Surfing Waves

Hi. I had my first taste of surfing last week in Croyde on the big yellow surf school boards. Despite the terrible conditions I loved it and am now thinking about buying my own kit. I hear that second hand boards are a good bet for beginners but don't really know what to look for. I'm 23, 5ft 6 and weigh 10st. Balance was a bit of an issue when I got to my feet but did improve over the week. Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks.

do you know wheight in pounds?
and are you planning on being a longboarder or shortboarder?

10 stone's 140 Pounds. I thought that the Minimal was a good bet whether you were going to be a long boarder or a short boarder. Is this not right?

I'm looking to go short board myself, and pretty much fit the description of the guy above. Any advice?

umm ok.... you can start out on pretty much any longboard i think (not sure)... id suggest renting to learn first though.

But if your looking to go short, get a 6'6" fish, thats what i have, plenty of float, catches waves easy, easy to learn on. um..... thats all i think...

Will probably be a longboarder to start mainly due to the rounded end, am concerned I may cause myself some damage with a short board with their pointed noses if my lessons were anything to go by! Have been told that a minimal is a good bet at 7ft 4- 7ft11 but im pretty clueless in all this and don't know whether this is good advice?

I've just had the same dilema looking for second hand minimal all summer but nothings really turned up so invested in a new 7 foot 3 bic minimal from my local shop as I can probably sell it on for 3/4 of that in a years time. Its harder to balance on than the learner boards because it turnes easier but really easy to catch waves. - although the surfs been quite messy choppy here recently so prob not a great first run for it, no complaints though. ps 12st 5' 11" so sure itll be fine for u too.