will a fish be the right travelboard for me?

[Rico]

Hey guys,

I sold my old 6'6'' / 19 3/4'' / 2.5'' hybrid shaped board to buy a new one when I'm in Australia for 6 months.

I'll leave in two months and got lots of time to think about my next board - an expensive one if I'll buy a car to keep it safe, a cheaper one (or 2nd hand) if not. The main problem is the shape: the kind of board I sold has, compared to a radical shortboard, lots of volume for its length, but not enough to catch enough waves on a small day without paddling like a madman. I am limited to one single board so it has to cover as much as possible. one possibility I thought of was a fishboard. A modern one because they just appeal to me. I like the whole idea of an easy paddling board that is small enough to carry around as a backpacker..
more specific, I thought about a big fish, around 6'4'' and 21'' wide. I'm around 70kg and athletic.
It should suit me from intermediate (Eu standard ) to what I will be after 6m of intense surfing and handle most of the swells I can get in Oz (summertime).
I never surfed a fish and only heard about the way the ride, loose and hard to control but ideal for small to medium surf. I would go and try it out myself if the ocean wasnt a 12h car ride away so all I can do is ask to evaluate my idea.
Could anyone explain where exactly they differ from a shortboard with about the same length? Low rocker and high volume catches waves, but are they really THAT unstable? Will I, as an intermediate surfer (EU standards means bottom turn, cutback, silly moves before exiting a wave) have a hard time with the board?
what else for an allrounder if not a fish?
help

[drowningbitbybit]

Unless you plan on only surfing very small days, a fish is basically hopeless in east coast Australia.
The tidal range is so short (compared to europe) that the beachies have a very short ride before you run out of water. At high tide it can be like stepping into a lake, straight into 3ft of water. So there's rarely a long weak wave that fish love so much.
The waves tend to jack up out of nowhere and be very steep - so the ride tends to be brief but exciting

I have a modern hybrid fish which comes out on the smallest of days, but as soon as its above around waisthigh, it stays in the van. Much too much volume for Oz waves, and it wont take the steep drops.

You'd be better off with a big shortboard with some proper rocker.

I have a 6'3 quad which is 20" wide and 2.5" thick (maybe a bit more, cant remember offhand) which is a good compromise for ease of getting into waves but being able to take the drop and do fast enough turns to stay on the face.

[Rico]

I owe you a drink for all the advice here and in my other thread

does your description of the beachies apply to the whole east coast or just your sydney area? The friend of a friend surfed the gold coast (coolangatta) for a few months and bought a 6'4'' JS fish there and loved it.

I checked my financial situation today and it seems like I could afford two used boards, let's say a modern fish and a biggish shortboard to hybrid thing. But as I said, I don't know if I'll have a car yet - my dad would have to help me out on that

European summer always has little to no waves with few really pumping days, so I expected the swell to be rather tame than mindblowing. However, here's the kind of board I'm talking about:

[drowningbitbybit]

A board like that will probably be okay for most summer days around here. A proper shortboard as well would be helpful though.
The beachies will be pretty much like I described right up and down the coast. Some spots more than others though - There are some mellower spots about too.
As for the summer swell - it'll mostly be short period wind chop in the afternoon in summer (onshore sea breezes) and clean waves first thing in the morning. You can often snag a clean hour as the sun goes down too. Sometimes though you get good proper groundswell even in summer - Ive seen it overhead during a 35C heatwave.

One thing for sure though - you'll almost always be able to find a wave somewhere. In two years Ive seen it genuinely flat 4? times (my apartment overlooks the sea), and only ever for a day or two.

And you'll need a car. You'll get tired of the city breaks pretty quick in summer, particularly when you know that empty breaks are an hour away.

And mine's a Pure Blonde (the beer, not the ladies on the beach)

[Rico]

alright. I just don't like the "proper shortboard" idea because I'm not good enough to shred the waves to justify having a radical board. Not yet. It just doesnt seem to fit my surfing style.

maybe the fish is the wrong compromise and I should reconsider a board with a similar shape to the 6'6'' I recently sold. Here it is:


If its true that theres decent surf in summertime, it should work for me. At least the first 2 months

[jb987]

for a few months and bought a 6'4'' JS fish there and loved it.

Borrow the board and try it. You can also rent some fish boards from the local surf shops. They can be bought new almost as cheap as used, in newer epoxy too, lighter more durable. People usually buy a smaller fish than the shortboard they ride. Ask about it. You can always ride the smaller sets on the big days! I've seen people riding fish boards on 5-6' waves without any problem, but it is all about how you surf and the break. You might have a quick steep break, so try a few rental fish boards first.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fish+surfboards&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

With a custom board, why did you sell it? It could have been a great board for there!

[raekwon chef]

I was surfing publics a few days ago. Overhead surf and the fishes were out. It's all about how much time you spend in the water with it.