Surfing Waves

Hello! I just recently started surfing, have only surfed foamies so far. And am looking to buy my first surfboard, and I live on the east coast in maine. I found a 6'11 board on craigslist for 250, and I am wondering if it would be a good beginner board. I am a 13 year old boy 5'8 120 lb. And literally JUST started within last 2 weeks.

Forgot to mention brand is South Coast Surfboards

If you are a bodysurfer or swimmer and in good shape that board might be good for you. If not you may find it difficult to catch waves with. I learned on a 6'10" board and I weighed 160 but I get the feeling from time spent on this forum that lots of people will have great difficulty trying to repeat what I did. Basically a board with more floatation (longer wider thicker) will make it easier to catch waves with. So in order to use a shorter narrower thinner board you need to work more at catching waves initially than actually riding them. So if you don't mind spending a few months trying to catch waves and not riding any then that board should be good. How long were the foamies you used?

oldmansurfer wrote:If you are a bodysurfer or swimmer and in good shape that board might be good for you. If not you may find it difficult to catch waves with. I learned on a 6'10" board and I weighed 160 but I get the feeling from time spent on this forum that lots of people will have great difficulty trying to repeat what I did. Basically a board with more floatation (longer wider thicker) will make it easier to catch waves with. So in order to use a shorter narrower thinner board you need to work more at catching waves initially than actually riding them. So if you don't mind spending a few months trying to catch waves and not riding any then that board should be good. How long were the foamies you used?

they were 8'4 and 7'6.

How often do you plan on surfing? Did you notice a difference between the two boards? they were nearly a foot difference and that amount of floatation should make a notable difference. You are surfing in Maine? I am guessing that means smaller gentler slower waves and a bigger board would be better to learn on and especially if you aren't going to be surfing all the time. You will be growing too so while that board may be ok for you now if you surf often it may not be if you take a break from surfing and put on some weight. There are others here who teach surfing maybe they will chime in on the right size board for you in Maine.

oldmansurfer wrote:How often do you plan on surfing? Did you notice a difference between the two boards? they were nearly a foot difference and that amount of floatation should make a notable difference. You are surfing in Maine? I am guessing that means smaller gentler slower waves and a bigger board would be better to learn on and especially if you aren't going to be surfing all the time. You will be growing too so while that board may be ok for you now if you surf often it may not be if you take a break from surfing and put on some weight. There are others here who teach surfing maybe they will chime in on the right size board for you in Maine.

I live about 5 minutes from the beach, so I would be surfing multiple times every week, but I think that I am going to go with either a funboard or a fish for where I live. Thank you though!

Ok so I got some more questions. My local surf shop is selling a used nsp 7'6 funboard for $250, it's an epoxy construction and is pretty beat up and has lots of chips, but he says that it is watertight. Is this a good deal? Or should I hold out for something else? Another surf shop is selling all there used boards on oct 4th.

No idea if it's a good deal, that will depend on the board condition. But it's an excellent board choice for you.

That NSP would be a good board if the condition is ok...tough, plenty of float, a little rocker up front to help out when you start taking waves that are a touch steeper.

Big H wrote:That NSP would be a good board if the condition is ok...tough, plenty of float, a little rocker up front to help out when you start taking waves that are a touch steeper.

The condition is OK, they've rented it out for years, so its really beat up, lots of scratches, but still watertight.

De if you can bargain them down RE the beat up condition. I'd go for that.