Opinions on this Al Merrick board on Craigslist?

[jrh93]

I'd like some advice on this Channel Islands/Al Merrick board I found on Craigslist:





Dimensions are 7'2" - 18 3/4 - 2 1/2 and comes with the leash, fins, and bag. According to the poster, its condition is very good. I've been surfing on an 8' foam board for about 3-4 months, going 2-3 times a week. I'm also 5'8, 145 lbs. Would this be a good next board to progress on, coming from an 8' foam board?

[oldmansurfer]

How is it going with the 8 foot foam board? Can you ride unbroken waves with it? How old are you? I think if you are younger then that board would likely be a good step down for you but it depends on how good you are with the other board. It's going to be more difficult to ride but once you get it down it will be a faster lighter more maneuverable board. It looks like a big wave board meant for riding bigger waves so that might make it a little more trouble in small mushy surf but if you are young and fit then you can overcome that and it should have enough floatation for you.

[waikikikichan]

No, not good. That board is meant for big waves. 18+" is too narrow. Find a board with more than 20" wide. Nose is also too narrow. Get a board with a rounded nose. Fun board, mini-mal , mini-tanker shapes are good. Not step-up boards.

[oldmansurfer]

My second time around learning to surf initially I rode a big wave gun (9'6"x 18.5" x 2") I got as a second board a 9'6" longboard which was remarkably easier to paddle but not to ride waves. They both worked fine for riding waves although I went out in much larger surf than your usual beginner I guess. Surfers these days often have all these different boards but they could use them all on all the waves if they wanted to with obvious advantages or disadvantages but when you are learning you would never notice it except in how easily it catches a wave. So I guess you could get a better board but if it's cheap enough this would be good for a little while in my opnion. Wakikichan however teaches surfing and he doesn't want you to make the mistakes he has seen so maybe you should listen to him. He sees all the mistakes a huge number of surfers make and for me not so much