The quashi journey actually started in Jamaica back in the times of Pirates and men searching for power and glory. So often this is the case today, in yes... even our beloved surf industry. Thus the name quashi was chosen to show where we stand...

Check out a little history to see what we mean...

"Perhaps the most feared runaway slave in Jamaica during the 1700s was Jack Mansong, popularly known as 'Three Fingered Jack' - Jamaica's first infamous bad man.

Historians say that the very mention of Mansong's name drove fear into the hearts of white plantation owners in Jamaica and those in Britain. He was also the first fugitive in Jamaica's history to have a bounty, £300, placed on his head.

During the slavery years, there were many runaway slaves and rebels, but Jack's infamy was legendary. Jack Mansong was described by the authorities at the time as 'the terror of Jamaica' , 'a daring rebel' and 'a bold and daring defender of the rights of man'.

Accounts of his early life vary, but one story that remains consistent is that Jack Mansong fled the slave plantation and at first holed up at a spot at the head of the Cane River, where he could observe and swoop down on commuters traversing the Windward Road, as it was known at the time. From there, Mansong moved to higher ground and settled in a cave in the Blue Mountains from where he robbed passers-by, raided nearby plantations and launched his own private war against the authorities of the time.

The area in St Thomas between Bull Bay and Grant's Pen, where a monument in his memory stands today, was Three Fingered Jack's main hunting ground and it was there that he reputedly carried out many daring hold-ups, robberies and kidnappings - what a guy....

Ok... what does this have to do with quashi...? - well read on.

Historians say Mansong got the name Three Fingered Jack after he lost two fingers in an ambush in which he attempted to rob a maroon called Quashie. Quashie is said to have fought back and chopped off Jack's two fingers, although he was also badly injured in the skirmish.

By the end of 1780, the colonial government had become frustrated that all efforts to rid the society of Three Fingered Jack had failed, despite the posting of rewards by the British Government and the colonial assembly. To bolster their drive to capture Mansong, the colonists offered full freedom to any slave who could bring the feared rebel to justice, dead or alive.

Jack Mansong's short but effective guerrilla warfare against the establishment ended on January 27, 1781, according to an account in the Royal Gazette of February 3, 1781.

The report states that Three Fingered Jack was surprised near the entrance of his cave by Quashie, a small slave boy known as 'A Good Shot'.

Mansong only had time to grab his cutlass, and in an effort to escape threw himself down a 40-foot precipice.

Three Fingered Jack was eventually overpowered and slain by quashie who was eager to rid the town of wrong and claim his due reward"

- researched by Karyl Walker

Now what does that have to do with surfing?