FreshSurf history

FreshSurf history means ideas, visions, milestones, development

If you would like to know how FreshSurf came about, what we were thinking and how we have developed over the years, you can find it here. We will create a timeline of FreshSurf’s history here and it is always exciting for us to look back. FreshSurf has slowly emerged from its infancy into its teenage years, has taken many steps towards adulthood, has fallen down a few times, but has always got up again. You only learn from your mistakes and standing still means going backwards. With this in mind, we hope you enjoy exploring our story.

2008/2009

FreshSurf – How it all began

FreshSurf started with an idea or rather a simple question from Steff on the way home from El Cotillo to La Pared, where we worked as surf instructors in 2008: “Why don’t we open our own surf school?” – This question gave rise to the name FreshSurf on the journey south. Our idea has always been that our guests, friends and anyone else who feels like it should be able to participate in the development of FreshSurf. Even now, we are always happy to receive suggestions, thoughts, feedback, etc. That’s why we started blogging so early on, and it’s now impossible to imagine life without it. Here are the first blog posts from 2009:

The choice of location – the place for our surf school

It was clear to us from the start that we wanted to go to Cotillo, but we didn’t know exactly where we wanted to set up our business premises and home base. From Germany, we tried to get in touch with real estate agents and scoured websites. It was difficult to find anything suitable over 10 years ago. In 2008, there was still a lot of dealing on site, in estate agents’ offices, and little could be found online. We found a restaurant that we could have imagined developing into a surf camp, but it turned out that it had not been on the market for three years and had long since been sold. You can read about how we found a nice local here in the following blog post. I also posted our first drafts of our store location here. A lot has happened in the meantime and we have already remodeled countless times.

FreshSurf – Na Logo – The creation of our logo

In 2008, we actually wanted to use a drop of water as our logo – but it always looked like washing-up liquid and we abandoned the idea. When I get the chance, I’ll look up a few suggestions from our graphic designer so you can see what I mean.

Finding the right logo is not that easy. We often discussed and brainstormed late into the night. We sat down with various designers and then decided on a very talented young man – Marco. Great guy, by the way! At some point, the time had come and we put it to a vote to decide which logo variant was the most suitable for us:

Logo 1 or Logo 2

With a modest 73% you have chosen logo 1. We would like to thank everyone who supported us. We will publish the final logo in the next few days. There will still be a few minor modifications, but then it will be done – and then our logo will be there:

Fitness and motivation – surf training

Preparing for surfing out of the water was at the center of our interest very early on. We have repeatedly focused on these topics and published countless blog posts. You can see what this looked like at the beginning of our blog attempts in the following. Have fun with motivation with Arnie!

FreshSurf x sustainability and environmental protection

When you start a new company, there are so many things to consider and of course you don’t want to harm the environment. We started thinking about what we could do early on, as the following blog post shows. You can see what we have collected over the years and where we stand today on our sustainability page.

Our website – our online presence – bookings

Taking a small surf company out of the frying pan and into the fire involves many things. When it came to building our website, Chris and I jumped in at the deep end. We worked with WordPress for the first time and designed a site. This is what it looked like back then.

In April 2009, the time had finally come and we received our first bookings. O-Ton: What a great feeling to have the first bookings in my hand. This week the knot has burst, so to speak, and the first bookings have fluttered into the house. The surf camp is proving very popular, but we are also receiving bookings for the surf school and courses. It is indescribable to see how the months of work are bearing fruit and all thanks to the help of many great people and you … You, because you read our blog and support us with comments, suggestions and ideas!

Image and brand awareness

In order to become better known, we sold our souls and tried to get ourselves noticed everywhere. We have been hanging around on all kinds of portals and have tried to get many cooperations with reports about us.

We started a competition for a FreshSurf surprise package – you had to post our campaign photos on portals and link to us (ok, not really clever …)

Car, trailer, material – planning phase

How do we actually get all the material to Fuerteventura? Is everything available there? Will we really get everything we need on the island or would we rather take some of it with us? We answered these questions by thinking that it would probably be safer if we took everything with us to the island. No sooner said than done – “we are trailers” – than we bought a trailer. Steff and his father immediately converted this trailer into a practical one (as we still thought at the time):

May 2009

The planning phase is over – it’s off to Fuerteventura

So, the trailer is packed and Stefan has set off for Fuerteventura with a friend.

