Body Glove takes over South Beach Miami

Body Glove's Hillary Kane, Scott Daley and Matt Chernega and myself spent the last week in Miami at the SWIM SHOW / Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. HOT? In so many ways…WORK? HEY! Someone’s gotta do it! After our sales meeting we took our group of reps for their first stand up paddle! And of course went to our annual dinner at OPA (table dancing and paper ball throwing might have happened :)

Scott Daley teaching rep Fabe Clements how to SUP

We were even able to catch a few 3 inch waves :)

The Meistrells take Terry Keffler and Annie Crawley on a Surf Adventure!

Terry Keffler, owner of Underwater Sports in Seattle, WA and Annie Crawley owner of Dive into Your Imagination made the trek to Southern California (trading in rain and pine trees for sunshine and palm trees) and went on a surf adventure with us!!

First stop... San Onofre, the best place to lear to Surf! We met up with Ronnie and Shelly Meistrell in the Body Glove motorhome. Ronnie helped push Terry and Annie into waves and they were pros from the start.

Next stop, the Hennessey's paddle in Redondo Beach. They didn't partake in the 8 mile paddle but they joined Bob and Jenna Meistrell on the Body Glove boat to lead the race. While waiting at the finish line they tried out Body Glove Stand Up Paddle boards.

Ocean Experience Surf School Teaches Visually Impaired Students to Surf!

Ocean Experience Surf School and Braille Institute San Diego unite for the 11th annual surf camp for visually impaired students on MOnday, July 18-Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Located at Mission Point and South Mission Beach Jetty, this three day surf camp truly breaks the barriers faced by Braille Institute students.

The focus of this program is to provide the visually impaired students the opportunity to experience the joy and thrill of surfing. With a step-by-step surf skill progression and through the use of adaptive equipment, Braille Institute campers will explore all the fundamentals of surfing, including: balance training on the Indo Board, paddling progression, the "pop up," catching waves, water safety and oceanography.

Through Ocean Experience's surf training program each camper walks away with a newfound sense of confidence. The quality instruction and use of adaptive equipment ensures success for all students, building a sense of accomplishment that in turn, build self-assurance.

The Braille Institute Surf Camp will run from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Monday-Wednesday, July 18-20, 2011. For more information about the Braille Institute surf camp, please email Lanette Jorgensen, at LanetteJ@OBSurfSkate.com or call (619)225-2317.

Body Glove Bikinis in Transworld Sexiest Video Ever

Body Glove is so stoked to be a part of Transworld's "2012 Swimwear Preview & Behind The Scenes Of The Sexiest TWBiz Ever". We agree with the crew at Transworld that this might be the best bikini shoot ever and comes just in time for the Miami Swim Show where Body Glove will be in full force. Be sure to check out the great photos, behind the scenes video, interview with VP of Sales Noah Gelles, and get your hands on the hard copy when it comes out.

For current 2011 styles be sure to go to www.bodyglove.com/girl and take a look at Body Glove's behind the scenes video shoot for 2011

Swimsuit Preview 2011 from Kepley DePalma on Vimeo.

The Words of Holly Beck Herself...

Buenos Dias Amigos!

I'm back in Nicaragua and settling into rainy season life lived barefoot, muddy, and with a few too many bug bites.

I just finished up a week of surf coaching and yoga at Suave Dulce Surf Retreat. We got really good surf and all the ladies had a great time (see attached photos).

Suave Dulce teamed up with Waves of Hope once again to push some local kids into waves. The volunteers at Waves of Hope noticed that too many of the local kids weren't going to school on a daily basis. They setup some incentives to increase attendance. If a kid went to school every day, on saturday he/she could go surfing. We teamed up to push a few kids into waves and it was super fun. Needless to say, attendance skyrocketed!

Giving Back - Scholars for Surfing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3wOKFL0zLk

I snuck away on a day off to get a few waves of my own....

One Wet Wave - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYH4gP3BZw

And, finally got around to uploading my new blog http://www.hipehabitat.com

Searching for Seeds of the Ceibo - http://hipehabitat.com/2011/06/30/searching-for-seeds-of-a-ceibo-tree-in-ecuador/

I have a new group of ladies showing up tomorrow!

: ) Holly

Body Glove Crew Camping in Catalina!

Catalina camping is so much fun and I got to experience it with some awesome people. I joined team riders Cheyne Magnusson and Justin Quirk, BG videographer Scott Smith and a few good friends crossing the channel in The Crumb. We free dove with 10 massive black sea bass, stand up paddled around our cove and enjoyed a few friendly games of horseshoes. Cheyne in his true form speared a yellow tail for dinner. On the crossing back we spotted a Sunfish and jumped in to snorkel with it for a little. It is truely one of the coolest creatures I have ever seen.

Check out photos of the trip below:

Our campsight

Cheyne with his Yellow Tail.

Scott Smith caught a Calico.

One of the black sea bass.

Jenna Meistrell snorkeling with the Sunfish.

Body Glove Family at the IRONMAN on Fourth of July

Team riders Cheyne Magnusson and Justin Quirk joined Scott Smith, John DeTemple, Tracey Meistrell, Matt Meistrell, Jamie Meistrell and over 400 other contestants at the IRONMAN competition in Hermosa Beach on the Fourth of July. This legendary competition includes a mile run, a mile paddle and the consumption of 6 beers. The first contestant to finish their beers and hold them down wins (which isn't the easiest thing to do). Legendary South Bay surfer, volleyball player, JMMF participant and surf instructor Chris Brown took the title again this year.

Cheyne Magnusson, Scott Smith and Justin Quirk with IRONMAN winner Chris Brown.

Matt Meistrell holding the flag!

Scott Smith and John DeTemple

The BG group!

Body Glove on the cover of Local Sessions

Check out BG team rider Sean Herman on the cover of LOCAL SESSIONS.

The Memorial of Leroy Grannis

On June 25th, over a hundred of Southern California's finest surfers and watermen paddled out in Hermosa Beach to honor Leroy Grannis, who passed away on February 3rd, 2011 at the age of 93. Bob, Ronnie and Randy Meistrell joined the paddle out to honor Grannis.

An Update from Holly Beck

Holly Beck just got back to Nicaragua after a month in the US. She is all healed up from her Volcano surfing fall and surfing again :)

Starting July 2nd, she is putting on two back to back women's surf and yoga retreats. Suave Dulce has officially partnered with the non-profit Waves of Hope to assist them in helping out the local community. Check out the video about the partnership on the Suave Dulce website: http://www.surfwithhollybeck.com

or access the youtube version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNud3U_s7iQ

Holly along with boyfriend Kim launched a new project called Hip-E Habitat. It is a resource for information on sustainable living and green building. Aside from providing information on things like building with bamboo, organic gardening, solar power and grey water systems, it will also chronicle their experiences as they build a home on an ocean view ridge top in Northern Nicaragua.

Check it out! http://www.hipehabitat.com