Surfing Waves

I am getting a secound hand 6'6" from a friend, and because he offered it for so cheap (like $100) I am woundering what to look out for, I know there will be some dings, but I don't have a good reference point, (my current board is so flipped up it is redicules, it is a browny yellow from the water, and has several dings that look like it went through world war 3), so I will like some descriptions (or even better, pictures) of what is considered small, medeum, and big dings, plus for any tell tale signs of that it will only hold me back, ect.

The Fafanator wrote:plus for any tell tale signs of that it will only hold me back, ect.

getting a shortboard after 4 weeks of surfing

you said that you were quite big so go for a minimal instead. can get a brand new BIC or something cheap..shouldn't ding too easily plus as you hardly ever surf it will be difficult to learn on a shortboard

serously get a minimall and enjoy

Man post an HONEST summation of your current surfing skill and some idea of how big and heavy, and fit you are.

And the dimensions of the board your on now.

can you paddle out, duckdive or get past breakers, are you only catching whitewater, or clean faces, can you get a bopttom turn in, popup smoothly, stay on your feet, trim & plain the board on the face etc.

^Duh I can paddle out, I am catching faces, I pop-up as smoothly and fast as I can imagine (although I do sometimes slip if it is a biggish wave and I panic), and I do have my bottom turn on lock, remember, I skateboarded before (and still do), so my board skills are actually really good, the only thing I lack is wave knowledge, witch will come with time, (and I am getting better every day, catching more and more waves, right now the amount of clean waves I catch is determaned by the weather, because if it either i flat or if it is to big and I panic, I am not going to catch anything.) The main reason for me wanting to get a shortboard is because duckdiving a huge board is hard. Oh and my fitness it extreamly high actually, I can stay in the water for hours and hours on end, the longest I ever was out was 7 hours, personally surfing doesn't tire me at all (exept if I have to duckdive under waves all the time, that gets a little tiring after a while), I've been doing sports and things long before I started surfing. (although now since I have been sufing I am at the highest fitness I ever was in my life.) Currently I am looking for something that will duckdive deeper (when I duckdive I mostly just lift myself up and my board doesn't go down very far, but it is better than turtelducking atleast). Another thing is I want a board that will turn a little better, I don't have to worry about weather I will stay on the board and have balance, I have skated for more than 2 years now, and I don't mind needing to paddle a bit harder. Plus I am trying the board out tommorow, I just want to know what to look out for, and what is considered a bit of damadge and waht is considered alot of damadge.

BTW I currently am riding a 7'2" minimal for the past 3-4 mounths, and I think I am ready to move on to a shortboard.

skateboarding doesn't help too much with surfing. loads of my mates who skateboard can't surf an 8ft foamie too well.

rjd said HONEST faf

not a load of bs

All I want to know is what is considered bad damadge and what is considered minor damadge, I am only moving down 8", plus the board is thicker and wider than my current board, and I can paddle real fast, it will take a bit of a learning curve but what the heck, plus even if I can't use it right now I cn in a few months (but seriously, my board is just a 7'2" stone, it sucked in so much water it is brown, and when I squeeze it where there is a crack water squirts out, it has all the cons of a 7'2" and none of the pros, wqhy the hell will I want to stay with that if I can use something that doesn't weigh 5 times as much as it should.)

If your board is yellow and water logged then I would say the damage is bad, especially if you are squeezing water out of the cracks. That's why if you find you have a crack you need to fix it before you go surfing again with it. Minor damage I would say is pressure dings, and small cracks you can easily fix. Although, small cracks can become major if you never fix them and you keep getting more of them.

I think it might be a good idea to always have a bit of riesin lying around.

You can get a good patch kit with everything you need for about $20-30
Always good to have one.

or if you really really lazy duck tape can work but only as a temp solution

Ah duct tape. Over his keyboard...

duct tape rocks i love the stuff its sorts most things

^ Duct tape is a cultural phenomena, people have this illution that they can fix anything with a peace of plastic with adheasive on the one side. It is espesially popular with surfers and elementary school teachers, surfers use it to close cracks, and teachers use it to tape the mouths of pupils shut. (sereusly, teachers duct taped my mouth shut several times, I geuss I talk to much (I talk more than I post, so I can imagine myself making my teachers crazy, although they alredy are crazy anyway, I just make them crazier.))

I m seriously laughing at every single fafanator topic. Thank you! You made my day.

The Fafanator wrote:duct tape my mouth shut

only if you insist

The REME's (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) put the body of an APC back together with duct tape after it ran over a mine in Afganistan.

Amazing stuff, and yes, used by people other than surfers and teachers. I'd hate to think what'd happen trying to remove duct tape from someones's face.

Any news on those pictures?

Also, won't that mean you're riding a board 2 inches longer than you are tall? You said you were 6'4" @14yrs of age in another thread?

The Fafanator wrote:^ Duct tape is a cultural phenomena, people have this illution that they can fix anything with a peace of plastic with adheasive on the one side. It is espesially popular with surfers and elementary school teachers, surfers use it to close cracks, and teachers use it to tape the mouths of pupils shut. (sereusly, teachers duct taped my mouth shut several times, I geuss I talk to much (I talk more than I post, so I can imagine myself making my teachers crazy, although they alredy are crazy anyway, I just make them crazier.))

thank god i do not have too teach u

i have cleaned a carpet with duct tape came out looking good as new