Paddleboarding businesses popping up all over
By TOM KNOX, Business writer
PONCE INLET — Scotty Bumbalough was a mortgage broker in New Smyrna Beach five years ago.
R.J. Murray and his brother Justin were working for an Orlando hedge fund in 2008.
And a month-and-a-half ago, Jeannette Hopkins was a stay-at-home mom in Daytona Beach.
All lived comfortable lives, and could have stayed that way. But a desire for the sea and an activity growing in popularity drew the local entrepreneuers to start their own paddleboard businesses in the Volusia County area.
Stand-up paddleboarding is rowing or surfing on a giant board, a paddle in hand. A small learning curve makes it more accessible than surfing, as do the beautiful views, exercise and walking-on-water feeling. Yoga and eco-tours are also popular on the boards. If boats are the airline jets of the water, paddleboards are the crop-dusters.
Its origins lie in Hawaii, and Americans on the West Coast in the early 2000s started to bring it national recognition. But only recently has the sport’s popularity grown on the East Coast.
Hawaii is what led Bumbalough to the sport, and its lack of exposure in Volusia led him to ditch his job as a mortgage broker. In 2006, the mortgage and housing industries began to show signs of turmoil. So that winter, he journeyed to Maui to surf.
“I did some soul searching,” said Bumbalough, 44. “I said, ‘What do I want to do as a career? Because I see the mortgage broker position coming to an end.’ This sort of fell into my lap. When one opportunity ends, another presents itself.”
A longtime skateboarder, surfer and personal trainer, Bumbalough has homes in New Smyrna Beach and Orlando and was turned on by the ability to be more active, and not just lay on the board and wait for a wave.
“As soon as I stood up on the board I said, ‘Wow, this is like the evolution of surfing.’ ”
He soon realized that while the sport was well known in Hawaii, the West Coast and Europe, he couldn’t find a paddleboard in Central Florida. So he started his own company, Maui B’s Stand Up Paddle Boarding.
For the first two years, he took a lot of people out for free to gain exposure. He found them by using low-key marketing, handing out fliers in churches and relying on word of mouth. Each year it caught on more and more, and now he offers classes and tours along the shores of Volusia County and in Orlando.
In 2009, R.J. Murray, 31, and his brother Justin, 29, left the financial industry to launch a paddleboard business called Three Brothers Boards.
They chose the name to honor their younger brother Jason, who died the previous year. His death was a wakeup call to the two surviving brothers to quit procrastinating and pursue their dream of forming their own business.
They started in a warehouse on Ridgewood Avenue, focusing on building and selling boards that are assembled in Asia and shaped by the brothers. They make and sell three designs each year.
The Murray brothers noticed paddleboarding’s increasing popularity and wanted to expand into their own storefront and offer rentals and lessons. Two months ago, they moved to Beach Street in Daytona Beach. Last month an online coupon for two-person tours attracted 240 buyers.
“The sport’s grown so much in one year that everybody knows what it is now,” R.J. Murray said. “You were having to explain what it is.”
Hopkins, 46, didn’t come from the business world. She’s a mother of two teenagers who first discovered paddleboarding a year-and-a-half ago when her friend, Cobb Cole attorney Rob Merrell, took her to Ponce Inlet. She immediately loved it, and took classes on paddleboarding and business training to learn more. She decided to start her own company called Daytona Paddle Board.
Like Bumbalough, she operates without a solo storefront. She works as the Daytona Beach distributor for YOLO, a Santa Rosa Beach-based company, and works out of Daytona Beach Parasail in Ponce Inlet. It was a perfect fit for her and owner Matthew Dvorak, who was looking to add paddleboarding to the repertoire of parasailing, boating and other staples of Ponce Inlet businesses. He also appreciates the day-to-day business that the yoga part of her company can bring when the peak tourist season is over.
“It’s a way to expand the business when people are tired of sunburn and mini golf,” Dvorak said.
“It’s just amazing,” Hopkins, an avid fan of yoga, said of paddleboarding. “It’s the new yoga.”
She has 10 boards for lessons but is looking to add more.
Three Brothers chose their Beach Street location across from the Halifax River because of its proximity to the river. It’s a good spot for beginners to learn without the heavy wind and waves of the ocean.
All three paddleboard companies run eco-tours, which are especially popular among couples and families, and focus on manatees, dolphins and other marine life. Last month, paddleboarders on a guided tour with Three Brothers near City Island in Daytona Beach saw a manatee give birth to twin calves.
Bumbalough said he welcomes the new competition and the subsequent exposure paddleboarding is getting.
“It’s come a long way,” Bumbalough said. “Last year I’d say is the first year it caught on in the mainstream. I expect this year to be the best year by far we’ve had.”
Article by the Daytona Beach News Journal http://www.news-journalonline.com/business/local-business/2011/05/22/paddleboarding-businesses-popping-up-all-over.html
Start your SUP / Stand Up Paddleboard experience today with Maui B’s Paddle Board Daytona 1-800-671-9905 or visit us on the web at www.MauiB.com