I have just received a message that they are already between Barcelona and Valencia, so not that far to Cadiz. The original text message:

“Stardate 12552642009 Captain’s diary: I have handed over command to No. 1. The ship is running and our navigator Tom is doing a good job. I’m going to visit the holodeck today and get a blowjob from Heidi Klum! Over and out!!!

From there, we will take the ferry to Fuerteventura. A travel report from Steff will follow. I will fly “behind” with Pepe on May 2nd and from then on you can look forward to NEWS from Fuerteventura.

Summary of the trip from Straubing to Fuerteventura

Armed with a T4 California in wine red, a trailer packed with half a surf camp, a good friend and six bottles of apple juice, we set off for Spain via France. As you can’t travel very fast with a trailer like that, we only managed around 700 kilometers a day and were overtaken by twice as many cars. On top of that, there were two braggarts crammed into five square meters and the madness took its course.

Since you can get bored there, we evaluated French car design, examined Spanish rest stops, listened to The Princes, calculated fuel consumption, drove one-handed, had our left foot on the gas pedal, drank wine on the Costa Brava, counted the toll booths in Spain, scratched our heads,….

After my friend Dominik (a big thank you for your support) got on the plane in Seville, I went straight to Cadiz to board the ferry. After a day and a half I arrived in Lanzarote. After a night in Lanzarote, I was finally able to cross over to Fuerte and move into our apartment.

Greetings from long-distance driver Steff

Pack your bags – tie up your board bag and off you go to Fuerteventura

I also left Hamburg for Fuerteventura on 01.05.2009. I was lucky enough to be able to fly, as Steff had taken the long ferry crossing!

“After a wonderful, sunny last day in Hamburg, I will board the plane to Fuerteventura tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. and then the adventure can begin for me too.

I am leaving Germany with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. I am leaving many dear people behind. I look forward to seeing everyone again on “our” island. Thank you for your good wishes and thoughts. More again soon.”

The set-up of our surf camp and surf school

The first picture showed our wishful thinking, created on the computer – but here on site we had to get to know the Spanish reality. The furnishings were already very much in the “would-be” surfer style, Hawaiian flowers, bed linen with hibiscus flowers on it, posters of surfers wherever you looked.

On arrival, we had water damage in the surf school office and couldn’t start setting up straight away. Steff landed safely on the island, but was completely exhausted after the crossing. The van had survived the trip well apart from a few minor issues, such as a broken exhaust pipe. From now on, it was full steam ahead to get to work: battling with the Spanish authorities, bank transactions, applying for telephone & internet and lots of little things that we still had to do!

Yesterday we were on Lanzarote and went shopping at IKEA. It was just incredible, all the meticulous preparation in Germany was thrown out the window because the IKEA store was just super tiny and we found almost nothing. So we spent almost 7 hours in the fluorescent light while it was about 30° Celsius outside. The staff were super friendly and, perhaps a little unusually, one member of staff looked after us the whole time and we always had someone to talk to. I think he was looking for a good commission.

We finished loading the trailer and the car at 6:15 pm. Now we still had 45 minutes to cover a distance of 45 km at what felt like 30 km/h in order to arrive back at the port in time. The ferry was due to leave at 19:00 and the trailer was rocking like a ship. But Stefan maneuvered the rocking sailing ship safely through the vastness of Lanzarote and we arrived at the port at 18:55. We bought our ticket at the completely overcrowded counter and then off to Fuerteventura, where we arrived safely at around 20:30.

We immediately started unloading the trailer and car … At 00:00 we were more or less finished and dead tired. We fell into our beds – only to get up early again today to finish decorating the apartment, as we were to have our first guest today. Enjoy the pictures and take a look at the finished work.

19.06.2009

“Steff and I built a canopy for our apartment yesterday. We used agave flowers, palm fronds and hemp rope. Now we can enjoy the Caribbean feeling and sit, work and relax in the shade under the palm trees.”

