Ben 'Skin Dog' Skinner new Surfplugs rider

The Sorted Surf Festival at Boscombe was a weekend of fine weather. The sun was beating down and the £3 million Bournemouth Surf Reef was doing what it does best (and thats a great impression of a pile of rocks at low tide). It's only mad dogs and english men that were out in this midday sun and one of those was Ben 'Skin Dog' Skinner who is our latest addition to the Surfplugs sponsored riders. Ben needs little introduction, with 16 Surfing titles, a 2nd in the world surfing games, former English champion and European professional longboard champion and the maker of Skin Dog Surfboards it's no wonder that his ears are pretty F*cked and he needed the best Surfers ear protection on the market... luckily he found Surfplugs. Being a Cornish bey we even finished the surfplugs with a St.Pirrans cross design... well it was that or a pasty!

Surfplugs at Brighton Paddle Around the Pier 2011

The Brighton Paddle Around the Pier event grows each year. This year Surfplugs are there too. Come down and get your ears checked, pick up FREE surfers ear advice and even get yourself hooked up with a pair of Surfplugs. See you there!

Who is Mr. Surfplugs?

Well I suppose at some point you need to know who Mr. Surfplugs actually is? - this is me, Devon boy, Surfer, Surfers Ear Sufferer, Previous NHS Audiologist and Surfplugs developer. The problems with developing a Surfplug for surfing and watersports is finding a product that stays in. There are many products out there in Surf Shops but most end up falling out of your ears, clogging up the oceans or spending eternity rotting in the bottom of your wetsuit bin. It took me years of experiementing until I was happy with a product that worked for me, Surfplugs was accidently born out of the success of that initial Surfplug that I made back in 2003. Surfplugs are different - they do stay in and much of that is my experience with ear shape, the bulking process that we use and the feel of the lacquer against the ear... We do fit a leash as standard but this is reluctantly fitted as people felt they needed a leash rather than actually needing one - I think that makes sense? Well I would say that the Surfplugs is the best protection against surfers ear on the market but I suppose that when I tell you that we have over 1000 surfers wearing Surfplugs and every sale has been by word of mouth then you can make your own decision, hell, we even have Doctors recommending Surfplugs... there must be a reason why surfers and watersports enthusiasts worldwide are recommending Surfplugs for surfers ear protection - perhpas it's time you found out too! (photo courtesy of Chris Stevens)

Surfboards 4 Sri Lanka

At Surfplugs a percentage of our sales go to this great charity. We thought we would let you know what they are doing with the money... Paddle4Relief, with the assistance of Surf Relief UK and Christian Surfers UK, have successfully shipped a consignment of surf boards and surf equipment to Sri Lanka. The funding for the shipment was a joint effort by the three UK organisations that have been paramount in working towards developing the sport of surfing in Sri Lanka, following the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami. The shipment was made by means of donations from Paddle4Relief, Tiki Surf International, Constantine Bay Surf Shop, Croyde Bay Surf Life Saving Club and numerous UK surfers, to Arugam Bay Surf Club. The project was overseen by Phil Williams of the UK charity Christian Surfers UK and co-ordinated by Tim Tanton of North Devon based charity Paddle4Relief. Tim collected and packed the consignment of 36 boxes with a volume of more than six cubic metres and a weight in excess of 310kg.

The P4R Founder had seen his garage gradually fill up with surfboards from as far back as the 1970's and as new as 2010. Tim himself has selflessly purchased numerous surfboards with the enormous help of Tiki Surf International. The consignment included rescue boards, SUP's, longboards, bodyboards, shortboards, fish, mini-mals and soft-tops, along with fins, leashes, wax, rash vests, wax combs, t-shirts and skateboard parts.

Tim was fortunate to have the help of North Devon Christian Surfer Mark Dennis in loading the consignment onto the lorry for transportation to the port of departure in the UK. The surfboards etc are expected to reach the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in mid-March. They left the UK on the vessel, Ever Sigma, on the 23rd February, thanks to Paul Beeson of the freight company, GBS Freight Services Ltd.

Arugam Bay Surf Club Secretary, Krishantha Ariyasena, together with West Coast Surf Club Founder, Dilsiri Welikala, will be receiving the consignment in Colombo.

The equipment will then be distributed by Arugam Bay Surf Club to other developing surf clubs around the coast of Sri Lanka. The Arugam Bay Surf Club is the first surf club to be registered in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lanka Sports Ministry. The club's Chairman, Fawas, has worked tirelessly since 2006 to achieve this important recognition. He is now working with newly established clubs in the south and west of the island for their registration as well. Both Madiha Surf Club near Matara and West Coast Surf Club based in Colombo have been a result of the 'Birth of a Surfing Nation' project which was initially established in 2010 by Peter Rob-o, an Australian based in France and P4R's Tim Tanton. The focus is to create and develop 'The Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka' by motivating, supporting, educating and empowering the young surfers in Sri Lanka to produce a surfing culture that is able to provide a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and for their families and communities.

Further donations of surfboards and surfing equipment will be gratefully received for future consignments to Sri Lanka. Please contact tim@paddle4relief.co.uk for further information.