Water + Cold + Surf-fur = Happiness….The Surf-fur Story
I am not sure how many times I have told the story of our salty beginnings, but it goes something like this:
My partner and I are water people. We both grew up near unsalted water. As soon as we were both old enough to pay our own rent, we both moved closer to salty water and felt like we were finally home. We met while surfing in the water. Got engaged and married on the beach where we met. Most of our time is spent trying to get back to being in, on or under the water. As soon as we have a free moment, we head out to the beach to get into our watery wilderness for a bit of soul searching.
We work to ___________(fill in the blank with the water sport to match the conditions).
One very cold day, we were heading out for a dawn patrol surf session. I pulled on my freezing wetsuit and was already shivering and I hadn’t even made it into the water yet. I grabbed the comforter off the bed, got in the car and blasted the heat. I was actually pretty warm by the time I got to the beach a few blocks away. Even the initial jump into the water wasn’t as bad as usual. I beat the cold and was smiling…then I remembered that I eventually needed to get out of the water and change out of my suit before getting into the car. I couldn’t put the comforter back around me because then it would get all wet and sandy. So, I decide that I was going to design a long warming-type coat that can be worn from the house to the car to the beach and right after being in the water. I would need to be able to change under it and have the option to just wear it straight to a hot shower at home. After a lot of thinking and talking to other watermen, we came up with the features that our currently on our Waterparka;
– Windproof, waterproof soft and warm fleece
– Front snaps ( Velcro sticks to everything and zippers are too hard to get together with frozen hands)
– the front and back hang all the way down to the ankles for extra protection (this was shortened later)
– an inner pocket to put rings and keys
After our first round of Surf-furs came in, we were in business! Since our beginning, we have continually tried to improve the features and quality of our products. Here are some additional features added over the years:
– An extra fabric “collar” around the neck to make it feel like a built in scarf to warm the neck
– Hidden pockets to put hands through to the inside and pull down wet clothes and pull up dry warm ones
– tighteners on the hood and sleeves to keep wind out
– Perfect placement of seams on our Waterparka coupled with the waterproof fabrics to protect my car seats in case I just want to get in and go straight to my hot shower at home.
We don’t add any new products until we have perfected the current style. This is the way we roll. We keep it simple, hardcore, authentic and machine washable.
The End….or is it just the beginning?
