Surfing Waves

Hi, little intro is in order first me thinks!

Im Chris and live the furthest you can be from any sea (well ok i tell a lie, 7 miles south of the furthest), thats bletchley *shudders*. I have fallen in love with surfing and I feel like that westlife song uptown girl, not that I listen to that of course *guilty eyes*.
Anyways I went on a 3 day long surfing course in cornwall this summer and loved it all but the problem is I cant really do any surfing, i was thinking of joining a club but some say I should have my own gear, I am getting a wetsuit for my 18th (3 weeks) but I cant really buy a board as I dont have a car to drive it places and noone to go with (can you smell the begging?).

My dimesions are, 6"6 (I know tall !) about 15-16 stone about 100kgs ( fat and tall !) so I guess xxl? also should I go for a summer 3/2? or a winter 5/3? I also found 4/3 are they good?
I have a budget of about 80 pounds and found this site boardridersguide.com/category/Department_Wetsuits.htm
which has sale 3/2 suits, any of them any good for me?
Or should I go to a shop and buy a lesser known brand but actully get to try them on.

Also for a board I guess Im looking at an 8ft-9ft mini mal? Are there good shapers which would make me a board cheapily or should I just buy a pop out? board (that is when I am able to go surfing).

Im not able to stand every time yet (but then only surfed for 3 days) but by the end was getting my pop up alot smoother and quicker, which is annoying becasue it will be months before I can do it again.

I finish my college course next year and was thinking of heading down south, getting a job and doing the work/surf thing, would work in bars and things be a good idea?

thanks for reading, sorry if its a mess its 1am and I probably shouid go beddy byes

chris

You are 21 about to finish school, no kids, no ties.......move to the surf. Take a year or two and tour central america, south pacific, hawaii, or austrailia. You can get visas to go, save before, and work a little while you travel. Live on the edge....you can always back up.

this is the golden time in your life, grab the moment and live to the fullest.

best of luck.

parrysurf wrote:You are 21 about to finish school, no kids, no ties.......move to the surf. Take a year or two and tour central america, south pacific, hawaii, or austrailia. You can get visas to go, save before, and work a little while you travel. Live on the edge....you can always back up.

this is the golden time in your life, grab the moment and live to the fullest.

best of luck.

x2. i turned down an okay job with a minimum 2 year stay down here because i wanted to go somewhere else. i've worked on the outer banks for 3 summers now, i'm going to stay through the winter and next summer, then next fall probably moving to nyc to try and use my film degree. i figure i can always come back here and live the beach bum life later. might as well live up the manhattanite life for a bit

fogot to mention I live in the uk, I havent decided on university yet as many dont have a good enough course which I want to go on, and I would have to take out aloan, I figure best to do it now when Im free to

chris

Hi Chris,

have you checked out the make Gul , they make lots of differant sizes and cater for more then just s m l xl....they have suits for tall and skinny, tall and large, small and fat whatever.

i would say got for a 5/3 as you will get better use out of it . i havent been out of my wintersuit all summer and yes sometimes it was a lil toasty, but you can always flush it with a bit of good ol english sea and cool down.

ebay has some good bargains in first hand suits so try that too althought for a first try you may want to visit a surf shop to feel the actual fit unless you are ok with the possibility of sending back.

i got my suit gloves and boots off the net.. only the boots where wrong and they swapped them no probs.

on that note...always buy your actual size..its not like skating where you need extra room

good luck

phill

Hi Phil thanks for your reply, I was thinking about a 5/3 suit and wearing it all year round, I figure it would be better buying one wear it all year and be slightly warm in the summer (is that ever a bad thing?) other than buying two.

Im going to ring around and see what people suggest.

many thanks for everyones replys and support.

chris

p.s. I have looked at size guides and none go up to 6"6, but 6"2 has a waist of about 36.5-38.5 and Im a 32-4 waist :s I must be a very odd shape indeed!