“Caribbean feelings arise under our new canopy. When the wind blows through the palm leaves and we can still sit outside and relax at 30 degrees Celsius, we always realize – “it’s beautiful here in El Cotillo. Incidentally, the small wall in front of our entrance is now used by a small lizard for sunbathing.

Our surf lounge sees the light of day

A place to relax, unwind, hang out and simply feel good…

This is where we gave our first theory sessions and video coaching. Back then, the sofas were still white (not such a good idea, as we know with hindsight!)

The Spanish mills of the law

The mills of the law grind slowly. This morning we started a day full of visits to the authorities, or so we assumed. Everything was still in order with the tax consultant. Horacio, a likeable, slightly stocky man in his mid-fifties, informed us that from today onwards we would be officially called FreshSurf Cotillo S.L., as FreshSurf S.L. is not possible in Spain. Some company is probably already called “Fresh Fruits” or something similar and we can therefore not officially use the name. Accordingly, FreshSurf is a brand of FreshSurf Cotillo S.L. – a limited liability company.

Then we went to the notary to clarify some formalities. The appointment was at 10:30 a.m. and we were on time … Unfortunately, the Spanish mentality got the better of us. Our next appointment would have been in Puerto del Rosario at 2pm. Good planning, actually, and easy to manage. Who could have guessed that the “Notaría” would need just under 3 hours to “appear”.

Well, unfortunately we had to cancel the appointment and that means Pepe and I have to get up at 6am tomorrow to go to the Policía Nacional, where we can apply for our “Residencia”. This is something like a certificate that makes you a “local” in the Canary Islands. In short, we decided to check out the spots on the North Shore and go surfing. Unfortunately, the wind put a spanner in the works – but at least we now know how many beautiful spots there are here …

Our first surf course

The first surf course took place on 20.05.2009:

Two families of kitesurfers were our first guests on the surf course. On a day when there was no wind, they all wanted to try out surfing. Unfortunately, we couldn’t convince them that wearing board shorts over a wetsuit wasn’t such a good idea, as you can get caught on your knees during take-off. Nevertheless, they all had a great day!

June 2009

Surfcamp Deluxe

Our Surfcamp Deluxe is launched, in cooperation with Tom and the Marea Viva

A few apartment complexes a little to the north welcome guests, and where the old house of the legendary “Mama Maria” once stood, there is now the small 2-star hotel “Marea Viva”, with whose help we can also offer our Surf Camp Deluxe. Mama Maria was awarded a gold medal in 1983 for her services to tourism. 60 years ago, she set up the first “restaurant” on the island in her living room, where the first tourists stopped for a break 30 years ago, also in her living room. She cooked the same meal every day, year after year, soup, fish stew. Today, the food has changed somewhat and they serve the most delicious breakfast buffet imaginable.

The house of the madmen – official madness on the island

Who remembers Asterix against the Romans? In the House of the Madmen, Asterix has to get the A38 pass. In our case, this permit A38 is the CIV number (Spanish tax number). You need this number to open an account here in order to be able to apply for internet and telephone access. Not to forget that you can then finally pay taxes. So this morning we went to the house of the crazy people (tax consultants) to get the “Passierschein A38”. We’ve been waiting a good five weeks for it. But far from it. We have only been allocated a provisional number so far. We’ll call it A38b. But with this number we were told that we cannot open an account.

The account here is called “Passierschein B65” and we call the Internet the “Blue Form”. It has to be said that since we’ve been here, we’ve climbed more stairs than Asterix and Obelix together in the House of Madmen. Yesterday this story became too colorful for us. We quickly went to the bank and with a smile on our faces and a lot of talking, we were able to get the “Passierschien A38b” and the “Passierschein B65”. After overcoming this hurdle, we are off to Corralejo today to apply for the “Blue Form” with the “A38b” and the “B65”. We are looking forward to a continuation and will keep you up to date…

Just go surfing – the waves in June 2009 – A feeling like in Hawaii

July 2009

Oli is here! Just like Maria, who was to follow in March 2010, he has given us unimaginable support. The two of them have played a huge part in setting up and developing the company and we will be eternally grateful to them!

