About Us

At Leelanau Classics, I am passionate about wooden boats and their continued life on our many lakes. From painting and varnishing, to replacing and redoing sections of your boat, I have the ability, knowledge, and experience to help you restore your boat and am ready to take on your project, whatever it may be. 

There is a beauty and grace to seeing wooden boats slicing through clear, blue, sparkling water. They impart a sense of care, love, and history. Many wooden boats have origin stories of where and when they were built, who bought them, who rode in them, what lakes they ventured on to. They often have stories within families passed down through generations or purchased in remembrance of a former beloved vessel.

While the beginning of my journey started with building boats from scratch, I soon came to love and appreciate the process of restoring a wooden boat to its full glory. 

In 2005 I attended the Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design in Kennebunkport, Maine. I graduated in 2006 from the Composite/Modern Boat Construction Course. I moved back to Grand Rapids, MI and started working for a small company in Middleville. About a year and a half later I received a opportunity to start at Van Dam Custom Boats in Boyne City, MI. From there I moved on and worked at Frontier Classics in Charlevoix for the next eight years. 

In 2016 we decided to move our growing family of four to Leelanau County and worked for Dave Ball at Ball Boat Works for the next six years. Then in April 2022 Dave decided to retire. It was a natural opportunity for me to start my own shop and that is where Leelanau Classics began.