Surfing Waves

Hey guys!

I'm negotiating a new board for my quiver, it's not brand new, but a "2 sessions board". Have been used twice by a friend of mine, and then stored for a long time. I was thinking about getting it with some money I've been saving, since my other board has been suffering a bit and it's always good to have an alternative board for when the other is being fixed. Also, a different board might help me get another feel, not being too used to the same board. Or whatever excuse we make up to our selfs to get a new one to the quiver!

The measures are: 5'11" - 18 1/2" - 14 3/4" - 2 1/2". Not a big step down, my current one is a 6'0". It has a thick rail, like my current one, which can help me get in some mushy waves we have in a close break. The material seems good, FCS cups, some carbon fiber on the tail, the block seems good quality. Examining the board I've only noticed one small mark on the nose (which I don't think is a leak, probably because of some bump while my friend was storing the board) and two really small bubbles on the tail? I'm not sure, it's really small and doesn't seem like an issue. You guys think those two things are enough reason to rethink the buy? I'm really tending to keep it so far

We will have some waves in 2 days, so I'll be able to do a test drive and check if it is as pretty on water as it is out of it

I'm posting some pictures of the board:

Wow, Ian, a board that fits in a bed! This is a unique concept and I want one, too! (smile)
The damage in the "nose" and "bubble" photos looks very minor. If you have any concern about them, I'd place one layer of 2 ounce fiber glass on them. I might try to sand the bubbles out first. The 2 ounce glass is very smooth and is often just what's needed without going over board.

billie_morini wrote:Wow, Ian, a board that fits in a bed! This is a unique concept and I want one, too! (smile)

Who do you think is sleeping on it?
Just kidding, I'm not really good at choosing a board for me right now, since I've only surfed a few and can't really draw what is best for me. But for a shortboard I always keep in mind nothing shorter than 5'10" and nothing bigger than 6'2" (unless I want a longboard or a gun), not too narrow and with a relatively thick border. The tail on this board is squared like my current one, but if I was to shape one I'd probably want to try some swallow tail.

billie_morini wrote:The damage in the "nose" and "bubble" photos looks very minor. If you have any concern about them, I'd place one layer of 2 ounce fiber glass on them. I might try to sand the bubbles out first. The 2 ounce glass is very smooth and is often just what's needed without going over board.

It easies my mind that it looks minor to you too. I'm not paying what a new board would cost, but the price is also a little higher than some second hand boards, because of the material and apparent conservation of the board. Since it's a friend, he agreed I could pay for him in a little more time, instead of giving all the money straight up, so that helps.

Later today or tomorrow morning the swell arrives, and we will see how this board feels like
Had some issues with my motorcycle today, so it would really brighten my day if I could shred and really connect with this board!

It's kool that you can try it first.....at least you'll have something to base a decision on. Sometimes a board takes some time to grow on you though....lousy first sessions with new boards while you're trying to get them sorted are well documented here. Took me most of one session not too long ago just to figure out where to lie on the thing to best paddle around and again where when I was going for a wave.....the last half hour of that sesh was defo better than the first hour and a half.

Ian, you shared, "...it's a friend, he agreed I could pay for him in a little more time." This is really cool! I have some friends and we "sell" things to one another at the "friend" price. The "friend" price is much lower than if advertised for strangers. It also comes with the agreement that you can buy it back at the same price, if you decide you can't live without it. The last "friend" price item I sold was a professional pneumatic lift for motorcycle mechanics. Sold it to a long time buddy for 1/3 of what I could have received on the open market. In hindsight, I should have given it to this friend. US founding founder Benjamin Franklin said, "There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money." If he'd had the opportunity to visit SoCAL, he would have said, "No waves, no glory. In addition, Eddie would go." One final element of irreverence. AC/DC's Bon Scott would have croaked, "Let there be surf!"

Not really good conditions today, swell is starting to rise, but I had my first experience with the board.

I feel like it has a little more flotation than my other one, so I'm having a little more effort on duck dives, but the paddling seems a little easier. The difference is really subtle.
In other aspects it's similar to my other board, not too hard to get on waves, but once I'm up it seems more loose. I'm not sure if I was inspired today, but I did my best backside snap/carve so far. Usually I lose a lot of speed on the snap, and this makes finding a good section important, so I'm going down the face right after I finish it. This time I did one sharp top turn, almost all the way to a cutback and didn't seem to lose speed during the turn. Not saying it was the board, but it did good for a first impression.

I just got back from work, thinking about going dawn patrol in 3-4h. Waves are supposed to be better today, so I'll have a better feel of it!

“…foam is your friend…don’t be scared of it. A little bit of extra foam here and there is good for the soul… and your surfing.”
– Rob Machado

Second day with the board, 3ft hawaiian, waves head high to a little overhead on series.
Conditions were good, but place was crowded, lots of longboarders and not all of them were kind enough to let a few pass. There's this tournament of longboard tomorrow, so that kinda explains there being more than usual.

I didn't catch a single right! Kinda frustrated me, because I like to work on both backside and frontside waves. The ride feels different on each. The frontside waves I catched were good rides, but I still need to work on the f/s snap.

So far the board feels a little faster and more loose than my other one. I'm still getting intimate with it, so today I had a few wipeouts losing control on turns. But so far so good, had some cool rights, conditions were not as good as today in a while. Got really tired shoulders today, to the point of feeling them burning every stroke. Also I have some really painful rashes on my legs because of sitting on the board. Not sure how I'll do tomorrow, since conditions are supposed to get even bigger and I probably won't be 100% recovered.

Surf's up! Suck it up....you'll be fine....15min and you'll shake off the cobwebs.