broad...buy...meen. Sheesh, your spelling betrays your obvious intelligence. Weren't you the backwoods guy with no teeth in that Deliverance movie? Farm animals are probably the only things that turn you on. What are you doing on a surf forum anyway? Go back into the woods, inbred!
Hey GSS, that looks to be a fairly specific shape to find used, don't think I have ever even seen one of those rare birds. Seems the chinese surfboard thing has taken over the high dollar fun shape market. And a used low mileage baby log thing is seldom found on a used rack of any type, domestic or imported. If you have trouble finding one I know a guy that will get you going as a lot of people on this board probably do also, depending on your location of course. Shipping a bigger board to a residence can be very expensive and troublesome but can be done. Good luck in your quest, that shape looks fun and interesting. Can't go wrong with a mini tank.
If you're trying to learn how to surf, buy yourself a soft-top board at costco and ride it every session for 1 year. You'll learn the fundamentals of handling a surfboard in and out of the water quicker than with any other board, period. If you get a big fiberglass board when just starting out, you will destroy it, mostly out of the water. If you buy anything with less float that a soft-top, you won't catch any waves = you're not surfing. You might feel like a nerd on the soft top, but you know what looks even worse...? When someone clearly spent a sh!t load of money on a surfboard that they have no business taking into the water, just so they would look cool. After a year, go buy some kind of wide nose, wide tail 8'6 or longer board, but don't go out and buy some shiny new, name brand (channel islands) board. its a waste of money. I've mentored several people in surfing, from pure beginner to solid waverider. The first lesson is always a trip to costco to get their board. If they buy a smaller board in the first year, they're on their own as far as i'm concerned, because they just took several steps in the wrong direction.
^ True. But once you are at the level where you can upgrade, I have a buddy who will sell one, just let me know
Thanks for the suggestions, head high (and everyone else). I’m a firm believer that there’s never one right way to skin a cat, though. I read up on learning the sport, asking questions, and paying special attention to common beginner mistakes, prior to and after taking some foam board lessons. All in all, I’m doing decently with my beat up 8’ board…big goofy smile even as I’m falling…just wish the water wasn’t cooling down already. I figured a second board would be a nice variation, one 6” longer and with a wider tail; I need to check out the local shops and check out their used stock. Going by advice acquired so far, I hope to find a… 8’6” retro type (heavier glassing for glide) mini log 22” wide (my 8’ is wider) wide nose (like the 8’) squash/square tail (the 8’ has pintail) some tail rocker for turning bit of concave in nose V in the tail single fin - don’t care how old/beat up it looks as long as it’s watertight - no interest in nose riding, just easy cruising btw, I am looking for a used board, as the subject heading shows…and I’d def wanna buy local. Thanks for your time.
Just get a log man. IMHO funboards offer the best of no wolds. You don't have the versatility of a LB and they're like surfing a tanker compared to a sb. I used to have a 7-6 and it was just so awkward to ride, it didn't know what it wanted to be. I'd say either get a foamie (like my namesake) or find a true longboard and practice on that for a while. Something over 9' will get you out there most every day.
Nah. Last weekend, I looked at a 9-2 log (it didn't have my interest as it was like new) and thought...I won't want to be slogging this log around out there. However, going by my 8' I figured an additional 6" and some tail width would help this newbie some. I actually don't have trouble getting up on the 8 footer...maybe I shouldn't even be looking...it may be like guitars...you have one, you start looking at others. Getting out there as often as possible is my real ticket to ride.
It does work that way, grass is always greener. When you get good enough to start riding a SB well, you'll always wish you had a LB back in the garage for those knee-waist high clean days in the summer. I know I do. The 8-0 will work but the 9-2 thrives in east coast summer conditions. There's a reason logs are so expensive and hard to find used, once you have one it's always a good bet to hold on to. Especially in the Atlantic Lake from May - August.
Get a softy like most said. I don't get to surf like most on this site, yet for my first day back I play on these to get my mojo back. Stoke is stoke! Then I work my way back to my 7'8" stu sharpe funsy! 2.5 day come around to what I prefer. Don't negate the transition. If it's been a while rock the slow steps or just rock a soft top like JOB! Just have a rocking time!
Let me ask you this ...is this the last board you will ever buy , are you intent on a "one board does most of it" solution? Then sure, get an 8'6, it's a good compromise - kind of maneuverable, kind of trimmable, pretty easy to catch waves. ("Best of no worlds" never heard that thats funny). But if I was doing it all over, as an east coast surfer, I would have started on a long board. 9'-9"6 modern longboard w/ a 2+1 fin config ...like Dave Parmenter says, the most versatile board ever designed. By just swapping out fins you can change it from a cruiser to a noserider to an HP longboard. To begin you want a big single fin no side bites and you want to be able to go out on ankle slappers and get the hang of it - for that you need length. "it's never too small when you have a longboard". Later as you learn to go down the wave you have the length to experiment with trim and noseriding (if you aspire to that) and you can move your center fin front and back to see how it affects your trim. And then if you want to get more maneuverable, you can reduce the size of the main fin, slide it forward a tad, add in the side bites, and start laying into ess turns and even pull some floaters off the lip. Most old guys (my age!) are perfectly content to cruise. But iF down the road you decide maneuverable surfing is more your cup of tea, as I did, keep the LB as a 2+1 and start looking at step down boards at that point. Personally I skipped the 8' range and went to a 7'6 quad "fun fish" - it was a little struggle but no regrets . But I still ride my longboard more often ... I just get more turns per session on the LB unless conditions are absolutely perfect for the fish. And I still go out on pretty small days if I am really Jonesing By now I have several boards so I always have a loaner for a friend. I wouldn't get a foam top myself because it's hard to surf with confidence when you look silly. Oh and when people say "buy local" they mean, go into a local surf shop LSS, tell them about yourself and what you aspire to, and let them shape you a custom.
You may have just laid to the crux of the whole thing, GW117. My intent was to try to get "the best of no worlds" with one board. But you sure laid out a case for the versatility of the modern longboard; that's much food for thought. I'll keep looking around for a used LB (or rental), as I'd feel like an ass going out there with an expensive new board at my current (lack of) skill level. Not to mention that funds are low. Thanks though, I may go that route next year.
