MONTHLY RENTAL SPOTLIGHT
Here at Isle we not only sell boards directly to end customers, but many people have started small rental and touring companies using fleets of our boards to have fun, share sup with others, and generate some income while paddling. We offer bulk sup pricing discounts for orders of 6 or more board packages for anyone looking to start a sup business or rental company. After receiving so many great photos and stories from these paddle companies, we were inspired to create a monthly rental spotlight. Enjoy our spotlight for this month:
ABOUT SUPERIOR PADDLE BOARDING
Superior Paddle Boarding is a small, locally-owned family business providing paddle board rentals, delivery, and adventures. Their business was built on the love and respect of their hometown lake, Lake Superior.Superior Paddle Boarding is not your average paddle board rental company as they take it to the next level incorporating party barges and Paddle Pub Tours.
PADDLING MINNESOTA
Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, that is more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined! With so much shoreline you’re sure to find a desolate place to paddle and take in the amazing scenery. The waters of Lake Superior are clear and clean and it can offer all types of SUPing. For example, you can go for a tour on the calm glassy waters or try your luck at surfing due to the large wind swells producing knee to head high waves. In any case, Superior Paddle Boarding can help build an itinerary for your trip that will give you the “True North” experience.
READ A LITTLE MORE ABOUT SUPERIOR PADDLE BOARDING IN THIS Q&A
1. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COMPANY AND WHAT YOU GUYS DO?
We provide paddle board rentals and guided adventure tours on the world’s largest lake by surface area, Lake Superior. We like to have fun while teaching our clients to love and respect the “Big Lake”, so some of our trips are little different than what you might expect from your average rental company/outfitter. For example, we have Paddle Pub Tours in which we paddle to some of the awesome local craft breweries in Duluth which are conveniently located on the water. We also have Summer Concert Party Barges, in which we raft up and listen to concerts at Duluth’s amazing waterside music venues.
2. HOW IS THE PADDLE BOARDING IN MINNESOTA? WHAT WILL YOU NORMALLY SEE ON A PADDLE ON LAKE SUPERIOR?
Lake Superior is the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes, with an average underwater visibility of 27 ft, and often much deeper. The shoreline is made up of rocks that date to the early history of the earth, and much of the North Shore is sheer cliffs rising up hundreds of feet straight out of the water.
Sometimes you have the best intentions to paddle on the lakes glassy surface, but Lake Superior is all, “nope, today we surf!” The best time of day to paddle is typically sunrise or sunset, but there are many days to enjoy the calm waters all day long. On the flipside, if you want to surf Superior, there are plenty of days the lake has large swells. Because the weather can be hazardous and the water is cold, safety precautions are of the utmost importance to us every time we take to the water.
We love to share the stony shores, scenic cliffs, many lighthouses and brilliant sunsets with our guests. Eagle, loon, otter and fox sightings are common. The view from atop the board is spectacular looking out, but looking beneath your board is also breathtaking. We’ve seen Lake Trout and salmon swim beneath our boards, and the boulders beneath the surface of the water are often as dramatic and breathtaking as the cliffs along the shore. We hate to brag, but we do have a great lake, and we think it’s superior!
3. WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT ON A TYPICAL PADDLE LESSON BY SUPERIOR PADDLE BOARDING?
You can expect an enthusiastic introduction to the sport of SUP, safety instruction, fun facts about the area and local wildlife, and lots of cheesy jokes and puns.
4. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT TEACHING SUP LESSONS?
We love sharing our love for SUP, nature, and Lake Superior with others. Often our clients purchase boards after only one paddle on the big lake and we are so thrilled to see others take on a sport that fosters a deeper appreciation for the natural world.
5. WHAT DO YOU/ YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE ABOUT ISLE STANDUP PADDLE BOARDS?
We are obsessed with Isle Airtech inflatables sups, and most of our customers are too! Isle Inflatables are basically bulletproof and they are so easy to transport – eliminating the stress of transporting a board by roof rack for our customers. Simply throw it the backseat or the trunk and you are on your way. The boards are ideal for hiking into remote locations, of which there are countless opportunities on the North Shore. They are so buoyant you can pack an entire week’s worth of camping gear on the board to get into those truly wild locations.
But let’s not forget about the other Isle boards. The Isle Soft Serves are super stable and durable, which gives us the confidence to throw beginners on boards even when there is some chop on the water. To be honest, we do have a several boards that are not Isle, but we try not to use them unless it’s absolutely necessary. The Isle Boards are just so much better!
6. ANY ADVICE WHEN TRAVELING TO DULUTH, MN?
Duluth is an outdoorsy city. We’ve got countless miles of hiking and mountain biking trails and two ski hills right in the city limits, and of course a whole lot of water. Rent a bike, a board, or go climbing in our indoor climbing gym or along the rocky cliffs of Lake Superior. Grab a brew at one of our great craft breweries such as Bent Paddle Brewing Company Cruise up the shore and stop in Knife River to buy smoked lake trout from Russ Kendall’s Smoke House, eat picnic lunches at every opportunity, turn off your cell phone, and lose yourself in the grandeur of the North Shore. Just remember to bring a sweater. We have a saying here: “It’s cooler by the lake” and that my friend, is a true statement.
