Surfing Waves

I recently moved to the central coast in california and have been surfing once or twice a week for about 8 months now. Thanks to the members' advice here I went out for the first time at Cowells beach in santa cruz while on a road trip and have since been surfing pismo beach and morro bay, both beach breaks about 20 minutes from where I live.

My first board ended up being a 7'8 funboard / minimal. Thanks all for the advice. I've been surfing it since I last posted in september about once or twice a week. Developing the arm/shoulder and core strength to manage the board out in the surf is probably the biggest improvement I've made so far. I can consistently pop up if the wave doesn't end up breaking behind me and pearling me, and am working on some turns. Getting up and holding a line on unbroken wave is another story.

For me the biggest challenge so far has been that everything I've been surfing is beach break... It's rare that I get up and have any unbroken wave that I can surf on, it's usually closed out. I'm thinking I want to find a used craigslist board that's maybe a foot shorter and more maneuverable with the hopes of being able to position it better and take advantage of this kind of surf. Also since there is no way to paddle around the beach break I'd like to be able to duck dive instead of turtle rolling all the time. Thoughts or recommendations? I was thinking maybe a fish close to 7' so I can cut down on length a little bit without sacrificing too much volume. I know very little about different types of boards and the reading I did online hasn't seemed to demystify it.

One thing is if you take off on closeout waves then you take off on closeout waves, the solution is not a new board, it is don't take off on closeout waves. If you have trouble taking off then a shorter board will be more difficult. So you will get a board that you can duck dive once you learn how but it will be more difficult to takeoff on waves. If you go to a shorter board without cutting down in volume then you won't be able to duck dive it but perhaps if you want a new board that might be something to try in beach break without having to struggle on the takeoff.

Let me add some more help. If you surf a beach break then the first thing you should do every day that you surf is to just look at the peaks and how the waves are breaking and look for a peak that isn't closing out. If however you only have closeouts then the place you want to take off is close to the end of the wave. What you can do on closeouts is work on your bottom turn (and takeoff) skill. Takeoff and make a bottom turn to go around the closeout and off the wave. If you make it go a little deeper and try again. Eventually you will be able to project your board quite a distance around closeout sections. Otherwise pick a peak that isn't closing out. While you are still on the beach look for some lineups or markers on the shore or nearby that you can use to find that peak once you are out in the water. Then look at the lineup and look for where the waves are breaking and where they are not and where the currents are and which way they go. Try to find the easiest route to the peak you want to surf. Generally it is easier to pick a peak that is outside because picking one inside means you will have to deal with taking waves on the head and being in the way of other surfers. Then you have to create a road map to the peak in your mind. Something like jump in the rip current going out then after I get out of the initial break turn with the current also going left and go to the next peak and wait till there is a break then paddle like crazy to get outside of that one. Then there are many ways to go through the surf and perhaps watching some other surfers might help you but here is my way at sand beach breaks. After figuring out where I want to go and approximate lineups I walk with my board as far out as I can get to the initial break. I carry my board and if the wave is broken and not as tall as me I lift my board above the wave and lean into the wave which sometimes means I have my board over the top of my head. Otherwise I grab the nose of the board and dive under the incoming wave keeping my feet on the bottom to keep from getting nocked backwards. Then I just kind of hold my position there inside of where the waves are breaking till there is a break then I paddle like crazy to get outside of the inside break. Then I have my map but fortunately for me once I get outside the inital break I am outside of all the break and then I just paddle around the break to where I want to be. I rarely turn turtle but if the wave is breaking right on me or it's big enough I might. I do a push up to let the whitewater go below me and above my board or I push up and push my feet into the tail so that the nose points at an upward angle if it's a little bigger than I can do by that other method. I often do a duck dip which in not quite a duck dive. I push the nose of the board under the water and dive my head under the water before the wave hits so the rear of the board and my rear end are sticking out of the water then as the wave hits I pulls the nose up and keep going out. Anyway a shorter board is good to duck dive but for a beginner it will be a steeper learning curve in catching waves.

