About Logopai
Hi! I’m Logopai! I moved to the Puget Sound area over 20 years ago and have not looked back. In 2007 I moved to Everett Washington and shortly thereafter saw kiteboarding for the first time at Jetty Island, our local site. I was in awe of the colorful kites, the aerial acrobatics and the gracefulness of the riders gliding across the water. It was beautiful. At the time, I didn’t think it was something that I could do because I was overweight and out of shape.
In 2016, after reaching 300 lbs and being classified as “morbidly obese” my doctor told me that if I didn’t get healthy I was going to die. My weight loss journey is a whole other story but in 2017 I had lost over 100 lbs, was training for a half marathon and in the best shape of my life. That summer, while having a picnic with my family, I saw the kiteboarders and thought that now was the time to give it a shot. In 2018 I took lessons and have been an avid kiteboarder ever since.
Later in 2018, I started making boards out of curiosity, my passion for the sport and a way to feel connected when there isn’t any wind. I like to say that when I’m not kiteboarding, I’m kiteboarding.
About the Banana Peel Board Company
The Banana Peel Board Company is my imaginary company under which I make kiteboards. I had a hard time learning the waterstart. It took me seven sessions, spending about three hours per session, before I got up on the board and getting my first short rides. While I was struggling I was trying to think of what motion is most like what you do when you’re waterstarting and felt that it was like slipping on a banana peel. I’ll never forget my instructor shouting out to me during my first ride, “You’re doing it! You’re slipping on a banana peel!” and from that moment, the Banana Peel Board Company was born!
About this Site
After making a board, I would post about it on Facebook. After a few boards, some friends started asking if I could do more step by step guides. I did that for one of my boards and enjoyed talking about each step but Facebook wasn’t a good platform for getting into much detail. I doubted the rest of my friends wanted to keep seeing me glue stringers in foam. I made this site to provide info on the boards I’m making, the tools I’ve found useful (or not), techniques I’m trying, content creators who are helpful and more. I think of this as a virtual notebook and hope that it may help or inspire other folks to make things by hand themselves.
As I’ve put this together, I’ve realized that this can also be a platform for some other information that I would have loved to see, so I’m including a spot guide for some local spots and other information useful to our local kiteboarding community.
Since I’d like to point out gear and tools that have worked out well for me, I went ahead an signed up for the Amazon Associates program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The most I hope to gain is a little beer money and maybe enough to pay the costs of maintaining this site. If you see something you like, please follow links I provide to help keep the lights on. Thanks!