Beatle Mccartney working on Surf Film

Looks like the ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is teaming up with the legendary surf film maker McCoy. Apparently McCoy taught Iggy pop how to hand ten, not everybody has that sort of claim to fame! Its a bit like me teaching Jimmy Hendrix to do a cut back!
How did this partnership come about between McCartney and McCoy? The former Beatle befriended Jack McCoy over lunch after the surfing pioneer asked McCartney for permission to use his ‘Fireman’ song, ‘This Is Love’ in his new surf film ‘A Deeper Shade of Blue’. Now McCartney wants to add visuals his music using McCoys underwater Jet Ski technique.
How Bizarre!

Have you ever thought how todays economic situation may have on your surfing activity? Inflation is running high in the UK at 3.7% and is set to rise further due to a barrel of oil breaking the $100 barrier, the recent VAT rise, higher food and clothing costs.
Being a land locked surfer once i filled up the tank to travel to surf all over the country, but now Im reluctant to even travel down to the south cost due to the cost of fuel. I have to know the surfing is 110% pumping and fun or the time and cost involved isnt even worth it.
All this got me thinking about those surfers out there who do travel hundreds of miles in the search for waves. Has all this economic madness had an impact on their wallet? I’m pretty sure it must have for a few reasons. Fuel had risen to 1.30 a litre so if a surfer were to travel from Nottingham (where i lived) to say Wollacombe north Devon this would cost around 100 for a round trip and using a semi economical car.
Oil is in practically everything we use and this dirty commodity is used to make wetsuits surfboards, surfboard leash, surf wax, board bags and all the surf equipment you need to go surfing. This means when the price of oil goes up so does the price of you next surfboard, wetsuit or any other surf gear you are about to buy.

We have some top tips to save you some cash in these hard economic times.

1. Surf Travel
To make surf travel cheaper you need to acquire some surfing buddies which live close by. This way you can split the costs of the travel and always choose to ride in the most economical car.
If you have no friends try and make some and get them into surfing.
If you cant make any surfing buddies you could also resort to car crime and TWOC and fill up at the petrol stations for free. (We dont recommend this you may get caught and thrown in jail and not be able to surf at all!)
Finally you could hitch hike to the desination, but it is most likely you will end up being picked up by a murderer!

2. Surf Equipment
Instead of purchasing the top of the range wetsuit, why not down grade to an entry level wetsuit. Look at the O’Neill Epic Wetsuit below. Most of the entry level wetsuits nowadays have some cracking features which also feature on the top end wetsuits like the O’Neill Psycho 2. The ONeill Epic has the rolled skin collar, fire wall lining, Kevlar knee pads and 100% stretch on the upper body. Bonus

Depending on how often you go surfing it may be worth your while renting a wetsuit if you can brave the piss stained hire wetsuits? (We wouldnt recommend this at all)
If you are about to buying a new surfboard why not downgrade to a swell board? Ok, these are for beginners but they cost half the price and they still float when you travelled 3000miles to find the waves are flat. If a swelly surfboard doesnt do it for you, you can check out all our surfboards to see which will fit you budget and ride style.

Ordering a wetsuit which fits

Purchasing a wetsuit via an online surf shop makes sense to a lot of people as it is more convenient, especially if you already owned the brand and size of the wetsuit. However, if you are changing wetsuit brand, or you have never owned a wetsuit before how can you be sure what you are buying online will fit?
Just because you maybe a large in a T shirt it doesn’t mean that you will fit into any wetsuit which has a large sing label. The first thing to remember is that different brands of wetsuits have different fittings. For example, O’Neill wetsuits have a larger fitting than Rip Curl Wetsuits which are smaller and slimmer fitting. Brands like Xcel wetsuits have a massive break down of sizes; this ensures that they fit most body shapes and sizes.
Before you whip out your credit card and make the purchase online, it would be wise to weigh and measure yourself precisely. The main measurements to obtain are height, weight and chest size. To obtain your weight, just step on some scales and see what your weight is. The next stage will be to use a tape measure and see how tall or short you are. The chest is measured by placing string underneath the armpits and around the chest whist relaxing and not breathing out or in. After you have looped the string round the circumference of the chest cut it off and measure with the tape measure.
Once you have your precise measurements you can view our sizing charts to see which brand of wetsuit would fit best.

