a night with: The Merriweather Deer

Intimate venue, great wine, bean bags and great tunes. Sounds like a decent gig? Thats sums up the Merriweather deer gig last night at The Platform, check out pics below for more!

 

The Platform is a newish event space on top of the Opendoor Cafe located in Sai Ying Pun. The size was perfect for an intimate gig, and if you were lucky enough to be near the front you were welcomed by bean bags and cushions covering the floor. We ended up bringing some wine (from http://www.cuvees.com of course) which went down great with the crowd, maybe because it was free?  It was great to see some familiar faces and meet new ones for those who came to hang over at our little merch table.

The night was opened by Karmen Cheung who played a great solo acoustic set. It was the first time i had heard this talented singer / songwriter, solid! Will definitely keep an eye out for future shows!

The Merriweather Deer didn’t disappoint as usual, playing a electro/acoustic set of a mix of old and new material as well as a couple of sick covers. Awesome energy and talent again from the boys,  we can’t wait for the new album to come out. Lighting and sound was solid too!

Thanks again TMD for letting us part of the event!

www.platform.hk
www.opendoorcafe.hk
www.myspace.com/themerriweatherdeer
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Merriweather-deer/136189309729277
https://www.facebook.com/Karmenmusichk
www.cuvees.com

PS: low light photography is hard when you dont know what you are doing!

2014 Lookbook

The new collection is inspired by our travels and surf adventures around the world. We’ve taken a more refined and softer approach this time around, with more focus on the finer details that make a more comfortable wear. We have injected colours that we see all around us in the water, drawing inspiration from reefs, coral, waves and the greenery around. We had a blast putting it together, enjoy!

 

DIY: Handmade organic surfwax

One of the things ive often though about adding into the Float Captain product line was a simple bar of surf wax. It seemed logical that a surf related brand should at least try and make surf wax since its something that every surfer needs to use.  After researching and talking to factories it seemed like the most hassle free option was to make it ourselves by hand using organic and readily available materials rather than using weird chemicals that we couldn’t even pronounce.

Organic wax is essentially made up of 2 – 3 materials, which are beeswax, coconut oil and sometimes tree sap (for cold water wax). Most recipes seem to revolve around 2 parts beeswax and 1 part coconut oil. However after some trial and error i wanted a more exact method of measuring so its easier to repeat at least. i found a great blog by Crafty Surf who did just that (using the density of the beeswax and the equivalent liquid measurement in grams).

So what do you need?

– 160 grams of beeswax

– 2 US tablespoons of coconut oil ( 29.5ml)

– kitchen scale

– old pot for mixing

– moulds (we use silicone soap moulds after an epic fail using yoghurt cups…longstory short, the cup melted)

You can start by melting the beeswax in the pot first, don’t forget to use low heat or you’ll be in for a unpleasant surprise. Once the beeswax has melted you can add in the coconut oil and keep stirring until both are mixed well.  Once that is done you just pour into your moulds and let it set! Depending on the material of your moulds the setting time can vary, but i usually just leave it overnight.  The whole process (minus the setting) is  just measuring, melting and pouring so its relatively quick and easy.

It may not smell as nice as normal wax, or maybe there is something wrong with ours haha! But its good fun to try yourself.  Alternatively if you don’t want to go through the hassle of finding slabs of beeswax, tubs of coconut oil and fancy tree sap (which im still trying to find that special blend) then you can get some from our shop here!

 

explore: Tai Long Wan

Your average Joe would never believe that surfing even existed in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we get our fair share of swell during our NE monsoon and Summer typhoons which can produce some decent surf at various spots dotted around Hong Kong. The most fabled of these is Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung which is located inside  a country park and consists of three bays with beaches. Each of these produce their own surf setups and the most popular being the largest bay which produces the  strongest and largest waves during a strong NE monsoon or typhoon swell. It’s a neat setup with beautiful scenery and best surfed at a mid tide at 4-6ft on a NE swell.

The beach is beautiful and long and hugged  by big mountains on all sides providing a stunning backdrop. Popular with hikers, campers and surfers, this is a special place for many of us; a place where we escape the rigors of city life and where all our problems seem to dissipate. The surf can get very good with hollow left and right peaks running down the beach and even on a bad day I still feel rejuvenated after making the trip here.

