Help Choosing a new board

[O'Co]

Alright, so i've scoured the internet looking for surfing forums such as this one trying to get ideas. I'll start off saying I've only been out about 20ish times, and I am currently using my friends old 6'2 island classics board. I learned to urf on this board (though it was a pain in the....) and am able to get myself up and whatnot. Now i'm really looking for a board that I can progress on, something that I wont grow out of or get bored of in a year or two. I was originally looking at a Rusty Parahna, but was told from several surf shops that, they kinda suck. And from reading these boards i found that a fishtail isn't the best thing for a beginner like myself. I'm looking for a board thats somewhere between 6'6 and 6'10. I'm 5'11" and 130lbs. Any ideas?

[O'Co]

I was actually thinking about making a custom board from wave riding vehicles. I was thinking maybe 6'8 x 18'' x 2.5''. I like the wide nose of the Rusty Paranha, so i'll see if they could rip that off, but i'd also want a squash tail. How does this sound?

[surfsc77]

those board dimensions sound sorta like a gun.. depending on the waves you surf, you might want to add some length and thickness, or subtract some height.

[phaseonesurf]

If you are local to san diego touch base with Brian at Phase One Surf.