See below all our wetsuit sizing charts.

Billabong Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/billabong-wetsuit-chart.php
C Skins Wetsuits Men’s, Women’s & Children’s http://www.freakfish.co.uk/c-skins-wetsuits.php
O’Neill Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/oneill-wetsuits-chart.html
O’Neill Children’s Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/oneill-youth-sizing-charts.html
Rip Curl Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/rip-curl-wetsuits-chart.html
Rip Curl Children’s Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/rip-curl-childrens-wetsuits-chart.html
Quiksilver Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/quiksilver-mens-wetsuit-sizing.html
Roxy Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/roxy-wetsuit-sizing-chart.html
Xcel Wetsuits http://www.freakfish.co.uk/xcel-size-charts.php

The key to using the wetsuit sizing charts is to use the 3 key measurements, height, weight, chest size and make sure you fit in-between the sizing limit of each key measurement on the sizing chart. If you find that 2 of the 3 key measurements are out then it’s a good indicator the size you are looking at won’t fit. Example below

For a O’Neill Wetsuit
Size S = Small
Height Limit of 5’8” – 5’10”
Weight Limit of 135-159lb (61-70kg)
Chest Size Limit of 36 1/2 – 38 ½

Customers Wetsuit Sizing
Height of 5’10”
Weight of (72kg)
Chest Size of 39inch

As you can see the customer’s measurements above indicate that the size small would fit in height, but the chest and weight are slightly out. The next size up would a Medium in an O’Neill wetsuit as you can see below
Size M = Medium
Height Limit of 5’9” – 5’11”
Weight Limit of 150-170lb (68-77kg)
Chest Size Limit of 38 1/2 – 40 ½

If you feel that you are unsure about the sizing, please contact us and we will give you expert advice on which size to go for.

Once you have received your order through the post the wetsuit should feel like a second skin. Below are a few points which should let you know you have the best fit.

• The wetsuit should feel snug , but not restrictive
• New wetsuits will supple up over time and have a little more give.
• Wetsuit will expand in time and will feel looser
• If the wetsuit feels like it is pressing down on your shoulders it is too short
• Wetsuit can have a little excess neoprene under the armpits, but not too much.
• Also when you bend over the neoprene will fold, this is normal
• If the wetsuit is majorly baggy around the stomach, or else where it isn’t a good fit
• Make sure that the arms and legs are long enough, especially when wearing wetsuit boots and wetsuit gloves with a winter wetsuit. You don’t want massive gaps in-between the wetsuit accessories.

The surfing addiction and wetsuits

The surfing addiction and wetsuits!

When Joe public often thinks of surfers they think of blonde messy hair, laid back, most likely dope smokers and drop outs. Well in some cases their perception would be correct, but i bet they never think respectable people surf like doctors, vicars, scientists, teachers and i was going to say bankers and politicians, but they are far from being respectable. Also i bet Joe blogs thinks surfers only surf in the summer time when the weather is respectable and bearable. This is the case with some surfers, but there are a minority who like to take the plunge in winter waters of 7c (before adding wind chill) and we are completely mad! Yes, mad thats right, completely mad for surfing!

Think about it; who in their right mind would wake up at 6am on a cold dark winters morning and slip into an already cold, wet, piss stained wetsuit from the previous session to go and enjoy their sport? I think this procedure must put a lot of fair-weather surfers off surfing in the winter. However, if you can get over dragging yourself out of bed and slipping into a damp cold wetsuit you know you are 110% dedicated and a surfing addict.