Farewell to Steff and Shelter

Tomorrow Shelter and I start our journey home to Germany. After eleven weeks on Fuerteventura, we’re going back to Straubing in Bavaria. A great time, which was also very stressful at times, is coming to an end. In addition to the trip down here, the slow authorities, strange forms, patient paperwork and crazy officials drove us up the wall. Shelter used his time very wisely by looking at mountains, rolling around in dead seagulls, forming a gang and changing his diet.

But of course, there were also some pleasant events. In addition to super nice guests, some of whom became repeat offenders and booked again, I was visited by a few friends who also became part of the community.

You can say that FreshSurf was exactly what I imagined. A surf camp that doesn’t stand still and improves and isn’t stingy with fun. A big “thank you” to Toby and Pepe, who definitely helped shape my stay here. When you live under the same roof for eleven weeks and set up a company, see each other all the time and spend time together and can still stand each other afterwards, it’s definitely worth a mention. So long and see you soon. Your Steff

Last night we went to say goodbye, or rather “eat” goodbye, to the China Buffet in Corralejo at HONG KONG (can it be that almost every 2nd Chinese restaurant is called that?). A unique collection of delicacies could be found there. Over 90 different dishes were presented. However, it didn’t seem overloaded, but was presented in rather small quantities (but always fresh). We had a lot of fun competing for the title of the biggest eater, as you can see in the photo: While some were still eating, others had to restrain themselves from doing what I almost did… We ate like chickens on a rack for almost 2 hours until the waiter came to the table with a 62% rice wine aka Reisschnapps. Oli’s original comment after another 2 hours:“I can still feel it burning inside me!”

Feedback from Christian von Bodecker

Chris, who we will be welcoming very often in the future, tells us all about it. Along the way, he will get to know his current wife – marriage and children will follow! This was his feedback on his vacation:

Yesterday was the day, 11 days of surf camp and surf course at FreshSurf were over. It’s hard to put all the experiences into words, so many things went through my mind again on my flight back to Germany. The first contact with surfboard and waves, theory and especially practical lessons, the great weather, the refreshing wind, the cozy and chilled camp with surf lounge in El Cotillo (a small village in Mexico-Desperado-Style, still somewhat spared from tourism), the BBQ evening with the great grill and live guitar music, the party night in Corralejo with bar & club tour, good music & cold tropical, etc.. But above all, the great people I met: Toby & Leni, Olli, Pepe, Chris, Franziska & Bianca, Magdalena & Dani, Ana, Christian& Markus, Mirko, Nicole & Maike, … It was always very informal and personal, both during and after the course, but there was still enough time for yourself and to relax! Thank you all so much for this wonderful vacation! I hope to see you again soon, also at FreshSurf in Fuerteventura! Now I’m off to do the pile of laundry I brought with me and think about the wonderful time I had with you! See you soon, Chris

august 2009

Family surfing – an important pillar of our surf school really starts to take off during the summer vacations. We have the first family surf courses and are thrilled with how quickly children learn and how much fun learning to surf together is!

On 05.08.2009 we had our first Danish family as guests at our family surf course. The conditions were great – clean and not very big, but enough white water for our beginners and smaller, green waves for the advanced surfers. The day was all about surfing for families, from the big ones to the very small ones, everyone got their money’s worth today and had a lot of fun surfing in the Atlantic.

Feedback from our Bavarian girls

“No oa wave and then come out of the water!” – “One more wave and then please get out of the water!”

