i m choosing my surfboard based on my car...

[kook]

as silly as it sounds my car is one of the parameter I take into consideration now that i want to buy my first surfboard.
Here's a bit of history. Started surfing 3 months ago and i've been surfing basically every weekend and even more since then. Started on a foamie for the first 3 lessons, moved to a minimal 7.9 and jumped around that all the way down to a 7.0 egg. I can popup kinda ok, catch some unbroken waves and can do some basic turns. Now, im always renting my board, which is great cause i can try different shapes/size and im not spending too much money. The big limit is due to the fact that i can surf only at the same beach (or other places where you can rent) at specific time and days and most than anything else, my gf is getting kinda tired of getting her tan at the same beach
Now, i went looking for a surfboard to buy and i suddenly realized that we have a car which is not really suitable to carry a surfboard. There is no way that we are going to put a roof rack on it. The soft rack isn't really an option either and we couldn't find any suction rack to be used on this model. If i had a normal car i would probably buy a decent size minimal and go with it. But i can't.
We went to this shop and tried to fit inside the car some surfboard. The best we could do was a 6.4 fish. Keep in mind im 6.0 feet and around 160 pounds.
I've never tried something that small, and tomorrow im going to, but i was wondering if any of you could share a bit of their wisdom and honestly telling me what they think about it. I know there will be frustration, i know my wave count will go down big time but then again im willing to put some extra effort in and being able to simply drive and try different beaches everytime i want. Realistically speaking, is it doable? (i think it is, and i believe i can do it, just want to hear others opinions as well).
So, what say you?

Thanks a lot

PS:selling this car or buying another one is not an option.

[jaffa1949]

I'm really curious why the soft rack isn't a viable option for you.
I've seen board racks on everything for Fiat Bambinos to Mini Coopers.
Most cars have a brand associated racks or an after market option, then soft racks.
Good soft racks can handle highway speeds?
Very curious and potential girlfriend trouble looming.
She wants suntan from beach Y beach X has the better surf.
Believe me unless they surf, partners do not understand the imperative of quality surf over all other considerations.

[kook]

Soft rack isn't much of an option as it:
- damage the windows/door sealing.
- risk of scratching the car roof. Just a bit of sand below the soft rack + little movement and there you go.

As for gf it was a bit of a joke, but we both moved to a new country and would like to see/spend time in different beaches, being it on a surf or on the sand

[drowningbitbybit]

Soft rack isn't much of an option as it:
- damage the windows/door sealing.
- risk of scratching the car roof. Just a bit of sand below the soft rack + little movement and there you go

A soft rack won't damage the windows, although they can split the seals after a while. It shouldn't scratch the roof either as long as you do it correctly.
However, a surfboard on the inside of a car makes a right mess...

As for could you surf a high-volume 6'4? Of course you could, but you risk making surfing a miserable experience, which kinda misses the point.
As a fellow 6-footer, stumpy little boards aren't necessarily a great thing and can really inhibit your surfing, particularly while you're learning.

[waikikikichan]

In our Scion Xb 4 door hatchback ( Toyota Bb in Japan ) me and my wife's two 9 foot longboard fit inside easily. If you have a 2 door sedan I can understand your problem. Did you have her sit behind the drivers seat and have the passenger seat folded down ?

6'4" would be better if you had more than a year under your belt. But better a wrong size board than no board.

[kook]

edit

[kook]

Soft rack isn't much of an option as it:
- damage the windows/door sealing.
- risk of scratching the car roof. Just a bit of sand below the soft rack + little movement and there you go

A soft rack won't damage the windows, although they can split the seals after a while. It shouldn't scratch the roof either as long as you do it correctly.
However, a surfboard on the inside of a car makes a right mess...

As for could you surf a high-volume 6'4? Of course you could, but you risk making surfing a miserable experience, which kinda misses the point.
As a fellow 6-footer, stumpy little boards aren't necessarily a great thing and can really inhibit your surfing, particularly while you're learning.

The door has a "naked" window. No mount around the window. The seal will be damaged and the window itself would be stressed. I understand the miserable experience risk which is what keeps me unsure about this. On the other side i'm really looking forward to get _my_ surfboard and just use it. A bit of a dilemma here

[kook]

In our Scion Xb 4 door hatchback ( Toyota Bb in Japan ) me and my wife's two 9 foot longboard fit inside easily. If you have a 2 door sedan I can understand your problem. Did you have her sit behind the drivers seat and have the passenger seat folded down ?

6'4" would be better if you had more than a year under your belt. But better a wrong size board than no board.

it's a coupe. 2 seats only. i think we might be able to stuff a 6.6 maybe in, haven't tried yet.
I might have to sell it and buy something that fits better with my new passion

[jaffa1949]

I see your problem particularly with sand and scratching.
Wax inside the car makes a mess so board socks are great, but no matter how you go surfing and cars, unless they are pickups ( utes in Australia) or surf vans, equals sand wax and deterioration at a rapid pace, add the mankie smell of wetsuits and boardshorts eeeeeyu
Do yourself one big favour on the GF front teach her to surf too .
3 results from that at least, shared water time , desire to go surfing for both of you, high probability you will get a new car that suits your boards of choice FIXED

[BaNZ]

Do yourself one big favour on the GF front teach her to surf too .
3 results from that at least, shared water time , desire to go surfing for both of you, high probability you will get a new car that suits your boards of choice FIXED

Oh God I've tried, I wish I can do this too. But it's near impossible to teach someone who doesn't have any body coordination nor knows how to swim. She gets scared just from the white wash and can't walk to waist height depth. In addition to this, she is never touching my car. I don't know how someone can go the wrong way on a roundabout. But I do need her to take nice photos / videos of me surfing....

[oldmansurfer]

I married my wife beause she used to surf (well that and she is wiling to put up with me . She got injured and quit but she still likes the beach however I can't get her to take pictures of me surfing. I had to beg her for 2 weeks to take one measly pic on a small day. But I guess when it is big I am far away from the shore so she cna't really take good pics anyway.

[drowningbitbybit]

it's a coupe. 2 seats only. i think we might be able to stuff a 6.6 maybe in, haven't tried yet.
I might have to sell it and buy something that fits better with my new passion

Definitely - once you're a 'proper' surfer with your own board, you'll be basing your car purchases on your board, not the other way around. We've all done it.

Also, at some point you'll think about owning two... three... four... boards and for some reason you'll want all of them for the weekend.

Get a beat-up old van for the surfing weekends... although the glamour of the weekends away with the other half will drop dramatically

[kook]

Thank you so much guys for your advices.
At the end i bought the "seasucker" :

https://www.seasucker.com/shop/surfboard-rack/

I have't tried yet as im still thinkig about the board to buy, at least i have the transportation part solved for now.
It looks solid and hopefully i won't lose my board on the highway.

Thanks