Installing a leash plug:

Tools required:

- Phillips head screwdriver or similar sturdy object.
- A quarter or large coin.
- Pen or pencil.

Determine your riding style. Do you usually wear your leash on your right or left arm? Are you a drop knee rider and if so, which foot to you put forward? You may want to mount a leash plug away from where your fin rests on the deck.

Determine leash plug placement. Does your board have a stringer or two? Single stringers usually run down the center length of the board from below where the nose upturns slightly to approx. six inches from the tail. Never mount a leash within two inches of a stringer. If you have dual stringers, you will need to mount your leash nearly dead center.

Mark the location you have chosen with an ink pen or pencil on the deck. Place the board either against a flat wall, or flat on the ground. Hold the screwdriver at a 90 degree angle to the board. Push the tip slowly through the foam, keeping the angle as perpendicular as possible. When you feel the tip reach the bottom skin, move the board from the wall or floor and press slowly to create a small protrusion. Do not slam the screwdriver through at this point! Some bottom skins are tougher than others and you may 'lift' the skin from the foam before producing a hole. Remove the screwdriver and now push it through from the bottom at the point you made. Slide the screwdriver in slowly until it comes out the top deck easily. If you are forcing, you are making two holes!

Insert both ends of the plug in the top and bottom skin and join them. Use the quarter (or any similar object) and tighten the bottom plug until both top and bottom are snug with the decking.

Note: when done properly, water leakage into your board is not an issue. Water does not transfer throughout the board-as the nickname 'sponge' would seem to imply!

You're done! Go surf!

Bodyboard Care

Here are seven general guidelines for properly caring for you new bodyboard:
1. Heat is bad. Quality bodyboards are built with heat-not glue. Therefore, heat is the ultimate enemy. Keep your boards out of the direct sunlight. Cover it with a towel when resting on the beach. Do not leave it in a hot car, or a pickup truck bed. Heat causes the core foam to emit a gas. That gas will search the surface of the board for the weakest spot and raise a bubble on your deck or bottom skin. Heat bubbles are not covered by any warranty as a defect.

2. Wash your bodyboard with fresh water after each use. Do not use a bodyboard in a chlorinated pool.

3. Do not use your bodyboard as a skim board. Running and jumping on a bodyboard will weaken the core and create a rocker.

4. When storing your bodyboard, lean it up against a wall as flat as possible, or lay it under your bed. A heavy object leaning on it will create rocker. Also-those of you with cats should know that they love to use bodyboards as a scratching post.

5. Make repairs quickly. Repair any holes, punctures or delaminations immediately with a product such as Sponge-Rez. A nearly lifelong supply costs just 10 dollars, while a new board will cost you $200. You do the math!

6. Ride Smart. Any size wave with any size rider can damage a bodyboard.

7. Learn to Duck Dive. A duck dive involves pushing the board under the surface of an oncoming wave so that you-and the board miss the full impact of the breaking water. With practice, you can avoid being struck or tossed by the whitewater and pop up safely through the back of the wave. Ditching your board and letting the leash do all of the work is unsafe-and hazardous.Use these tips to give your bodyboard the longest life it can get.