Charlie Wise
Yo my name is Charlie Wise, a Sumner localite that loves riding pretty much anything under the sun that floats me or at least floats my spirits. I have been surfing since I was 9 years old, first viewing it as a fun hobby. About 4 years ago I took surfing up as my main sport, leading on to me competing all around Aotearoa and having a few overseas comps in my view. I also coach surfing with Learn to Surf in Sumner during the summer.
t the moment I scale the East Coast of Aotearoa’s South Island, but mainly stick to old trusty Sumner for easy access to fun and practice. The banks are consistent enough to usually offer a longboardable peak somewhere along the beach, and on those perfect north-east swells with a crisp light south-west wind, it just lights up!
The icy cold winters of the South Island first enticed me to purchase a Seventhwave wetsuit after I had picked up a hand-me-down Seventhwave short arm steamer (3/2) and it somehow managed to surpass the warmth of my then current 4/3 winter wetsuit. This utter craziness of a spring suit lead me to buying a 4/3 Max which changed my surfing experience as I could get away with surfing on even the bitterest of cold days.
I currently own 4 Seventhwave wetsuits:
My winter wettie is a XT Enduro with an interchangeable hood. It's my go to choice because it’s super warm, quick drying and easy to get on and off which is super important in the depths of the south island. Also I’ll chuck the hood on from time to time when those brain freezes kick in and it hits next level cold.
My summer wetsuit quiver includes:
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2/2 short arm steamer. This wetsuit is actually crazy, the above title of “summer wetsuit quiver” could easily be extended to “Spring, Summer, Autumn wetsuit quiver” when taking this wetsuit into consideration. I’m not super afraid of the cold and that’s mainly due to this wetsuit.
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Men’s Retro Jacket is used for those super warm mid-summer days, it’s one of my favourites mainly due to how nice and tight it is but it’s still not restrictive or constricting, meaning I don't get cold with too much flushing.
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A prototype short armed Retro Jacket. This wetsuit top is reserved for my North Island and overseas trips as it is a teeny bit cold in the South Island waters with the lack of arms, but that really is the point of the short armed Retro Jacket as it is freeing and nicely fitting, looks really cool and blocks out all those harmful sun rays on my back and chest.
I just love Seventhwave wetsuits because of the high quality materials and production. In my pre-Seventhwave days I was surfing a heaps and coaching and absolutely destroying my wetsuits in a matter of months. Now with Seventhwave I save a considerable amount of money on wetsuits as I no longer need a new one every season. This alongside the fact that I have found Seventhwave wetsuits to be considerably warmer which makes them a no-brainer choice.
Find Charlie surfing anywhere or on Instagram
