Evan is a community member who loves to go surfing. Now, I’m not talking about web surfing. I’m talking out in the water on a flat board type of surfing! His tips are excellent. It actually sounds… kinda fun. Who knows? Maybe I’ll attempt it next time I’m on vacation.

Hey Chris, my name is Evan. I love your community and pop in when I have time…which, unfortunately, is not as often as I would like since Advanced Placement courses have commandeered my life. I am currently a 16-year-old junior in high school and, as I said, my courses are extremely demanding. For this reason I love the water… it helps me relax. My summer leisure is spent almost exclusively at the beach. I happen to love surfing. I get a ton of questions from people interested in the sport asking for tips. There is a ton to learn in surfing, and most of it you need to learn by simply going out there and trying. There are, however a couple of simple tips that people should know before they go out and try it. Surfing can be extremely rewarding. It is both soothing and exciting at the same time. It is also potentially frustrating if you try to start without a little basic knowledge. For this reason, I submit my top 5 tips for safe and happy surfing.

• Probably the most important… Be cordial with the local surfers. Ask them questions! Most of us are passionate about our hobby and love to spread the knowledge. This goes for anything, but especially for hobbies with tight-knit communities. Like myself, many surfers are more than willing to teach you the ins-and-outs of surfing, the tides of your local beach, how to paddle out without being pounded to a sandbar and the courtesy involved with the sport. If you are new, ask for help. Don’t pretend to know what you are doing, you just make yourself look like an idiot. If there is any one thing that surfers hate it’s charlatanism.
• Buy the right board for your area. If your area has extremely small waves, don’t buy shortboards. Buy a longboard…typically about 8 or 9 feet. This will give you increased surface area for the wave to catch. These boards also sit much higher on the waterline, thereby decreasing fluid friction on the board and allowing maximum paddling efficiency. Shortboards tend to plow through the water and you will not be able to paddle fast enough to catch small waves. On the other hand, larger waves demand great maneuverability… this is best provided by smaller boards. These small boards often feature a stomp pad on the back which is used in extremely tight maneuvers such as cutbacks (placing weight on the back of the board creates a pivot-point around which you can swing the board). If you are unsure about the board to get, ask the surf-shop employees at your local shop. They generally know local conditions and will help you.
• Use the right wax for your conditions! This is extremely important. One of the most frustrating things is to be out in the water and start slipping off the board because you used the wrong wax. There are typically two types of wax. Cold-water wax is softer and stickier than warm-water wax. If your water is cold enough that this type of wax will not melt in the sun, use it. Empirically, this is the better grip wax… that is, disregarding weather conditions. Warmer weather, however, is problematic for cold-water wax since it has a low melting point and will run off the board leaving your fiberglass board slippery and you will fall off every time you try to stand up.
• Surf the outside break! I can not stress this enough. I see too many new surfers trying to surf the shore break. This is the most common mistake I see. These are not the waves people surf. If you surf these you will never get any significant ride. You will also put your board at risk of damage if you surf the shore break… the skeg (stabilizing fin on the bottom of the surfboard) will get caught in the sand and snap off, probably also sending you flying into the sand. Look for sandbars where the waves break away from the shore. This allows you to ride waves over the sufficiently deep water over the sandbar and not break your board. It also gives you room to maneuver.
• If you live in a cold climate, do not go surfing in winter. It may be tempting, and the waves are often best in winter. Many surfers do go surfing in winter, but this is not really a good idea. My father went surfing in cold water in winter as a kid, and he developed a condition called “surfer’s ear.” This is basically a growth in the ear, and he has lost significant hearing ability in that ear. It is caused by cold water entering the ear canal. If it seems unhealthily cold in the water, it is! Go home! It’s not worth losing your hearing to catch a wave.

If anyone learns anything from this… even if they never plan to surf… at least they will have gained knowledge. Extraneous knowledge is never truly extraneous. Knowledge is intrinsically useful.

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