Hankwest
What's up? I'm Hank and I love the ocean and fixing things. I'm a lifelong artist, musician, and tinkerer. I grew up surfing in Virginia Beach, and got into kitesurfing while living in Santa Cruz, CA in 2010. I'm an adventure junkie and have vanlife traveled the country on and off for a decade in pursuit of rad locations to surf, kite, skate, rock climb, and downhill mountain bike. I am stoked to now call Hatteras Island home. I'm a jack of all trades and consider myself MacGyver's long lost cousin. I studied Industrial Design at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas in San Antonio. I am a skilled metal fabricator and Tig welder that has worked in the automotive performance industry designing forced induction systems for racing applications. I then learned to sew and made rad, hardcore gear that is used daily by thousands of people around the world. I have worked in retail management, production catering for the movie industry, and driven massive forklifts at a marina drystack facility. I owned and operated a coral farming business supplying aquarium stores and hobbyists with homegrown corals. I am also an FAA part 107 licensed commercial drone pilot. I am excited to combine my interests and skills into our new project, OBX Remix. I look forward to meeting you and helping get you back on the water to keep getting awesome with your rad self. Aloha.
mudbailey
Yes, Mud is a nickname, but it fits me. I’m a little bit of a tomboy and I am a ceramic artist, among other things. I learned to sew and play with color from my mother at an early age and have been sewing and making art ever since. I grew up living near the water in Rhode Island and then Florida, and learned to sail while also teaching sailing as a Summer camp instructor at the age of 13. I loved it so much that I became a US Sailing certified instructor and continued to teach sailing for the next 12 years. When I went off to college I picked schools that had art programs and sailing teams. As a freshman I was a starting skipper for the varsity sailing team at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. In search of a better art program, I transferred, and graduated from University of South Florida in Tampa with a Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics. After school I did my art on the side and pursued a career in sailing as a coach and program director. I gave that up to help build and run a small handcrafted gear company called RAGGEDedge Gear, which I did for 10 years before moving to Hatteras Island to be close to the ocean again, learn to kite, enjoy all the island life has to offer and start OBX Remix!
