When Dave Schuster of Clear Water Outdoor built his dream racing stand up paddleboard, he didn’t realize the special destiny that awaited. His goals were modest and personal. “I wanted to tell the Hobie® custom story, and always wanted my own SUP,” the Hobie dealer with stores in Lake Geneva, Delafield and Milwaukee says.
He contacted the design team at Hobie Stand Up Paddleboards, Mark Johnson and Byron Kurt, with a vision inspired by the U.S. flag: white stars on a blue field on the board’s nose, and waving red and white stripes down the length of the board.
Dave also had special performance expectations. He explained how he teaches SUP skills, how he likes to race, and the difficultly of the waters of Lake Michigan. “I described what I thought that should look like: 25 inches wide, reduced volume in the overall board, even more reduced in the tail, and I wanted deck plugs for safety gear and such while working on water,” he recalls. Manufactured in Hobie’s Performance Lab in California, Dave’s vision became a reality.
He named the board Glory – his father’s affectionate name for his mother, and another name for the flag. “The custom colors blew away my best expectations and the shape turned out insane!” he says.
Glory was the ideal board for Dave, but as he’d soon discover, an even better fit for Nate Dub.
The Stars and Stripes are deeply meaningful to Dub. A veteran, he leads Proudly We Stand, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of fellow veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly known as PTSD.
Nate founded the organization in 2014 in the wake of losing his best friend, a combat veteran who had served six tours, to PTSD. “Twenty-two vets commit suicide every day. That averages out to one every 65 minutes. I needed to take a stand,” he explains.
Proudly We Stand has two main initiatives. The first is connecting veterans with PTSD with companion animals – rescues usually. Nate has one, a boxer lab named Bo, short for Bocephus. Bo helps stave off the loneliness that often accompanies the transition to civilian life. “It’s amazing what animals can do. The animal rescues the soldier. I really believe that,” he says.
The second is to raise awareness for the mission of helping veterans. Last August, Nate partnered with SUP endurance specialist Shane Perrin to paddle the 100 miles from Chicago to Milwaukee in just under 32 hours. Nate’s commitment to his mission is total.
Shortly before Memorial Day, Nate faced Dave in the Gathering of the Paddlers, a locals race on Lake Michigan. Dave was ahead of him, and as he made a buoy turn Nate caught his first sight of Glory.
“The entire six miles back I’m thinking how I’m going to talk to him as soon as we get back to shore. I had to have it,” Nate says.
For Dave, there was no choice to be made. He’d sacrifice his dream board for a higher cause. “It was awesome and scary for me. I was so stoked for the board, and even more stoked to hand it off to Nate and his cause. I pray it serves him well,” Dave says.
Nate is taking Glory to the Missouri American Water MR340, a 340-mile race down the Missouri River from Kansas City to St. Louis. Paddling with Shane, his goal is to complete it in 55 hours, straight through.
He’s raising money via a GoFundMe page for a trip to New York for Sea Paddle NYC 2016, set for August 20. “Representing U.S. military veterans by completing this epic paddle would be an honor,” he says.
Later, he and Shane will paddle the 200 miles from Washington Island in northeastern Wisconsin, to Milwaukee for Proudly We Stand. “We are starting on 9/9 and will complete it on 9/11 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the day that changed us all,” Nate says.
The Glory SUP will see him through every mile. He has no other board. “I’m a little nervous. I don’t want to hurt her,” Nate says. Not that that will stop him.
“I’m compelled to complete these endurance paddles because I need to get peoples’ attention on the needs of veterans. I will fight through the aches and pains of standing for these distances, through the swells, storms, and heat. My brothers and sisters suffering from PTSD don’t get a break from their illness, and I will fight through these paddles to help them,” Nate says.
