Relying on the board too much or does foamie just suck?

[BaNZ]

I went surfing at Cocoa beach and the conditions were perfect. 3-4 feet and all they had was wavestorm 8" foamie. However these foamie were special, they must have coated them with something. It was incredibly slippery. I can see that the tail of the board had some kind of transparent glue substance that was coming off. There was a huge hole but it didn't bother me, it's a foamie and didn't feel waterlogged.

When I caught the first wave, I slipped off the board after turning into the wave. Took me a few times to get use to it and I tried rubbing the board. It definitely helped by giving it a bit more traction. It did have a traction pad so that helped a little bit after trying to position my foot on it.

I was able to ride waves on it fine but I can't ride it like my own board. The board just felt really slow and a lot harder to turn it. I was surfing pretty good on it but not to my usual standard. The locals in the water was very friendly and they told me that it's because of those tiny fins. But then again I always see amazing surfers on youtube with wavestorm boards!

Overall it was a perfect day at Cocoa, sun was shinning, clean glassy and endless summer music on the pier. Had to go around many fishing lines and I saw a lot of fish. No sharks or alligators!

[Beginner77]

I posted about this issue a while ago, in fact it was my first post on the forum. Our closest surf spot rents foamies that are so slippery it's hard to stay on them even when paddling. I hurt my wrist once popping up when my hands flew out from underneath me. They're genuinely like seaweed covered rock once they're wet! After trying foamies at a few other schools and finding them as sticky as glue, I concluded that it's something that just happens to some foamies over time. It does appear to be an unusual issue though, as I now rent regularly and have never found the problem again, plus most people on the thread I started reckoned it was my balance, indicating that they'd never found the problem either.

[BaNZ]

They're genuinely like seaweed covered rock once they're wet!

That's exactly how it felt. I've surfed plenty of foamie and never encountered a wavestorm like that. Though I'm not sure if it was it being slippery that caused me to surf badly. They painted over it and probably glossed it with some kind of resin.

[saltydog]

Like I said on another post, once a wavestorm’s clear plastic layer peels off, it gets crazy slippery and wax won’t adhere either. A can of plastidip will fix it but that’s not for a rental board.

[Beginner77]

Interesting, thanks. The hire centre I've used with slippery boards use Alder 9' foamies - same thing perhaps? I've rented three times from them and had the same experience every time, as has my wife on the two times she's rented with me. It's a shame as it puts us off going there; I travel much further now to a rental centre without slippery boards!