Welcome the world of surfing and all that goes with it.
Of course you can start off and ride the waves on a short board, it will just take a lot longer to do it which can be done in two ways, lots and lots of surfing over an intense period of doing nothing else.
Or a longer time of going backwards two step for each forward because of breaks between surfs.
The older, heavier you are will also feature.
Go read the heap of posts that ask the same question, of course feel free to choose your own path, surfing is about individualism

I've taken up troll hunting just for fun, instead of a rifle I'll just use a pun!