how long did it take to get comfortable surfing?

[surfgirl84]

hey, im in southern california and just came back from my second time surfing. i love it, as much as it kicks my ass and am riding a 7'6" funboard.

i was wondering how long it took you guys to get comfortable surfing? like being able to stand up and legitimately catch a wave? it's really hard for me to go surfing, and i flew down for presidents day weekend from the east coast just to go surfing. the next time i'll be able to see a beach is in spring break. will this hinder me? i'm not seeing much progress and am wondering if it'll take me a really long time. thanks.

[Brian]

heh, it took me a solid month of frustration. i surfed for at least 10 hours a week that month, so it was long and grueling . but in the past 2 weeks (this being my 6th or so week surfing) ive seen huge progress in my surfing ability..since summer break is over..damn school..i can only surf on wweek ends but i still get abt 6-8 hrs a week of surfing and i can now catch a decent sized wave about 5 feet and surf across the wave to get a nice long ride. all it takes is practice...the more hours you put into it the faster you'll progress in your ability

..im on a 6'6 Webber Fat Burner, which is a thicker more stable 'shortboard' i guess you could say not quite sure.
http://www.webbersurfboards.com/fatburner.html thats wut i have

[VaB]

took me about a month to stand up comfortably (good and consistent) and a month to turn comfortably. In my third month, I started to control my board pretty well. I surfed a few hours each day.

Why not surf the east coast?

[surfgirl84]

thanks for all the replies.

well, taking the board on the plane is pretty painful, i don't want to get any dings on it or anything. and because of the way my school works, it's relaly hard to get out and i have no car.

besides, isnt the water freakin freezing outthere? how is the surf in the east coast right now?

[k mac]

took me 1 lesson and a week of renting out boards and bringin them back an hour or so late each time ...........................

[VaB]

Well, the east coast surf sucks today, and will tomorrow, but it gets decent over the winter. I mean, it's not hurricane season, but I doubt you'd want to be out there in hurricane season anyway. If you're just learning, it really doesn't matter how good it is, just catch some whitewater and try to stand up. You don't need nice clean waves for that, pretty much anything will work.

As for how cold it is, really depends on where you are. So...where are you?
Colds not too bad, it's better than not surfing all winter!!

[surfgirl84]

i'm in new york. do you think a 3/2mm wetsuit w/no booties or gloves, etc. will be ok?

btw, i caught my first wave today! it was amazing. besides the fact that it was in 2 foot high white water and it was for about 7 seconds. i'm still buzzing off of it.

[VaB]

congrats on catching the wave. Feels good huh?

As for conditions in NY, I think those guys are in 6/4 or 5/4, hood, 3mm gloves, and 7mm boots.

You should not go out with out gloves and boots (or in a 3/2). Looks like you'll have to wait for spring. Good luck!

[surfgirl84]

yeah, that moment is still singing in my head.

how are the conditions usually in the spring? i plan on bringing my board back after spring brfeak, so it'll be towards the end of march. hopefully it won't be snowing still.

[Brian]

you could just move to australia surf all year round no probs

[little waves]

Hey NY - a 3/2 will get you through maybe june through the first week or so of sept, but if ya wanna surf more than that you'll need a winter suit.

as for surfing the east coast, it rocks it ya know where to go. its definately tricky to start out though. there is a noreaster coming in tonight to bringing with it some good waves over the next few days for me here in boston

[VaB]

Hey little waves, where are you in boston? I spent some time up there after college, lived in Cambridge, North End, and then Charlestown.

Props to you for going out in the winter up there-it is brutal. N'easter gave us some storm surf here in Va Beach, I'm hoping for a cleaned up session tomorrow morning. Water temp ~38, air around 35. What's it like up there? Where (generally) do you surf, I've got some friends still up on the cape.

[tomcat360]

hey VaB,

im outta richmond and i was wonderin what type of wetsuit i would need to surf the winter where theres some decent waves

[sinistapenguin]

Like all things surfing (and everything else), you will get better quicker the more you practise.

I was in a similar situation when I started and it only took me a few days to be up on every wave, but then I would go home and not go for a month or so. When I finally got back, the first day would be spent re-learning what I knew!!

The thing about surfing in my opinion is that it's not how quickly you get good, it's how much fun you have getting there.

If it takes you a year or two to get comfortable, but you have loads of fun every time you go, who cares!!???

Sinista