Surfing Waves

Hi there, I think I have spent enough time on my foamie and I want to switch to something *better*. Now 8' Wavestorm foamie is not a bad board. It just seems for me it's a little tank in the water. I cannot catch smaller waves, I cannot turn much.
Yesterday I met a very nice and helpful girl. She let me ride her board, she had a 9' longboard, called rocker with 3 fins as I remember. The board seemed way faster. It was also easier to paddle out.
She also said it's time for me to get a better board. I'm not experienced enough with surfboards to say exactly what I want. What is important for me is:
1 most important - I hate to paddle, if I can get a board that will be easier to paddle out...
2. also important - easy to catch waves; some people with longboards can catch super small waves and I cannot do that with my foamie
3. little less important - I would love to be able to turn, at least better then with my foamie
also I don't think I want to go with very long board. That 9' seemed already a little too long. I think I would enjoy something between 7'6" and 8'6".

I'm ~180pounds, 5'11" guy, I'm confident in white water, I'm also surfing 2-3ft waves with no major problems. Other than that I'm a surfing beginner.

chrisdot wrote:1 most important - I hate to paddle, if I can get a board that will be easier to paddle out...
2. also important - easy to catch waves; some people with longboards can catch super small waves and I cannot do that with my foamie
3. little less important - I would love to be able to turn, at least better then with my foamie
also I don't think I want to go with very long board. That 9' seemed already a little too long. I think I would enjoy something between 7'6" and 8'6".

I'm ~180pounds, 5'11" guy, I'm confident in white water, I'm also surfing 2-3ft waves with no major problems. Other than that I'm a surfing beginner.

So the first two points you have made scream (not just suggest) something around 9ft. So does your weight. Turning is a tad harder with a longer (9ft) board than an 8ft board, but not by much.

A 7ft6 board is harder to paddle, wont catch tiny waves as well or at all - so scrub that thought.

You should go with an 8ft6 or longer. You honestly wont notice any disadvantages between 8ft6 and 9ft when you are in the water, but you will notice some benefits of the longer board (although 9ft is a more common length so probably easier to find a board to buy). At your level (and we have all been there), no board is 'too long'.

You are on the right track and making the change from foam to hard board for the right reasons. So aim for something that is

8ft6 - 9ft2 long
21 1/2 - 23 inches wide
2 5/8 inches thick, or thicker (probably stay under 3 1/4)
Single fin or 3 fins probably doesn't matter, but try not to get one with glassed in fins (these are pretty rare nowdays anyway)

Ok, I can give it a go. I found few in my area if you want to have a look. Willing to spend <$200 for that so I can experiment and worst case sell to somebody else.

1. that's just about your description, but no leash
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/spo/5507930903.html
2. slightly tighter, no leash again
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/for/5481576243.html
3. 9.2 and no other dimensions, but the price is sweet
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/spo/5521296481.html
4. This one is 8'
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/for/5495137928.html
5. that looks sexy, but no other dimensions other than 9' and no leash :\
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/spo/5509901909.html
6. one more 9'
- http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/for/5496150097.html

There are some real problems here!
You hate to paddle wtf, 90% of surfing is paddling , out the back, for the wave, between peaks.
A short board will make you paddle hard for no result, but will possibly duck dive.
A longboard will paddle easily but you will need to learn to use rips and turn turtle to get out!
Foamies / soft boards are flotational barges but if you can turn so can they. Boards do not turn by themselves, turning and everything else you in surfing are skills you need to learn.
A decent board will help your learning.
Between 8'6" and 9' is a good area to choose aboard in. So most of the Craig's list boards are OK , look for yellowing or obvious dings and perhaps choose a board with a fin box and plugs so later in your learning you can try different fin set ups.

Finally get paddle strong, very important otherwise you will just be a priority buoy!

The first two and the last one look best from what I can see, assuming they are in reasonable condition. don't worry about a leash - I recommend buying a new leash anyway, since you have no idea what the old one has gone through, how it has been looked after etc.

As Jaffa said, you need to learn to deal with paddling; also you should be able to swim back to shore without your board. So if you need to get better, hit the pool for some laps or practice paddling on small days or flat water.

I do work out my freestyle stroke on the swimming pool. I will get better, promise. I'm very comfortable swimming breaststroke and being underwater, so no worries here.

jaffa1949 wrote:There are some real problems here!
You hate to paddle wtf, 90% of surfing is paddling , out the back, for the wave, between peaks.

Not true! I don't paddle in white water - it just grabs the board even if I'm not paddling. On top of that - if the water is shallow and I know spot like that - then once the wave is right behind me I can just push the board and jump on it . Also if the water is shallow I can walk most of the time, don't need to paddle to get out the back.
But I know what you are saying. It just feels easier to paddle out on fiber-glass or whatever-it's-made-of board. It seemed like the 9' rocker I borrowed just cut through waves while paddling out. My foamie is always grabbed be the wave in such scenario, so I get pushed back.

on turning, I used to think my heavy BIC board was preventing me from doing turns, actually it was just me, not trying.
the nice people on this forum have helped a lot with that.

You should first practice turning in white water on your current board. Then move on to clean wave. You should at least be able to bottom-turn before you move on to another board.

The 90% Jaffa is referring to is when you're actually surfing. It is the aspect of paddlling out back, getting in position(paddling to the correct area) to catch the wave and then actually paddling yourself onto the wave that requires the paddling skills to surf. Riding whitewater and pushing yourself onto waves isn't really surfing(you're on the right track though).