surfing

[gimp]

Anyone here surf? I'm close to a beach now and I really want to get into it. I've tried it once and I picked it up pretty quickly. I think the years of snowboarding helped. Anyway, I'm pretty much clueless about the gear. I need a wet suit and a board. I dont want to go into the store like an idiot. Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Maybe some good informational surfing websites (yes I'm to lazy to search for myself).

Thanks!

[tropical_fishy]

Anyone here surf? I'm close to a beach now and I really want to get into it. I've tried it once and I picked it up pretty quickly. I think the years of snowboarding helped. Anyway, I'm pretty much clueless about the gear. I need a wet suit and a board. I dont want to go into the store like an idiot. Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Maybe some good informational surfing websites (yes I'm to lazy to search for myself).

Thanks!

Do you want to use a long board or a short board? Long boards are easier for getting the basic mechanics, and for tandem surfing, they're the only way to go.

Wetsuits depend on YOU. If you get cold easily, go for a heavier one, and consider gloves and boots. If you don't (in SoCal you wont need a full wetsuit for the summer, a spring suit is fine), then get a thinner one or a spring suit (short sleeves and short legs). ETA: Wetsuits are measured in millimeters, so you can have a 3 mm, 4mm, 5 mm, etc... the thickest I've worn was a 9mm, and that was for diving... you wont need anything THAT thick.

Also consider a rash guard or many, because the rashes you get from surfing burn like hell.

[Army]

Go into the store and be an idiot. You will get first hand advice on sticks, suits, wax, and classes.

Don't be embarrased to ask questions. Better to ask, than to be stuck on a riptide with the sun going down.

[lather]

Whats a wetsuit?

[oneworld]

well ive snowboarded for 9 years.. i got on a surfboard once and thougth o man this is gonna be a breeze.. i found it alot different then snowboarding .. almost oppisite.. you have to learn how to stear with your other foot... i found it tought to switch. but maybe a few years of it beats 9 yeaers where your brain is so trained... meh i dont know.. im going to mexico here in like 2 weeks. so im gonna definatly get into it down there.

[tropical_fishy]

A personal pet peeve of mine: there's no such thing as a riptide or an undertow in the ocean. There is no current in the ocean that will pull you under.

Rip current is another story, but the formation of rip currents have very little to do with the changing of the tides, thus: rip current rather than rip tide. (http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/overview.shtml)



Swim (or paddle) parallel to shore until you're out of the rip current. Do not get off your board.

For a beginner, I'd say get yourself a long board, but not one so insanely long you can't handle it. Maybe rent a couple different sizes and get a feel for it. Don't stick your wax in the sand. Don't wax a sandy board.

I agree with Army, go in and ask questions. I don't know the specifics of your area, but unless you're an experienced surfer, do NOT surf near any rocks. You WILL fall off, and you WILL get hurt. Ask about the underwater environment-- are there any reefs? Permanent rips? Don't surf near jetties or permanent structures in the water, there are permanent rips around them. If you're inexperienced and the waves are huge, don't be a moron. Stay in the whitewater.

Ok, that's my safety lecture. For the most part. Listen to me and you won't make the coast guard/ lifeguards angry. Don't listen, and you'll be one of the annoying people we have to save every year.

[rkjunior303]

A personal pet peeve of mine: there's no such thing as a riptide or an undertow in the ocean. There is no current in the ocean that will pull you under.

Rip current is another story, but the formation of rip currents have very little to do with the changing of the tides, thus: rip current rather than rip tide. (http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/overview.shtml)



Swim (or paddle) parallel to shore until you're out of the rip current. Do not get off your board.

For a beginner, I'd say get yourself a long board, but not one so insanely long you can't handle it. Maybe rent a couple different sizes and get a feel for it. Don't stick your wax in the sand. Don't wax a sandy board.

I agree with Army, go in and ask questions. I don't know the specifics of your area, but unless you're an experienced surfer, do NOT surf near any rocks. You WILL fall off, and you WILL get hurt. Ask about the underwater environment-- are there any reefs? Permanent rips? Don't surf near jetties or permanent structures in the water, there are permanent rips around them. If you're inexperienced and the waves are huge, don't be a moron. Stay in the whitewater.

Ok, that's my safety lecture. For the most part. Listen to me and you won't make the coast guard/ lifeguards angry. Don't listen, and you'll be one of the annoying people we have to save every year.

exactly. a rip current is when a sand bar collapses and it causes the water to rush into the 'hole' like an inlet. it can't happen out in the ocean, just on the shore.. if it happens, let it push you out to see and swim parallel to the shore (and hope for a lifeguard!) most people will tire themselves out trying to fight one and thats when they drown.

[Army]

A personal pet peeve of mine: there's no such thing as a riptide or an undertow in the ocean. There is no current in the ocean that will pull you under.

Semantics.

The accepted vernacular is riptide, and that is what I've always called and known it as. Surfed most of my junior and senior high years up here in Pismo, Avila, and off Morro Bay. Had an "incident" with a critter large and grey and really scary (this was less than a month after a 15' Great White was netted off Morro Bay), belly'ed in and haven't surfed since late 1979.

Undertow is formed when the beach is quite steep and the shelf is short, the fast moving receading wave pulls everything with it back to sea. A few beaches up here are posted for their very dangerous undertows. You may have read in the paper a few months ago, when a small girl was pulled in. Her Uncle drowned trying to save her.

Down there in 'Dago, you guys have flat beaches with no troubles.

[SpitFire1299]

Ive always wanted to try but never got a chance.

[tropical_fishy]

Semantics.

The accepted vernacular is riptide, and that is what I've always called and known it as. Surfed most of my junior and senior high years up here in Pismo, Avila, and off Morro Bay. Had an "incident" with a critter large and grey and really scary (this was less than a month after a 15' Great White was netted off Morro Bay), belly'ed in and haven't surfed since late 1979.

Undertow is formed when the beach is quite steep and the shelf is short, the fast moving receading wave pulls everything with it back to sea. A few beaches up here are posted for their very dangerous undertows. You may have read in the paper a few months ago, when a small girl was pulled in. Her Uncle drowned trying to save her.

Down there in 'Dago, you guys have flat beaches with no troubles.

Flat beaches with no troubles except millions of tourists, rocks, reefs, kelp beds, and cliff faces. Flat beaches with half a million rescues a year. Flat beaches that require one of the largest lifeguard services in the world, plus four or five more.

The phenomenon you're described as "undertow" refers to the formation of a rip current, where a deep part in the sand provides the path of least resistance for water to flow out. The water then moves more quickly out through that trough, creating the pull that people refer to as an "undertow." It does not pull you down, it drags you out to sea. In a river, an undertow does exist-- NOT in the ocean.

[ShooterJM]

A personal pet peeve of mine: there's no such thing as a riptide or an undertow in the ocean. There is no current in the ocean that will pull you under.

um riptide exists. it's the same thing as a tidel jet. And in reality the only difference between a riptide and a rip current is the source of the current.

[cynical] Basically just some idiot at the noaa wanted to have job security and waste taxpayers money so they decided to have a "rip current awareness program" and try to get everyone to use the correct terminology. [/cynical]

Also, even coastal scientists can't agree if undertow exists as a seperate force or not.

[Army]

Flat beaches with no troubles except millions of tourists, rocks, reefs, kelp beds, and cliff faces. Flat beaches with half a million rescues a year. Flat beaches that require one of the largest lifeguard services in the world, plus four or five more.Not because the beach itself is dangerous, but that you have millions of flatland morons wading in.

The phenomenon you're described as "undertow" refers to the formation of a rip current, where a deep part in the sand provides the path of least resistance for water to flow out. The water then moves more quickly out through that trough, creating the pull that people refer to as an "undertow." It does not pull you down, it drags you out to sea. In a river, an undertow does exist-- NOT in the ocean.No. The entire beach (Moonstone in Cambria) is posted for its undertow. The phenomenon of a wave washing up a steep beach with a short shelf (that portion of the ocean floor right at the surfline that creates the break). As the water receades, everything and anything is washed out with it....UNDER the next incomming wave. When the thing...or body...surfaces, it will be just outside the break, and off the shelf. Very difficult to get back in during an undertow situation.

,,

[tropical_fishy]

,,

My Bad, I forgot that you know everything there is to know.

[neppo1345]

My Bad, I forgot that you know everything there is to know.

Aren't you a lifeguard...?

I have the strangest inkling that she knows what she's talking about.

[Maggot6]

Army seems a bit more confident, and well, he's Army so I'm tempted to lean to his side of the argument...

But since you are actually challenging him, can you explain what Undertow ACTUALLY is?...