Chris,,,yer in cold water take the toaster a 5/? will be better suited for your needs, you can allways cool yourself off if your getting hot( I doubt it). You can allways make a hot suit cold but ya can't make a spring suit hot if it's cold water. Allso as Phill stated make sure it fits perfect go to a shop to get your size/fit for the brand ya want ( they all seem to vary) and then decide where your gonna buy it. As for boards you don't need a custom shaped stick to start get an off the shelf type, look into used sticks ya can beat up to start then get a nice board when your ready, yes a 8+ mal to a long board is a great start. As for suits,,, Get a perfect new one that is hand in glove fit for sure you'l be keeping/using it on any board. Oh yea don't neccicarly go off suit size chart (semi reference it) but go and realy size em in person somewhere. What they say and what it is ,,, is a different story. Good luck and have fun!!!

Chris. I thought I knew what size I was when about to buy a wetsuit, until I went and tried them on. I even tried 3 different Brands/Styles in the same size and only one fitted me exactly.
Suggest you go try some on, even if you don't buy.

Would also suggest renting a board the next time you go and trying different sizes (at Putsborough , for example, you can change the size of board throughout the day [subject to availability] at no extra charge) this will help you decide what to buy. IMO I would say nothing shorter that 8' and at least 22" wide. The more up time you get the more you can learn to to steer the board.

Anyway welcome and enjoy the creators creation.

thought I posted this earlier but O well,

Thanks for the replies I was tempted to buy online and get a fancy suit designed fo surfing, which dose lead me onto a question. I probably wont find a suit that is designed for surfing, things like seams in other areas to stop rashes etc. Will this be a problem?
Dose it matter about the whole brand thing (like ripcurl etc) because i doubt I could find those types of wetsuits around where I live more like Gul, Sola and Neil Pryde (these are the one a local shop sells)

thaks
chris

didj wrote:thought I posted this earlier but O well,

Thanks for the replies I was tempted to buy online and get a fancy suit designed fo surfing, which dose lead me onto a question. I probably wont find a suit that is designed for surfing, things like seams in other areas to stop rashes etc. Will this be a problem?
Dose it matter about the whole brand thing (like ripcurl etc) because i doubt I could find those types of wetsuits around where I live more like Gul, Sola and Neil Pryde (these are the one a local shop sells)

thaks
chris

As both a diver and a surfer, I think that THE most important thing in a wetsuit is that it fit properly. The manufacturer of the wetsuit is WAY down on the list.

Btw, as a new surfer myself, I'm completely stoked for you, mate. You are going to have so much fun it should be illegal.

seams are important to a point if they are bothering you they will rash you up , but your body will learn to toughen up in these places.

kneepads are probably worth checking on your first suit...(now im going to get booed by the straight to the feet gang) but you will drag your knee, its all part of learning...you dont want a suit where this dragging is done on the neoprene make sure there is a tough textured print to offer you some protection (i honestly have a HUGE scar on my left knee from wearing a rented summer suit while first learning..it had a hole in its knee and by the end of the first day so did I, it was really hard to get back in the water on the next sesh with it bleeding and saltwater all over it).

brand of course makes no diff. like i say, i like my gul it keeps me very warm and has worn well. buy go for fit over brand

thanks everyone for your replies, sorry i havent posted earlier things to organise!

going to look for one next week, will post when i do

chris

after weeks of blankness, I found a suit in swasnea. A ripcurl fskin something or other, its a 5/3 suit and fits really well compared to the other suits i tried. It also only cost 160 squid (I didnt go for the name brands, it was just the one that fit) but its ace.

Now to find some waves in this concrete jungle

chris

didj wrote:after weeks of blankness, I found a suit in swasnea. A ripcurl fskin something or other, its a 5/3 suit and fits really well compared to the other suits i tried. It also only cost 160 squid (I didnt go for the name brands, it was just the one that fit) but its ace.

Now to find some waves in this concrete jungle

chris

Same suit as me.

Check out your Private Messages as regards getting to the surf.

I do not know what is the answer to your post. It is seem to me more a philosophical question than a surfing lesson question. I think that the answer is what you want to do in ten or twenty years. It is all about that. Enjoy

Honestly you have to try on a wetty & make sure it fits , it could be a 9/8 if it lets in water it wont keep you warm.

I'd also be tempted to buy a 3/2 surf in the spring/summer and if your still surfing come winter buy a steamer.