathe in the air, the fresh smell of lumber.  I look at everything that has been accomplished, the stunning beauty of all the boards.  I think back to changing the world one board at a time.  That’s where it all started.  This feeling of gratitude, it’s overwhelming.  The sense of progression, it’s unbelievable.  I’ve done what no one else has been able to do, sustainably build an eco-friendly hollow core board.