2nd board, for a 40yo

[Sevitzky]

Also - I referred to this chart, which was helpful:
https://surfsimply.com/volume-to-weight-calculator/

Lebowski, you should come back in the shoulder seasons and get some guiding to find other spots! There's definitely places and times to avoid the masses, but yes, getting more and more crowded. Also, weirdly small surf this entire season. Swell has been rarely breaking .5m @ 13-14s... I spent the "off season" surfing in the SW. It was crazy sloppy but you're alone in the water...

[Lebowski]

I did actually find some empty waves. My friend and I surfed a quality pointbreak alone for 4 days in a row, and had several 'quietish' surfs at busy spots. I was there early in the season and it was reasonably quiet. There was a dramatic increase around Xmas onwards.

I'm not the type of guy who will go out into a huge crowd anyway. I'd rather wait, or find another spot. Luckily in Sri Lanka if you're willing to put in some tuk tuk time there are quiet spots to be found.

[IB_Surfer]

I usually post this and with great results, try a California gun, a gun that is wider and thicker for easier paddle but still plenty of hold. Although I usually get them custom made ( have a 7'6 and a 8'4) you can buy them off the rack as well, just go for something with hard rails and not too much rocker so you can paddle it easier. I found this online as an example, but you can find something local or have it made: https://www.surfstationstore.com/produc ... 5922140221

[steveylang]

I usually post this and with great results, try a California gun, a gun that is wider and thicker for easier paddle but still plenty of hold. Although I usually get them custom made ( have a 7'6 and a 8'4) you can buy them off the rack as well, just go for something with hard rails and not too much rocker so you can paddle it easier. I found this online as an example, but you can find something local or have it made: https://www.surfstationstore.com/produc ... 5922140221

One of the better boards in my ongoing learning process was a 7'6" Rusty Desert Island, which had a form along the lines you mention. I just called it my Dad board. It's definitely in the same family of boards as that Channel Islands board, around 7'6" x 21.5" x 2.75" and 50L.

I had surfed shorter boards at that point (not very well), but decided to do a 'reset' and ONLY surf the Desert Island for awhile until I felt confident I had my basics down. It worked everywhere from small rolling surf to bigger messy plunging beach break. I could paddle in early into waves, but also learned to paddle in late as well on that board (which is when surfing really starts to really get fun IMO!) I only surfed it for about 4 months but that's a testament to how well it worked for me, as I was really able to lay down my fundamentals with it.

After that I had an easy transition to a 7' Santa Cruz Pumpkin Seed at 46L, which I really enjoyed for a few months. Now I have a pair of 6'2" and 6'6" Pumpkin Seed boards. It's amazing how different 2 boards of the same model with only 4" length difference can feel.