Surfing Waves

Hello,

So I'm not that experienced. I've been surfing a little over 4 years and I ride a 6' x 21.75" x 2.6" board. The board was custom shaped by Robin Pradonovich and is pretty round. It's a slightly modified take off of this board

http://www.rpsurfboards.com/alternative.html#pudge

So I took that out in the recent swell and basically just floated around and fought currents the whole time. When it gets bigger, I often find it harder to get into waves at all. I can paddle and basically catch them, but right as I'm about to drop, I'm looking over this steep face and I almost always pull out. Part of that is that I think I need to have bigger balls, but also this last time it felt like I might have done better on a longer board, like a 7'6" or something.

Keep in mind I'm talking about the reef waves of San Diego. Big, fat and slow. I almost never surf the beaches when it gets over 6' because 1) they are too heavy, and 2) most are closed out, except Black's of course, but I'm not ready for that on a 6 foot+ day.

So this brings me to my question, what board should I be riding for those waves? I was thinking a standard performance egg at 7'6" x 22" x 2.75" would probably work or is that too wide?

I reckon it depends on a lot of things....how you want to ride, what you like, the wave that you're going to ride on, if there is a channel or shoulder or are you going to have to go right through to get out back......what it sounds like is you want a board that has better paddle / float to keep up with currents and to get you in earlier on bigger waves....that could be a traditional gunny board or semi gun, a big retro gunny single fin, a fatter fungunny board, a board like you mentioned, a mini mal, a big super fishy fish, a big guy shortboard....or you can just use a longboard which I personally enjoy on bigger days and makes getting in early a breeze as well as keeping with the currents and racing out back between waves.........lots of flavours, lots of choices, lots of applications....you need to decide a fair amount of that on your own using your own set of variables.

what it sounds like is you want a board that has better paddle / float to keep up with currents and to get you in earlier on bigger waves..

YES, that is exactly what I want. Me and my big wave buddy are not at the point where we're ready to ride hollow waves at 10', so we always hit the reefs, which seem to be a little more forgiving than Black's. But we always have trouble getting in early.

The thing is, I live in a small one bedroom and don't have a lot of room for extra boards. So if I'm going to get another board, I want it to be able to handle a good range of waves. This is why I'd prefer a performance egg to a traditional gun. I figure (am I right?) that the performance egg will be more versatile and handle a wider range of conditions.... That being said, I can pretty much ride my 6 footer on everything up to 6 ft high, even on reefs. So I'm really just struggling with the really big days, like 8' and bigger.

I have a board like this that kinda fits what you are talking about....single fin 7'8" X 21 X 3", paddles well and handles size well; rocker and tail seem to work in waist high to 10' (biggest I've tried). This board is by a local shaper; I'd suggest you go and see yours, tell him what you're after and let him tell you what you need and what he can make for you. I would say just offhand that most eggs wouldn't really do what you need the board to do that great and there are better options.

Yeah I was worried that picking up one used might not fit my needs, but I don't have the money to spend on a brand new one at the moment... Any thoughts on these three?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/sgd/5359624597.html

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/sgd/5366957206.html

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/sgd/5360413359.html

I like the first one Kies 5 fin the best. I wouldn't go with the Kies fish unless you can easily find Lok-box fins.

Thanks Waikikichan.

You surfing sunset cliffs on a big day? If not where? I've surfed Swammis and Tourmaline using my fish, even on huge days. At sunset cliffs and PB point I've used a 7 1/2 gun and it has been enough. I ust bought an 8 1/2 gun for for tijuana sloughs and for todosanto's island, but those are 12ft+ waves.

You might consider a speed egg or something of that sort in the 7' -7'6" range. That's a good board for bigger days that doesn't require a ton of skill to surf.

Better yet, consult a local shaper. SD has a wealth of ridiculously talented shapers who will shape you a board for less than your average off-the-rack board. I'd highly recommend Larry Mabile.