After all, he didn't want to be victimized when he was surfing, yet he didn't want to lose the car key out of his swim trunks while he was hanging 10.

"I thought: There needs to be a safe place where you can put your key when you surf," Barnes said.

So he invented a miniature safe for keys and money — that's embedded into his board. His little key safe invention represents a piece of the surf accessories business, a big industry that retailers depend on more than ever.

"Surfboards cost a lot more now than they ever did before," said Roy Scafidi, owner of Oceansports World Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

High-quality boards can range in price from $450 to more than $1,000, and that can limit the volume of board purchases. The price of gasoline is relatively high, too.

"The trip that used to cost a surfer $10 now costs up to $40, so it's affecting us," Scafidi said. "It's been a tough year, but we have a lot of products that help boost sales."

The surfboard accessory business is worth hundreds of millions in the United States. In Brevard County, Fla., for example, surf shops help augment their board sales with sales of surf wax, traction tops, leashes, board bags and other accessories — like Barnes' No Worries key holder.

"Right now, we're in the promotional phase of production," Barnes said. "I'm in a lot of the shops, and we're putting out the word-of-mouth. Like any other surf accessory, if people know where they can get my No Worries key safe, they'll go into those shops."

Or surfboard fins. Until about 15 years ago, fins on surfboards typically were "glassed in" — permanently affixed. Today, removable fins are another means for a surf shop to earn more money.

"Glassed-in fins limited the performance of a board," said Mitch Varnes, surf promoter and co-owner of The Goods surf shop just north of Indialantic, Fla. With co-owners C.J. and Damien Hobgood, both internationally ranked surfers, Varnes continually evaluates his inventory.

"By changing the fins in your surfboards, you can change the way the board rides," he said. "Accessories are a big part of the industry. Other things you need to carry are wax and leashes. Everybody has a leash. And anyone who surfs has a board bag, even if it's just to protect it from the sun."

Susan Wilson, owner of Rockledge, Fla.-based X-Trak, a nationally known company that produces surf traction pads that affix to surfboards, said surfboards are so expensive for shops to carry that many are including the lower-priced skim boards and skim-boarding accessories in their inventory.

"Everybody, maybe they can't buy a new board, so they change the accessories," she said.

Scafidi carries nose guards, a rubber tip that is placed on the nose of the board to prevent damage, as well as clothing, posters and beach towels.

"People are struggling, but they still love the beach and love surfing," he said. "We want to give them choices."