Right now i have a used 6'10 mini gun although im 5'9 125lbs. I know this board is for large waves and not florida (it was a gift) which is why id like to get a different one. I am able to stand up most of the time with an exception of two problems the tail sinks and im not great at paddling so id like to look at a more buoyant shortboard or fish. Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Instead of getting opinions from a bunch of know-it-alls on the net why not just go talk to someone who actually SHAPES SURFBOARDS?
I agree most people will tell you to get something that may not work for you . Either talk to a shaper as stated or talk to someone at a Good surf shop in your area
Ok thank you. Does anyone know any good shapers (or any at all) in the south florida or central florida area? ( im kinda new to surfing) if so do they have a website or something? thanks
Blue Earth shapes some good boards, I'm really happy with one I recently got. It would probably be easier and cheaper to check out a shop and find something used, though. At your level there is no reason to drop big money on a new board. I don't really know of a reliable shop down here, IWS up in deerfield might be good, but I only say that because I like to check shrimpcreole for pics and they seem to be associated. You might even want to check out craigslist. Some nice boards come up on there and you could build a full on quiver for the price of one new board. People are going to tell you to get this or get that, but in the end your first board is really just something for you to thrash and go over the falls with until you wipe-out enough times that you start to get things figured out. Go with a classic thruster design that has worked for a generation like this http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/spo/1535361320.html if you want cheap, maybe something a bit bigger like this http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/spo/1537418932.html if you want to have an easier time standing up to start off. In the end, it's all about water time. Get out any time there is a bump on the water and paddle until you start to get the feel for it. If your tail is bogging down, shift weight onto your front foot. Do that too much and you'll pearl your nose right under, so shift your weight back. It's really trial and error. It helps if you're learning with other people because you have more heads working on the basics at once. Once you start getting the hang of it you can start refining your board search and talk more realistically about board sizes, tail shapes, fin set-ups, etc, but for now you need to get out there enough to figure out if you have the patience to commit.
