Lynne Nagy learned about stand up paddleboards in 2005, when she saw Laird Hamilton, a big wave surfer on the cover of Outside magazine.

Nagy just knew it was her jam. The graduate Studies professor at Lake Erie College did some research and couldn’t find any boards around Cleveland. Stand up paddleboards, or SUPs as they are commonly referred to, were mainly on the West Coast at the time, and they were not only expensive but also heavy, costing a lot to ship.