Surfing Waves

Hey guys, i'm new to the site, haven't registered till now but a lot of the tips I've read up here have been fairly helpful, ignorantly i rushed into a impulse decision on a fairly cheap offer of a 2nd hand board ($120AUD). It is in fairly good nick, but upon further inspection...and a little removal of old wax i have noticed a few things which have got me fairly paranoid.

1) are the small compressions around the top of the tractor pad, im sure thats normal for a 2nd hand board, but im not quite sure about the colour, lol could it be waterlogged?

2) longish crack around the bottom of the right fin on just the inner side. Not sure if it's to major..but if it could lead to that fin tearing off then yer...lol could just be paranoia.

*1) Here is the pic of the small compression dents around the top of the tractor pad. if your wandering thats a bird cage in the background.

Here is a broader view.


*2) Now here is the slight crack on the bottom of the right fin, just running along the side.


Here it is standing (6'4 x 18 3/8 x 2 1/4) (please ignore the bodyboard)


Thanks for reading. PS, im 5'6 and weigh 176 pounds, least tell me i bought the right specs.

EBk wrote:(please ignore the bodyboard)

always do!!!

paranoia is pretty normal with first proper boards... but on the whole it looks a good un. at the end of the day you got it pretty cheap so wouldn't worry bout it too much. can't really tell from the photo if the crack is through to the foam. if it is you might wanna think about sealing it up. pretty easy fix. just get a repair kit from any surf shop. few vids on youtube that'll show you how.

as for the deck... pressure dings are normal enough. quite a few on that board but wouldn't really worry about it.

can't tell if it's the right specs for you without knowing your age, how long you've been surfing. but definitely not a learner board. not saying you can't learn on it. just would be much more fun and a lot easier on something a bit bigger. if you are just starting out I'd say you're going to have a hard time on it tho.

hey thanks man, it dosn't look like its gone through to the foam, running my finger over it i can only feel abit of rough parts. Im 17 btw, stocky build, ive been using foamies for a fair bit (6'2), and given my mates fiberglass boards a go. Dont really have the money to spend on 500+ boards, so i just thought i could grab this one for heaps cheap and use it as my first fiberglass haha. Its summer here so their isn't much swell so hoping to take it out rather soon, just wanted to clear those little questions up beforehand. Also i just took the old traction pad off, i heard i could get wax remover to get rid of the sticky adhesive residue, so hopefully that'll do the trick. thanks alot for the reply dude.

Mate for $120 I'd expect more damage. There's nothing wrong with it. If the crack isn't through the glass then it's cool and the pressure dings are normal. If it's leaking anywhere you'll soon know, and it's no biggy. Just find the crack you suspect it's leaking from. Pucker your mouth on it and suck, if you suck water it's leaking. Then just repair it with some solarez, don't bother with the full on fibreglass repair kits, if it's a big repair take it to a fixer, if it's small use solarez.

Any reason why you want to take the pad off? You should leave it on. If you really need to take it off then do this. Get a hair dryer and blow hot air on the section you want to peel then slowly peel it back, then use the hair dryer again etc. until it's off. Use some turps and try to get it between the pad and the board to weaken the glue. When the pad is off use turps to get rid of all the excess glue stuck to the board. Scrape it clean then rub down with some meths to get rid of the slippery turps.

Never mind the lid, what's with the uggies? It's summer!

Well, price wise the board if fine but size wise I'm a little worried. You don't seem that experienced so a 6'0 shortboard for a 170lb begginer might be more than you can chew.

thanks for the help guys, yer i eventually got the pad off, it was fairly worn out, the last bloke had the board for 4 years. As for the fin, nothing to bad, not a real major crack, although i might slap abit of resin over some of the fiberglass sticking out, i think it may have been a previous repair. Happened to find a smal ding on the tail as well, fiberglass dosn't look to damaged so just gonna slap some polyester resin over it.
True, i understand learning on this board will be hard, but no spare cash so i guess i gotta use what i have. Rekn it shouldn't be too bad, been out on foamies and mates boards on and off since last summer, but never wanted to take it as serious till now, i got a part time job so any recomendations of a board more suited to me, been interested in the fish or a minimal but no clue on the size or specs.
5'6 170lbs, probs something i can duck dive in, huge boards will be a pain carrying around on a bike...or a bus.
EDIT btw know any places(sydney) that would sell solarez, and roughly what is the price??

I learned on a 6'4" no problem, mine was a bit thicker and wider though
6'4" x 19&1/4" x 2&7/16
I'm 170cm 64kg
If you find you are the kind of guy that never really had to 'learn' popping up and you are a strong paddler then no reason why you can't learn on a 6'4", but only if you go often, not just weekends. If you are only going to surf Sundays then you'll struggle getting better.