Great advice OMS! Mhk I feel your pain, I started all my surfing in that kinda break too. Tell me though, are there ANY unbroken waves further 'out back' than the closeouts?? If there isn't or they are too far for you to personally get out to at this stage, it's not going to be helped one jot by a new board and quite possibly a bad day to be going out! I've had those days!! Check some of my posts
OMS is giving you all the tips to get out to the waves beyond the walls of whitewater though.
In my very short experience, what you need is a few better and easier to surf waves under your belt, ones with a nice easily defined shoulder and a green face that holds up for a bit. Your progress will come on then and you won't get so frustrated.
Having said that, each day you're out you're learning and if you're out on crap days you'll manage the good days like a pro!!

Forget the new board for now. Happy hunting!

Thanks for the advice all! I have very little input to go on and believe me it is invaluable.

I'll stick with the current board for now. If a superfish pops up around $100 locally maybe I'll pick it up as something to grow into. For now, I'm seeing that I can still improve on the current board. I'm starting to get a feel for different positioning along the length of the board depending on if I want to carry some speed or stay closer to the base of a wave. I got an "indo board" balance trainer that seems to be helping me move around the board and stay up longer whenever i make it out. To your points OMS, I will spend some more time watching the lineup before going out. Some days the current takes me toward the pier and other days way down the beach, so staying put is a challenge by itself.

Just another nudge if I may, have you tried an even bigger board than you're on now? It would mean you can come inside and catch the reforms and start standing and doing what OMS says and trying to make it out of the whitewash to the shoulder easier. On really crap days and really crap waves you'll catch way more on a bigger board and so still keep your learning going in the right direction.

OMS has really covered everything else, brilliant advice old man!

You don't need a different board !!!!
You need a different beach!!!!!

Having looked up both Morro and Pismo beaches I suggest that you need to stay with the same board and get your skills up in reading the line up, watching the waves finding the easy paddle out spot. once you begin to ride well across the faces and can turn, then consider another board.
No board will do for you what you can't do yourself.
If you can't get out with the current board it is nature' s way of saying you are not ready to be out here. She throws back little fishes!
Take heart though you are very much a RAW BEGINNER, we were all there once, preserverence is your only answer all else is throwing money away.

jaffa1949 wrote:You don't need a different board !!!!
You need a different beach!!!!!

Very true...when I first started out I stayed off the "good" waves and out of the way of more experienced surfers....didn't even venture to the beaches with better waves (later funding that I'd perhaps been too thoughtful as the better waves are loaded with surfcamp beginners and groups of apparently infrequently surfing tourists)...point is it wasn't until I'd started on better waves that I improved. Brush up on you lineup etiquette, get your paddle up and get out to a beachie with other surfers....that's the first clue that it is a wave worth going to.

Duck diving is not the saving grace it appears to be...learn to read the break like OMS said...time your paddle out so that it occurs as much between sets as you can, or at least past the shore break or inside reforms...look for channels, currents, soft spots in the wave that you can get through....time your paddle so that you don't take it on the head but rather only deal with whitewash...paddle out with real purpose. I felt the same as you did starting out....that my big board was the cause of me pearling or not being able to get out back. I tried smaller boards that I could "grow into" and found out that if you don't use the path of least resistance, it doesn't matter if you're turning turtle or ducking waves, you're going to take a beating and be done before you even start. So I went back to my big board, much in part to comments that I read in conversations here, and learned to read the break, developed a strong paddle (still improving, figured out something this morning), improved my core strength and turtle rolling techniques (yes, more than one) until I could do it quick enough and in such a way as I wouldn't lose too much ground as well as how to punch through faces and duck the nose and slide back so I could get on with it quickly....big board paddles faster and gets out back quick. Recently I've been going out in fat waves with the longboard I have (9'6") that have up to 10ft faces...I am still a beginner, just 10 mos in at this point and am telling you that bigger waves on a longboard is totally feasible...I have found that with the right kind of waves I'm able to actually surf with speed and have room to start to develop my skills....these are fat waves mind you; hollow balangan is a different story but all the same I surf the shoulder there and it's got plenty of juice to get things up and running. Keep the board you have and get some better waves. One last thing; learn to hold onto your board at ALL costs...I've had to turtle twice in the past ten days due to kooks throwing their boards and bailing for the bottom when a set rolls through...actually had a clatter the first time...try spinning around and holding the tail of your board if a big one is set to explode in front of you and you aren't up for a turtle....point the nose of the board to the beach and hang on tight....you'll be surprised how underwhelming the passing will be.