So now it’s Friday and 12 days of surf camp at FreshSurf are over. We’re sitting in the lounge waiting for our flight… It was a really great vacation. Thanks to everyone who contributed to it. Whether Leni, who always greeted us with a Naaaaaaa… ??? + enchanting smile or was on hand with fashion advice and was also prepared to push party guests who could no longer walk in the shopping cart. Or Oli, “the intern” (laptop driver, bus driver, barbecue master, board carrier, …) It was always fun with him, only the promised coffee IN BED is unfortunately still missing today! ;) The two Chrises also contributed to a successful 12 days. One of them was prepared to dance with us 2 somewhat drunk girls until the early hours and also to give more or less our best in the karaoke bar!!! And the other Chris enriched every conversation with his crazy comments. “Have we heard or no, we’ve read that…” ;) And of course Toby, “the Saubua” ;) who of course did NOT fulfill the typical cliché of a surf instructor… He always looked after us from start to finish (whether with delicious BBQs or with his singing + guitar, …) Yes and of course not to forget our surf instructor Pepe. First of all, thank you for turning us into real surfer girls. He was always up for a bit of fun and also made an effort to learn the Bavarian language, which worked out brilliantly in the end!!! So for all the Bavarians among us, listen carefully when it says: “Oa Welln no und dann kemmts außa ausm Wossa!” Whether surfing, shopping, BBQ, partying, eating or just relaxing with a beer or two, it was always fun and NICE ;) with you… We’ll be back, no question! (If we have understood the system here with the buses) ;)

Your Bavarian girls, Zissi and Bianca

September 2009

Great conditions and Bea, who infected everyone with her good mood, characterized this month.

It was a funny time with Bea, a time with ups and downs… It all started with the missing suitcase, followed by the first day of surf lessons and after what felt like 10 minutes Bea was already standing on the surfboard for the first time without any problems and started to get better and better by the end of her time with us. Yesterday was the final finale with a sloping run down the green wave. Unbelievable – a natural on the water!

The development of the Surf & Dive Hostel – Marea Viva

A new sun is slowly rising in the surf camp sky …

We’ve been wondering for a long time whether a surf camp in apartments really has the surf camp character that we want. Well, it comes very close, as we also have the lounge, but something was always missing.

Some time ago we started working with the Marea Viva Surf & Dive Hotel. Now we have decided to extend this cooperation and slowly and step by step transform the hotel into a Surf & Dive Hostel. Today we have started to prepare the first four rooms for our FreshSurf surf camp. There will be one quadruple room, one triple room, two double rooms and one single room – but there is still room for more. We will limit the places for our surf camp to 12 for the time being, as we would prefer to continue teaching in smaller groups. The great thing is that we can now offer a communal kitchen in the hostel, there is a bar and a breakfast room, a large roof terrace and the hostel is right by the sea. Little by little, a Bali-style hostel for water sports enthusiasts and water sports fans is being created. We would be very happy to receive suggestions…

Here is a small impression of the barbecue evening

We really had many of these barbecue evenings and they were always super nice encounters with delicious food and great conversations!

New entrance area in front of the lounge

At the weekend we felt like doing a little remodeling. We decided to build the palm frond-covered entrance area in front of the lounge to create a unique flair. Old surfboards now exude their very own charm there and with a few more plants, a small island is created that is very reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe and Friday …

october 2009

Surf courses in October, the best pictures

Bye Bye Pepe and thanks for everything

Time to say a few words about Pepe. He has been with us here on the island from the very beginning. He worked for us as a surf instructor and supported us wherever he could. We always teased him about his excessive consumption of cheap cola, as he could easily consume 2-3 liters a day. But you couldn’t tell by looking at him. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again Pepe. 1000 thanks for everything you did in the early days of FreshSurf.

In October, Pepe then set off for the German Surfing Championships, as you can read again here. He actually wanted to come back, but then some things changed in his life.

“We haven’t met again since then, but I would be delighted if you came to visit us, my dear, or if we met in Portugal – your new adopted country!”

november 2009

December 2009

2010

FreshSurf – An exciting year

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010 – The month in which the volcano erupted

May 2010

June – August 2010

December 2010

2011

Our surf company is growing and thriving

2012

Our surf company is slowly getting bigger

2013

Another exciting year lies ahead of us

2014

Great projects cast their shadows ahead

2015

New ideas, lots of great people

2016

We are still a long way from the end

2017

This year will be a very special one – read for yourself

2018

Exciting events await us and you this year

2019

From baby shoes to teenage years – FreshSurf turns 10!

2020

The darn 11th year – Corona sends its regards …