BLUELINE IN A NUTSHELL

Lots of people have asked me how BlueLine started. Well it actually started as a hobby for me doing custom BlueLine SUP boards long before the store opened.I used to shape surfboards many years ago so I had some knowledge of the surf biz and board design. A few years ago Spenser Kellogg from iShapes and myself designed a couple of SUP boards on the computer and BlueLine SUP was born. John Birges from Glass Monkey glassed and did the airbrush. All three of us at one time worked for Clyde Beatty at the Clyde Beatty glass shop in Santa Barbara. Boy that was a crazy freaking place to work!! Anyhow, after doing SUP boards under the BlueLine name for awhile I realized that if I wanted to make a living at this and quit my day job I would have to take it further than doing my own boards. I then started working with Ron House, Gerry Lopez and QuickBlade repping their products out of Brad Rambo's warehouse in San Clemente. I also had a short run with Naish. Naish is a great company. Then about a year and a half ago after spending a very short time working at SurfingSports here in SB I decided it was time to open up my own SUP shop. It was always a dream to own a surf shop. This was the perfect set up. A sup only shop. There was a need for that. Although there was already a SUP shop in town one was not enough. Along with my business partners we opened BlueLine Stand Up Paddle Surf in the Summer of 2008. During this time we also started another business, OnBoard Watersports. OnBoard is the US mainland distributor of Paddle Surf Hawaii SUP boards. These boards kick ass!! It is a huge honor to be working with Blane Chambers. BlueLine has been cranking since we have opened and I can't tell you how may people have stopped by the store or have called over the past year telling me they are starting their own SUP shop and they are modeling it after ours. Now stores are popping up all over. It's amazing how far this sport has come in such a short time. I wish all the other new SUP shops the best of luck in the new year. It's a sometimes hard and stressful business to be in but in the end we are making a living at something we love to do. BlueLine is alive and well and we plan on being around for many years to serve the Santa Barbara SUP community as well as the whole country. There is so much more but that's it in a nutshell. Have a good one and please be safe and courteous while in the water. OUT.

PS.....nope, we no longer do BlueLine SUP boards. They could make a comeback someday if I feel there is a market for them. Way to much work.