If you can't get out with the current board it is nature' s way of saying you are not ready to be out here. She throws back little fishes!

Classic.

Reminds me of my Dad, he never gave me help climbing trees when I was a kid. Said if I couldn't figure out how to get up I shouldn't be up there.

Good point Big H.. I have read so much about ego and bad attitude in surfing that it has kept me a hundred yards away from the pier and out of the way, but realistically that's a consistent place I should be working my way into.

This morning was rough, kept getting pearled and nearly crapped my pants after what ended up being a pod of dolphins passed close by. Either the wave would pass me by or it'd pick up the back of my board and I'd go through the washing machine. It was paddling practice I'm really going to work on taking off on more of an angle and making bottom turns right out of the wave as suggested. Will give this a month or two as I've only been getting out weekly and and post up again.

mhk87 wrote:kept getting pearled. Either the wave would pass me by or it'd pick up the back of my board and I'd go through the washing machine. I'm really going to work on taking off on more of an angle and making bottom turns right out of the wave as suggested.

You don't need to work on angling in or bottoms turns. You need to work on body positioning on the board as you paddle. Missing or waves passing under you means you're too far back on your board. The wave picking up the tail and flipping you over mean you don't have proper glide. You might need to scoot up a inch or two. " but won't I pearl " you might say. Pearling is better than missing. Pearling means you at least caught the wave and were moving forward.

If you work on angling in too early, you won't be able to get a good glide in, thus bottom turning will be more difficult. First things first. work on your paddle.

All of your suggestions have been so helpful, thanks all.

Spent another couple months on the 7'8. Much more relaxing in the summer waves. Still can be a challenge some days because the waves are so steep on the breaks around here even on smaller days.

I was out in some bigger waves last week and got nailed by a sneaker set, tried to paddle outside and instead had the wave land right on top of me. Sort of like a "rogue wave" from the movies, it looked like all of the surfers on the other side of the pier got nailed too. Turtle rolled and surfaced with a huge goose bump on my head and a 1/2" crack on an old repair to the nose of the board! While it was in for the repair I caved and bought a 6'4 Al Merrick, really solid for $125 on craigslist. Was hoping for more of a hybrid / fish but nothing has come up in my price range. Had it out yesterday, it was only 2-3' out there but managed to catch a few! Will post up shortly with my progress. I'm not done with my longer board by any means, but looking forward to the transition. SO nice to just toss the smaller board in the back of my hatchback.

The last time I went out I got like 30 waves on the head during my 30 minute surf session. It's not the end of the world. I was battling lots of current and waves breaking all over the place. I could have avoided it by going for the outside break or the furthest over break but those were too infrequent for me so I chose to put up with getting pounded. I could have not gone out too but I caught a wave that made it all worth while.

I am going to give you non-standard advise, take it or leave it.

My first transition board from a funboard was a california gun, not a shortboard or shorter funboard. It was a 7'4 x 20 x 2 3/4 gun. I loved it, it had great paddle, tucked in great on barreling waves and had way more maneuverability than my funboard with almost the same volume. My next after that was a 7'0 x 19 3/4 x 2 5/8 and so on until I started shortboarding. The best thing is once you go down in size you still need the 7'4 as your big wave board, so it will be in your quiver a long time. I had mine for about 10 years, 2 broken fins and delam repairs finally did it in, but man I had a blast with that board.

Most people don't agree, a gun is meant to slot up and not turn, but wider thicker one can be a blast. Plus, it's not a popular size, when you find one used they are usually cheaper since they don't sell fast.

There, my advise, it's against the norm, most will tell you that your next step is a 7'0 funboard, not me. And no, no need for anyone to chime in, I know I am the minority, just letting you know how I did it and dug it.