Returning Home To The Ozarks Pro SUP Racer Heather Baus A wood cook stove supplied the hot meals at the Relyea family home during the childhood of Heather Relyea Baus. Fast forward from those modest years in Mountain Grove, Missouri and other memories rack up for the once internationally ranked stand up paddle boarder. Memories of camping and boating, the family hair salon, her father being the town judge, her mother and running, good times at Pontiac Cove Marina on Bull Shoals Lake, and many more memories. The 44-year-old Baus has now come full circle, leaving a trail of learning to sail, fly and stand up paddle board. What is stand up paddle boarding, most commonly known as SUP by those who participate? Stand up paddle boarding has its origins in Hawaii as a spin-off on surfing. The sport began to take off around 2005 and has grown significantly since, and now finds its way inland to where boarders can be found on lakes and streams, not just the ocean. And Heather Baus cruised her way to top rankings before bringing her family back to the Ozarks.
Photo by Dave Chun. 2010 Battle of the Paddle in California
Asked about the early years in Mountain Grove, Heather notes that she was “just a simple girl” who loved the outdoors. “My father was the catalyst behind all of our crazy weekend adventures. In the early years, we canoed and tent camped most weekends, and later in my teen years, we had this tiny sailboat that we spent most weekends aboard at Bull Shoals Lake. Pontiac Cove Marina was a like a second home. I had my own little run about and explored every inch of that lake!” Heather has been restoring the old boat and getting ready to splash it for its “maiden” voyage anew. Even though her father was the elected town judge, Heather notes that their family was far from being wealthy. “Being a hairdresser in a small town made for some lean living. We cooked on a wood cook stove until my senior year in high school and I became pretty handy with a chainsaw and axe. We were the quintessential little hippy family, living large with not a lot of means.”
Heather Baus and daughter Savannah floating the North Fork River in January 2016.
Page 2 Our Ozarks Magazine