By Jason Thelen of Little Bay Boards I’ve been building hollow wood boards for 12 years. Somewhere around 500 finely crafted wood paddle boards and surfboards have left my tables to go to clients. To be clear, those first few weren’t as “finely” crafted as the last...
Board Stories
Bears and Bolts
Some Grateful Dead Standup Paddleboard art... Bear and Bolts Constructed in late summer 2020, these Grateful Dead inspired Stand Up Paddle Boards were designed and cut in pieces before we got our big laser. And a little Steal Your Face...
Surprise Paddleboard Gift Giving
On November 6th we had the incredible opportunity to participate in a glorious act of gift giving. Check it out...
Custom Paddleboard for VW Project: Dirty Waves
Classic footage from our old shop! Check out this video of the Dirty Rides build...Built by Matthew Powell & Jason Thelen at Little Bay Boards with inspiration from the crew at Dirty Rides Music: One Hand Clap by Distant StarsThe Story In 1970 Emerson DeLaney...
Beards Brewery
PETOSKEY, MICHIGAN
Always Forward Board
This design came to us from an old friend. Her mother was, and is, her idol in life and had always told her as a child and now as a grown woman, that, Life hands you difficult situations all the time. The key is to “Always move forward.” The arrows were copied from...
The Latvian Boards
These two boards are great examples of Little Bay Boards’ ability to customize a wooden paddle board’s size and shape to its owner’s preferred body of water and riding style.
The First Board
This First Board, the one that started it all, was built for Jason’s daughter (who was 9 years old at the time) who requested an eco-friendly paddleboard.
Snow and Skate
Petoskey’s own Little Bay Boards recently upgraded its workspace following a move into the old Kilwins candy factory, allowing the paddle board manufacturer to produce even more boards.
The Chest Plate Board
Weight: 6 lbs
A 48” classic shape Wake board. Truly an allrounder shape for performance.
Its name comes from its looks, reminding Jason of the Native American Warrior chest plates made from bones.
This board was designed and built using 100% salvaged woods from under our tables, where we store scrap wood at the shop.
The River Runs Through It Board
This “river” paddleboard has gotten world notoriety since its invention at the end of 2018. Based off the ideas of river tables that have become a popular furniture piece these last couple of years, Jason wanted to be the first real wood company to make a river board. After 6 months of designing the custom framing necessary to accommodate a river running through it, Jason made it happen.
Wife gives husband surprise gift
These two wives and mothers wanted to show their appreciation for their wonderful husbands. They decided it would be fun to surprise the man in their life with a surprise paddleboard gift. Jason loves doing these surprise gift givings!Turns out these gifts provided...
The Swamp Board
Originally built to be Jason’s personal ride. Built in: 2016 Weight: 26 lbs Jason found this wood in 2014. He saved it for two years before finally finding enough time to build this perfect ride. However, life happens and when he was nearing completion he found out...