Bodyline Wetsuits

We throw away items far too easily these days. Sometimes, it is perhaps that the service is not readily available or the cost of repair outweighs the cost of replacement. When is the last time you got a tv repair man around? This is not the case with wetsuits fortunately. A decent wetsuit is not cheap and is of course essential to the U.K surfer with our cold numbing waters.

Paul Chambers and his family business in Newquay have been repairing wetsuits for many years and are incredibly cost effective. Most wetsuit brands use them to alter, repair and adjust their suits and provide a friendly, reliable and extremely professional service and at some point, you will more than likely find yourself darkening their doorstep with your damaged suit. They moved to their current premises as the demand for the service was outgrowing the space they had and have never been busier, which is great news for the environment, as wetsuits can hardly be seen as `earth friendly`. I thought I’d go up and visit the guys and get them in the mag as I wholeheartedly support the fantastic work they are doing and see what makes this small family business thrive.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I grew up in Birmingham. I used to play semi-pro football back in the day. I had moved up to Manchester but had a bad knee injury in `74, so I decided to come down to Newquay with my wife on holiday and the rest is history as they say. I had never surfed before and I hired a 6`0 board from Keo surf shop but of course, it was too small. As I got better, I used to surf a fair bit over in Wales and on the east coast and then started to do trips to Ireland, France and to Mundaka Spain when there were not many out, good times. I moved down to Newquay in 1979, just after the birth of my daughter, Julie. At first, I came down on my own and I was living in a van in my mate`s back garden. Jean and Julie followed soon after and Gary was born 18 months later.

SO HOW DID YOU END UP REPAIRING WETSUITS?
I was working as a milkman at the time. I`d get up early and either surf after work or have a sleep and started looking for a part-time job. I had met Dave Farrow down at the world junior championships in 1986 and when I went to visit him at his place I asked if he had any work going. I knew nothing about machining though, but Dave showed me the ropes as he had all the machines at his workshop and was making a few custom wetsuits. I had no idea how hard it was, but Dave had some templates and patiently showed me what to do and I started to get the hang of it. We used to make suits for Roger Mansfield and his surf school that he had started up. We were at Tor road at that point and then Dave moved over to where the shop is now next to Walkabout. I would be cutting and gluing, but I had a nightmare with stitching, I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Eventually, I was doing a pretty decent job of it although Dave would probably disagree hahaha.
Dave was busy making his boards and I started doing lots of the repair work that was coming in. The repair work started flooding in and as the likes of Gul, Tiki, Snugg and Second skin were making wetsuits it just kind of moved more into the repair side of things.
I worked with Dave part-time for over 15 years and I was on holiday in Bali surfing in 2002 and I just decided to speak with Dave about going it on my own with the repairs when I got home to which he was surprisingly receptive. Dave offered me to rent some of his workshop space, so I registered the name `Bodyline` and wanted to make a few suits with the templates Dave had and do all the repairs. Gul was shutting down around that time, so I bought some of their materials and fittings. Carey had started C-skins up and wanted me to work in line with him and then I started working with Rip curl in 2003 so business really started to kick off down there with Dave. I never really advertised, it was all word of mouth. I was getting so many repairs flooding in that the custom suits went on the back burner and by that time I was doing all the repairs myself. After a while I needed some help and one of the girls that worked at Gul came and worked with me named Beth, she is still with me today.
We moved to our present premises at the new estate next to the fire station and my son Gary came in as partner. There wasn’t enough room at Dave’s workshop, so we had to expand. My daughter Julie does the books, my wife works with us too in the workshop so it`s a real family business. I`m 68 now and should calm it down perhaps but Bodyline is my baby and I’m trying to take more time out and let the team take over more but it’s difficult to not come in to the workshop.

SO, YOU DON’T DO CUSTOM SUITS AT ALL?
No, we really just don`t have the time or space. The market is saturated, and the technology is moving so quickly with the big brands. We don’t have the means to create ever changing templates for suits and develop material etc. It's just too expensive to stock all the neoprene’s, thicknesses and colours and if you are going to do suits then you have to go the whole hog, or it wouldn’t work out.

WHAT REPAIRS ARE YOUR BREAD AND BUTTER?
Replacement crotches, kneepads, zips, We have a fantastic relationship with all the surf shops too, so the repairs come flooding in as more and more people are surfing these days.

HOW LONG SHOULD A WETSUIT LAST?
It all comes down to wetsuit care. If you are perhaps a lifeguard or surf instructor, then a suit may only last 6 months to a year if you are in every day. Weekend warriors are going to last longer of course but even with average use, a suit should last a couple of seasons on average. Putting your suit on correctly in the first place is a major factor, pulling and tugging at the shoulders and the seams, especially if the suit is ultimately not the right size is going to shorten a wetsuits life considerably. You can be a medium in one company, but it doesn’t mean you are a medium in all brands.

HOW SHOULD WE HANG OUR SUITS?
Super stretch wet wetsuits should not be hung by the shoulders or neck, that’s going to ruin it in no time. There are plenty of wetsuit specific hangers like the local Dri-tek ones and will prolong the life of your wetsuits for not a lot of money in comparison to the price of a new wetsuit, I suggest getting hold of a hangar that you can fold the wetsuit over and of course wash them in clean water and a wetsuit shampoo occasionally. I put a couple of drops of 'P#SS Off'/Dettol in my water to rid the suit of smells and bacteria. There definitely needs to be more education on the correct putting on and care of wetsuits it means you will save money, the environment too as you are buying fewer wetsuits.

WHATS AN ANNOYING CUSTOMER?
Well, we don’t get annoyed easily hahaha, however turning up with a dripping wet suit covered in sand or a suit that honks so bad it walks itself out of the shop is not encouraged. The wetsuit companies told us not to accept suits like that, so we turn them away. Just a single grain of sand can break or damage the needle and also affect the timing on our machines. To repair sewing machines these days is not easy as we call in the repair man which is a costly affair. You also cannot fix and glue a wet wetsuit. Please bring them in dry and as clean as possible, some of the suits would make your eyes water!

WHY GET SUITS REPAIRED?
Top of the range suits are in the £500 range and a new kneepad is going to cost around £30, a chest zip is about £60 to replace. We throwaway stuff too easily in this consumer age. We provide a service of the highest quality and at very affordable prices. You`d be mad not to get a suit repaired. Occasionally we get a suit in that is at the end of its life and the customer wants to have it repaired but sometimes you just have to let them go as a repair on one part of a suit doesn’t mean the rest of the suit is up for any more use, it`s perished beyond its life. We don’t repair a suit just to get the custom if it's no good. We also try our hardest to match the colour of a panel as best as is humanely possible with our repairs and within keeping with the style of suit, that’s very important to us.

WHATS THE FUTURE FOR BODYLINE?
Hopefully, continue a great family business that is thriving in an unstable economy and keep up to date with the ever changing technology and materials. We love the work we are doing and I hope to keep the tradition going through my son Gary and the team and to be the place to bring your wetsuits for many years to come.