Ok - I'm up - and getting battered about by North East whitewater! I have never had so much fun in my life - I cannot explain to anyone how it felt the first time I managed to stand up on that board - it took me over two hours; the first hour, once I'd got the hang of actually timing waves, paddling, I was ready to get up then I just had a total mental block - absolutely xxxxx scared of falling - and its so stupid - because I'm so used to breaking my backside snowboarding!. But this was different - this was crazy NE whitewater - random waves coming in at all directions..but I did it, I had a great instructor, and I just laughed so much and swallowed half of the north sea to the point of throwing up on the sand, and went home that first day feeling like I'd found something special... Surfing kind of clears my head of all the random pointless everyday crap, because I guess when youre out there its all about you and the waves...and fun. Maybe thats why Surfers are such special people - like they have this amazing perspective on life - the little day to day 'issues' dont phase them. I hope I get good at this someday, I get the impression that the better you get, the more fun it becomes...Thank you for the replies on this thread, it helped alot and the board has turned out to be a good choice; excellent stability, plenty to hold on to, enough to catch even the little waves - but still fun.
Cheers,
B