When i first started surfing i do admit i tried the sport in the summer months, but after that first wave i knew cold water wasnt ever going to stop me surfing. I had caught the bug and became a surf junky. I think to myself, if there wasnt such a thing as a wetsuit, what would i do? I would most likely rub deep heat all over my body, then pop on a coat of lard. Thankfully continual improvements in wetsuits technology mean we dont have to resort to a tube of deep heat and a tub of lard. Winter surfing is gaining followers who might not have previously braced the winter seas, not only in the UK but in cold waters all over the world.

Why has there been an increase in winter surfers? Is it because more people have had an increase insanity levels and they are more likely not to give a rats ass if the waters freezing? Maybe its because of Increased levels in overall population, therefore more people will get into winter surfing? I think its definitely down to wetsuits now providing unprecedented warmth and comfort. Even the cheapest winter wetsuits we sell offer great warmth and flexibility for under 100. A few years ago the arrival of winter surfing meant that the crowds were a lot thinner in the water. I have to say, the crowds in the winter arent as bad as in the summer, but they arent far of summer levels now.

The conclusion is that wetsuits, wetsuit gloves, wetsuit hoods and wetsuit boots all enable us surf addicts fuel or desire to surf even in the most extreme of conditions. So all you fair weather surfers out there dont you think its now time to get suited and booted and take a dip in the winter time?

Cornwall Surfing Style

The “Cornwall Surfing Style” is the opening season exhibition of the Trelissick Gallery, in Truro, United Kingdom. It’s the exploration of the work of artisan and surfer James Otter.
James creates hand-crafted wooden surfboards and furniture that are sculpted to perfection a true work of art inspired by the natural world and built using locally supplied sustainable materials.
“My current work has its emphasis on my surfboard project to develop hollow wooden surfboards to replace and reduce the use of toxic substances in surfboard manufacture and to marry two of my deepest passions,” says James.
Alongside his work, the Museum of British Surfing will displaying a small selection of historic wooden surfboards dating back over the last 100 years, beachwear and other items from its collection along with our classic VW combi van.
Surf artist Ben Cook will also be there signing copies of his wonderful books, and the venue itself is in the grounds of the National Trusts beautiful Trelissick Garden.
Organised by the Cornwall Crafts Association, the launch day runs from 11am 4pm, but the exhibition of James Otters work runs right through until April 4, 2011 (were only there on opening day).

Sharks are colour blind!

Sharks are colour blind
It seems choosing the right surfboard and wetsuit shouldnt just be about how much rocker the surfboard has, or how stretchy your next wetsuit will be. Apparently sharks are completely colour blind and mostly see objects clearly if they are dark, or light. Professor Nathan Hart, from the University of Western Australia, said: ‘Its the high contrast against the water rather than the colour itself which is probably attractive to sharks.
‘So you should wear perhaps more muted colours or colours that match the background in the water better.’
This research makes me laugh for a couple of reasons. Who was the mad head who tested this theory out? Also even if you did slip into a blue wetsuit and decide to ride a blue surfboard, wouldnt the shark see a dark figure at the surface? No matter which colour coordination you used to outwit the colour blind fish it would see a dark shadow which they can see clearly?
I have a better idea why not just paint a shark on bottom of the board, this way the shark thinks you are a friend and is more likely to either mate with your board or pass on by? Good job Im not a scientist!

Photography Comp Winner

Above is our photography competitions winning photograph taken by Giles Adams. The competition saw thousands of entries being sent to us, the theme was ‘all things beached’. We liked Giles photograph as it clearly shows how human activity can have a profound positive effect on the beach and environment. Just look at that shopping trolley isnt it a cracker! As far as shopping trolleys go i would give this one an 8/10. I bet you if you were to use this to thrash around Tesco the wheels would have a smooth motion and give your groceries a seamless, smooth ride along the isles. All we need is supermarkets located on the beach front and this lonely shopping trolley may have a better use other than making the beaches look better.
Well done Giles you have won a winter wetsuit and a summer wetsuit for life. We have also thrown in a surfboard.