Greg Eavey Surfboards
Meet Greg Eavey.
A soft spoken man of few words, Greg Eavey speaks more through his quiet nature, but mostly through the product of his chosen craft: surfboards.
We pulled off the main highway just outside of Wilmington, NC. A five-minute drive dropped us on a dirt road where we passed replanted pines, the occasional family home, and a former ostrich farm, finally arriving at Greg’s home. It’s an incredibly elegant mid-century modern concrete slab of a house with 3 cookie-cutter brown woodsheds out front comfortably nestled in the shade of tall loblolly and longleaf pines. While Greg’s wife may run the home, the 3 sheds out front are Greg’s domain.
"Greg Eavey speaks more through his quiet nature, but mostly through the product of his chosen craft: surfboards."
Greg’s sheds are something of a marvel to the untrained layman with no shaping experience. Recently acquired (and put together in one day), these sheds make up Greg’s studio, where he spends long hours painstakingly crafting a wide variety of surfboards. Featuring full ventilation, lights that come from every thinkable angle (so he can switch them on and off to get a better sense of the board’s shape), and artifacts from years of collecting around the globe, it’s a treasure trove of surf culture.
"...from years of collecting around the globe, it’s a treasure trove of surf culture."
Anyone who enjoys shaving away foam and glassing it, too, would be envious of his setup. But Greg would disagree. And not because it isn’t close to perfect (as perfect as a perfectionist might allow), but for the sole fact that Greg is as humble as humble comes. He won’t talk up his work; his salesman skills are lacking almost to a fault. But he makes up for it in waves through his thoughtful nature and seemingly clairvoyant knowledge of his craft.
Greg’s a ghost. No website. No social media. Very likely no email — or at most an irregularly checked inbox. If you’re looking for an Eavey Surfboard — and you probably should be — your best option is knowing someone who knows someone who knows Greg. Even then, it’ll probably be a few months (or more) until you get your brand-new custom and beautifully crafted Eavey Surfboard. Because even with Greg’s off-the-grid, hard-to-reach nature, the word has traveled through the grapevine that his boards are well worth the long wait.
"Even with Greg’s off-the-grid nature, the word has travelled through the grapevine that his boards are well worth the wait."
And there’s more reason than one why Greg’s boards are so worth it. Greg’s casual name drops as he discusses board shaping with our founder, Logan, and our sales rep, Stack (who the connection first came from anyways), are Titans of the surf world and his many mentors. World-famous shapers, top-of-the-line brands, first-class OG surfers, etcetera. The guy is clearly well connected. But mind you, when he drops a name, it’s not in some vain form of self-entitlement or from a proud personality — it’s just what Greg knows best: the methods, the people, and the experiences that have defined generations of surfers like him. He just happened to be there for more of it than he first lets on.
"It's just as easy to hang one in the living room as it is to wax it up and take it out there."
It was an incredibly humbling opportunity to meet a man at the top of his craft that’s too kind-hearted and low-key to make a big fuss about it. While born for the water, Greg’s boards are a true craftsman’s work. It’s just as easy to hang one in the living room as it is to wax it up and take it out there. When you’re looking for your next surfboard, look no further than one of Greg’s creations. But, be prepared to wait in line.
There's a reason Greg's rocking our Cordy button up. It's a fabric with the durability of a timeless construction and it's wildly soft as well; the perfect combo for a guy who spends all day in hot sheds whittling away at his craft. The Cordy is a new take on a proven outdoor staple. We took the comfort of corduroy to the next level by adding stretch for a better range of motion. From cool mornings chasing redfish to gathering around a campfire, Available in Rust (shown here), Navy, Honey, and Spartina.
