Hailing from the tiny ranching town of Halfway, Oregon, I was introduced to the world of whitewater at a young age through my father who was a guide on the Snake River in Hells Canyon.  In my teenage years my family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where I signed onto an expedition down the Grand Canyon with Grand Canyon Youth.  The first moment the boat pushed off from the ramp at Lees Ferry, I knew in my heart I was going to be a boatman, forever.  Shortly thereafter, I became a river guide and have been guiding on the rivers of the American west since 2009.

During the winter of 2015, I stumbled into Fretwater Boatworks, a boat shop owned by long time Grand Canyon guide Brad Dimock.  As soon as I saw the boat Brad and his crew were working on, a spell was cast on me.  I remember sheepishly gawking at that beautiful boat for probably an hour when all of the sudden, Brad handed me a Japanese pull saw and told me to get to work.  At the end of the day, he told me to write down my hours and come back the next day, and that was my job interview.  I apprenticed for him off and on for about five years.  During that time, I helped with the build of the first Doryak, the single person dories designed to run like no other boat in the world.

In 2020, I left Fretwater and moved up to Gunnison, Colorado.  What began as a project to build my own personal Doryak began to materialize as a small business, and Raindog Boatworks was created.