Company History

Stephen Crowell’s first passion developed during elementary school where he was taught to sail on small lakes.  This passion continued during college.  Stephen majored in Out-Door-Recreation.  Sailing was put aside for canoeing.  Stephen attempted almost any water, still or moving,  up to or at class III.  When his knees began to fail he moved into a sea kayak.  During this time Stephen caught the vision of sea kayaking around the North American Continent.

Stephen went to Florida to train with some of the best paddlers in the world and where the best paddlers came to instruct.  Stephen managed Sweetwater Kayaks, a shop that not only sold kayaks but also gave lessons and tours.  Stephen’s second passion was developed here.  The books sold at the store reached only about twenty percent of those kayaking. Stephen took it upon himself to remedy the problem.  He first wrote “A Beginner’s Guide to Recreational Kayaking”, this was followed by “A Beginner’s Guide to Kayak Fishing”.  Fred Hill and avid writer, kayaker and fisherman helped bring this last book to life.  Stephen has also written “A Beginner’s Guide to Recreational Kayaking for Kids” and “32 Ways to Blow Up Your Kayak”.

Stephen had the opportunity to paddle almost every kayak designed.  Stephen noticed that experienced paddlers made modifications to their boats so that the kayak would fit better and ultimately handle better.  Stephen researched wooden kayak designs and found them to be far superior in weight, strength, durability, and most importantly they could be easily customized during the construction. 

Wave Dancer Productions was born out of Stephen’s experimentation for his perfect kayak. After building several kayaks and having people ask for one themselves, Stephen launched Wave Dancer Productions.