Surfing Waves

Hey everyone! This post has two parts to it. First, I’m super excited. I’ve packed into barrels before just to get smashed, but I finally rode in my first barrel for more than 1/2 a second the other day. It was gorgeous. I attached a video that will hopefully play. Just wanted to share the stoke!

Second, and the more important part is some advice. I recently acquired a nearly new 9’4 WRV Brazie Captain’s Log Longboard. I’m really excited about it and want to practice logging this spring and summer a lot, but I know nothing about it. I don’t have a ton of money right now but want to put a fin in it...are the $15-30 nylon fins on amazon (Ho Stevie, for example) okay to start with?
And where is a good place to start learning how to ride a longboard?

Thanks everyone


https://youtu.be/ValSnkadHMc (Barrel video)

Did you make it out? Not that it matters in my view, still a barrel!

As to fins. Well. Is there anything more disputed and rabbit holey in surfing than fins? In my personal view, there is a difference between a cheap fin and a similar shaped expensive fin (eg will be stiffer or slightly ‘faster’) but that doesn’t mean the more expensive fin is better for you. You may actually prefer it slightly less stiff or slightly more drag or slightly less twitchy or don’t care whether it’s super nanotechnology or just plain fibreglass with 5% lower performance. And more expensive fins often have cooler colours.

The size, shape etc of the fin makes far more difference than the material used to make it - let’s face it, for most of us having 10% higher performance (whatever that means) is irrelevant as we are only pushing the 50% performance level anyway. 10% stiffer carbon when you aren’t pushing fibreglass anywhere near it’s limits anyway - is it actually of benefit?

That said, one benefit with more expensive fins (from my experience) is that they will act as described by the manufacturer. Cheaper fins you may not know how they are meant to act or don’t act exactly as they are described due to quality or just due to the manufacturer just not knowing what they are actually making (just copying a template). But that’s mainly the eBay fins; a reputable maker using cheaper fibreglass shouldn’t have these issues

Some shops offer demo fins to try out, so if you have access to such a shop that should be your first option.

As to which fin - hopefully Waikikichan will see your post as he is an expert longboarder who will likely know which fin style/template you should be looking at for your board

I didn’t unfortunately haha. I’m still trying to break out of the habit of getting excited and giving up if I see inside of a barrel. I was in for about 2 seconds though!

Okay, thank you! I really like noseriding and how cool cross-stepping looks, but obviously will need to get the fundamentals of longboarding down before I even attempt that. I just don’t want to waste $20 on a fin if it would be significantly worse than if I had just saved that $20 and put it towards a $70 fin. Part of me thinks I won’t even realize the difference though.

I’m assuming it helps to know the type of waves I would be surfing. I live in Virginia Beach so typically surf here and the Outer Banks a lot, so would mostly just be surfing ankle to waist high beach breaks

njbeethoven wrote:.are the $15-30 nylon fins on amazon okay to start with?

I would totally recommend the FCS II Connect GF Longboard Fin. The 9 inch is $27.00 and the 10 inch $29.00, so within your budget.

njbeethoven wrote: would mostly just be surfing ankle to waist high beach breaks

So you might be running it into the sand ? Will then you might want a cheap plastic fin with a nut and bolt. But I haven't lost my tool-less FCS center fin yet.

njbeethoven wrote:where is a good place to start learning how to ride a longboard?

Well I'm not familiar with East Coast surf breaks, but where do most of the longboarders go who live in the area ?

Will the FCS fins fit in any single fin box? They looked different so I couldn’t tell


Most long boarders surf 1st St Jetty in VB

The FCS fin should fit, unless it has some bandit Chinese-made box or some old Australian box. In my opinion, it's the fiberglass fins NOT the plastic/FRP fins that don't fit initially and need a bit of sanding down or a shim.

If the local longboarders go to 1st St Jetty, then you should go there too.

Does it just snap in? (like the FCS 2 fin boxes, but it looks like a different mechanism)

Okay, I’ll start there then. Thanks!

Njbeethover
I'm local to you. I usually surf Croatian. Unpredictable but the people are cool. A lot closer than obx. Parking is free all winter

Oh awesome. I surf Croatan a lot! I’ve been surfing for about 3 years now, but typically surf my twin fish or short board. So I’m not new to surfing at all, just completely new to longboarding. I just took my board out for the first time to Pendleton on Sunday. It was definitely a learning curve and hard but I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun