Just tried surfing for the first time

[Superfly]

out at Croatan beach in Virginia Beach. After 1 hours of bobbing about the waves, I tried to get up, fell in the breaking surf, and got a mouthfull of surfboard.

What a cool sport, if I can get the hang of it.

Any tips for a rank beginner out there? I felt like I wasn't getting enough speed when I was paddling on the face of a wave.

I'll be back out there tomorrow!

Brian

[SoCalDem]

1. To your knees first.. one foot and then the other..lean back

Of course I have never surfed with the lightweight little boards, so they might be different..

We had no "sissy tethers" either :evilgrin:.. when the board got away, you went after it :)

It is like flying when you get a good one :)

oh..and when you wipe out, wait til you hear the board hit the water, lest you get hit in the face with it as it crashes down on you :evilgrin:

[Cha]

9. Hi SoCal! I thougth I had that "antimated surfer dude" saved

that you had in "The lounge" the other week but I can't find it!


Could you please post it again? Pretty Please? :D

[SoCalDem]

11. Here ya go

[Cha]

14. Thank you, Sweetie!!

[deadeye]

2. east coast waves are tough to surf

After years of trying in va and nc, I never really got the hang of it until I moved to San Diego.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. It's the distribution of your body weight across the board

If you know someone who does Tai Chi ask them to show you the Tai Chi body balance posture..this same posture applies on a surf board.
Also if you start out on a long board, it's easier but other surfers will hate you for ripping up the wave.

Think of speed more as momentum such as the momentum one attains when balancing on a bike for the first time.

You don't have to be going fast just gaining enough momentum for the water to support your sense of balance.

on edit: as with a canoe, the back foot controls direction just as the rear paddles do

[LuLu550]

4. tried it back in the day

Long board, late 1960s, off the beaches of Long Island, when it was illegal..saw a shark..never did it again. B-)
Ask me about my experience trying to ski.
LuLu

[SoCalDem]

5. surfing was easy.. but water skiing...I almost drowned

I refused to let go of the "rope".. there were nasty "lake weeds" everywhere, and I was afraid of getting tangled up in them, so I just was dragged behind the boat, swallowing nasty lake water ...yecccch:(

[geebensis]

6. Are you trying to learn

on a teeny-tiny little board? When you sit on it do you sink it? If you're not a 120 lb. 14 year old you might want to heed the Beach Boys advice from "Catch A Wave":

So take a lesson from a top notch surfer boy
Get yourself a BIG board
But don't you treat it like a toy


A bigger board is far more stable. Get the basics down on a big board and it will be easy to make the switch to a little one.

mm

ps: learn quick. Any day now a tropical storm or hurricane is going to pop up and grace the east coast with a swell.

[SoCalDem]

7. Yep big boards are the best..

The one I learned on, I could not even lift.. It took me, my girlfriend and a very strong guy to lug that thing to the water..

[geebensis]

12. I'm on a 9'6" barge...

I can't surf near the local air force base. Those jet jocks keep mistaking my board for an aircraft carrier and landing on me.

BTW: When I looked this morning it was flat. Now they're saying waist to chest+. Looks like I'll be surfing tomorrow morning.

mm

[SoCalDem]

17. have you checked out the surf cam sites on google??

There are some live ones..depends on where you are though, if it's helpful

[geebensis]

20. There's a whole list of local (to me) cams

on cflsurf.com.

I usually just stop and look when I take the kids in to school, though. One of many good things about living where I live.

mm

[Cha]

8. My son started surfing when he was 11 in La Jolla, Ca. and now

he is out in Kauai surfing the really big ones!

[frylock]

15. if you wanna check out the really, really big ones..

Google up "Cortes Bank". Makes Mavericks look like Sandy's!!

[Cha]

19. Uuuuuooooooo! Thanks!

[geebensis]

21. Good lord...

Now that's a wave.

I'm way too old, lazy, and fat to try something like that. Hell, even when I was young I wouldn't have dropped in on wave like that.

mm

[Kolesar]

10. Try one of those sit-on-top surf kayaks with no deck

I learned to surf while river kayaking. I found the skills were transferable to wave surfing and surfing a catamaran (Hobie cats are designed to surf). A sit-on-top kayak is a good learning boat, low center of gravity and lots of control with two blades in the water.

[2548HR]

13. grandaughter just got her 1st board

saved her babysitting money , she is 13, and a gymnist, she figured she had it made. Sunday half the day was spent in emergancy, 5 stiches in her thigh. She'll be back on the board as soon as it heals. Her Mom surfed too, as did all four of our kids, 2 grandsons already conquered it. We are on the east coast of Fl.and blocks from the beach!A great sport for kids, keeps them busy and our of troubled and best of all tired at the end of the day!

[Cha]

16. I love Beach Life! I Boogie Boarded, myself in Cal and in Hawaii.

Can't wait to get back to the Beach after being land locked for 5 years!

[geebensis]

18. You must live right next door to me...

Sorry to hear about the stitches. Worst I ever got while learning was cut over my eye (no stitches, lots o' blood), jellyfish and man o war stings, and tons of sharks swimming so close I could just about reach out and pet them.

It does keep kids fit and out of trouble, though.

mm

[Character Assassin]

22. As a CA native of Big Sur, I welcome you to the confederacy of searchers

Bless you, and may your water be warmer than the hearts of fools who populate it.