Solarez is sold by all surf shops it's roughly $6 for a small tube and $20 for the normal tube.

Haha guess my board is a little under i rekn, would the slight difference in thickness and width make a big difference in the bouyancy?. Same height, its just i'm about 16 kilos heavier than you, guess i gotta start training up to lose a few kg's. Couple of mates are on their P's and my school is pretty close to maroubra, so it shouldn't be a problem going almost every morning. Ill check out the local shop soon, no real rush since the swell is pretty big atm, a shame I bought some polyester resin, finding about solarez kinda makes it pointless to have at this current time.

Im hoping the board isn't epoxy, guess i'll soon find out after the repair.

Yeah it's less buoyant for sure. The board I had back then would be too buoyant for me now though, also back then I was probably 70Kg starting out. As an example the last 2 days in this big swell I'm riding a 6'3" X 18&3/8 X 2&3/16 as my bigger wave board.

It's all about experience, when you have more you don't need as much volume as you learn the best positions on a wave to catch it with minimal paddling. Best thing is just give it a go but as I always say, hit the pool a few times a week and do some laps, and make sure you do lots of sprints in between, that'll get your fitness up.

It doesn't look like epoxy to me. If you've already got resin then just use that. Solarez isn't pretty but it does the job quick and easy, no messing about with catalyst and glass sheets. When I started I always wanted my dings to be fixed so they were invisible, you soon learn that a water tight board is what matters and solarez gets you back in the water faster. If you are anything like me you'll probably ding your board heaps when learning.
Remember the board is a tool and not a collectors item, as the shapers say "They are made to blast not to last."

Sweet az man, your infos been loads of help. Definitely gonna work for the fitness part, but as for the dings, looks don't matter to me, just as long as my board lasts and performs well. I think i'll pass on the solarez for this ding, seeing as i forked out 20 bux for the polyester resin. But next time for sure i'll probs just go with the solarez, no worries about fiberglass, or mixing cups.
Thanks for all your help.

that's a fine board, EBk. By the way, I buy most everything used: surfboards, automobiles, drums, motorcycles, etc. The exceptions are two of my present guitars and my present automobile. Other than that, I have bought used.

As the other guys said, pressure dings are normal. If you are really concerned about the crack by the fin, then do this:
1) cut the crack wider and a little deeper; be sure to remove all dust, fiber and fragments
2) fill crack with white or clear epoxy; be sure to let it cure thoroughly

Thanks man, yer theirs alot of good gear out their at cheap prices, so something like a surfboard costing 120 for eg wouldn't be that great of a loss seeing as i got it at a mad price. The crack seems to be fine, i dont think im experienced enough to cut through it though, so ill leave it as it is for now, seeing as it dosn't seem to look like its gonna let water in. Btw wouldn't the epoxy damage my board?, mines the ordinary PU foam core.

Good looking board for the money. Just my 2c is to smear a bit of resin/solarcure/whichever-you-can-scam-off-your-surfing-mates into the crack near your fin. It doesn't look too bad from the pics but if there is rough fiberglass sticking out, it probably needs a little attention.

Also, you asked whether you got the right board, and this is very subjective, but surf it. See if it is too unstable of if you think you can make it work. You said you surfed softies for a while,so you might really like the more responsive shortboard feel. I know I was fine on a 6'6 shorty after 12 months of intensive 7'6 mini mal surfing, and I'm 6'2 tall and weigh ~75kg.

If you don't think it's any good for you, then get something a bit larger, and with more volume. DO NOT go out and buy a fish, especially a retro one as a learner. Weight positioning is critical and they only like fairly specific conditions, which will potentially slow your learning down and frustrate you, so stick with maybe a fatboy flyer style board or even a true funboard.

Thanks for the added info Jimi, as i said haha short on cash, ill try look out for a funboard, but they are pretty pricey, but i happened to see one for 380 at http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff-fo ... Z181340494. Not promoting the site or anything but i rekn its alright for a cheap buy and you go to check it out IRL, instead of buying it without seeing it.
Ill see how i go with the shortboard, gotta pick up some solazarez and patch up the tail before i go out though. Happen to know any places between maroubra and bondi, maybe even city, where i can get it, and roughley its about 20 aye?

Hey guys thanks for all the help, fixed my board up with suncure, and took it out for the first time yesterday. Goes alright but idk if its too small for me or not, when i paddle out i find that my knees are sitting around the top of the traction pad, but yer, its a quick board.