Its the long distance from the city that makes it special and keeps it pristine. We are proud to have such a place and must ensure we keep it this way. still feel rejuvenated after making the trip here. During the winter months you will need a wetsuit, but a good 3/2 will do just fine. In the summer you can surf in your boardshorts no problem as it can get scorching hot in Hong Kong too! Its the long distance from the city that makes it special and keeps it pristine. Part of the hike from the national park will cover Section 2 of the MacLehose Trail which is a favourite for hikers.

How to get there?

– take the MTR to Diamond Hill and go out of exit C2

– take the 92 bus to the Sai Kung terminus.

– At Sai kung bus terminus take a green taxi or  the 29R minubus to the Sai Wan Pavillion or the 94 bus to Pak Tam Au. Both will take around 90 minutes to get into the main beach (the other bays are a little quicker)

Sai Kung – Tai Long Wan

Your average Joe would never believe that surfing even existed in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we get our fair share of swell during our NE monsoon and Summer typhoons which can produce some decent surf at various spots dotted around Hong Kong. The most fabled of these is Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung which is located inside  a country park and consists of three bays with beaches. Each of these produce their own surf setups and the most popular being the largest bay which produces the  strongest and largest waves during a strong NE monsoon or typhoon swell. It’s a neat setup with beautiful scenery and best surfed at a mid tide at 4-6ft on a NE swell.

The beach is beautiful, long, covered in white sand and hugged  by big mountains on all sides providing a stunning backdrop. On a good day we have seen it with crystal clear water. Popular with hikers, campers and surfers, this is a special place for many of us; a place where we escape the rigors of city life and where all our problems seem to dissipate. The surf can get very good with hollow left and right peaks running down the beach and even on a bad day I still feel rejuvenated after making the trip here. During the winter months you will need a wetsuit, but a good 3/2 will do just fine. In the summer you can surf in your boardshorts no problem as it can get scorching hot in Hong Kong too!

Its the long distance from the city that makes it special and keeps it pristine. Part of the hike from the national park will cover Section 2 of the MacLehose Trail which is a favourite for hikers.

How to get there? To get there by public transport you can:

– take the MTR to Diamond Hill and go out of exit C2

– take the 92 bus to the Sai Kung terminus.

– At Sai kung bus terminus take a green taxi or  the 29R minubus to the Sai Wan Pavillion or the 94 bus to Pak Tam Au. Both will take around 90 minutes to get into the main beach (the other bays are a little quicker)

–

boardshort with baggage

everyones got baggage, now so do our boardies! Each pair of boardies comes packed in its own cotton drawstring bag, get it at www.floatcaptain.com

 

Typhoon sale!

 its typhoon time again, head over to www.floatcaptain.com to get your typhoon league tees!

An early taste of typhoon season

Starting out as an unseasonable low pressure system, we were quite unsure what to expect until typhoon signal 1 (T1) was hoisted, and it was on, we just had to decide where to go! We ended up going over to Pui O after a disappointing half hour at Cheung Sha. The Pui O bay seemed to be crowded with SUP’s and surfers. I had forgotten how popular surfing was becoming in Hong Kong. Lucky it was boardshorts weather at least. Ended up getting some fun rides in the bay and then headed over to the Pui O point to try our luck on the reef!

 

Stoke Dept hoodies!

Our new hoodies are finally in! They are kind of light weight so its still wearable through spring and summer (in those heavy aircon times!) It comes in a navy blue colour with printed artwork on the chest and back as well as sewn logo label on the front and inside. The fit is a standard European sizing. check out website for more pics and info! http://www.floatcaptain.com

new 2nd hand boards

time to inject some boards back into the hong kong surf scene! we’ve got thrown some fun boards out there now:

Al Merrick POD – 5’10 x 20 1/4 x 2 3/8 HK$1850

Mccoy potbelly – 5’6 x 20 x 3 HK$2350

Bear – 7’4 x 20 1/2 x 2 3/4 – HK$2200

yeeew!