I learned on my sister's 9'6" Gary Propper noserider. She was kind enough to push me into
the waves at Lantana Beach in 1967. YIKES the STONE AGE! She was such a huge inspiration
to me, cheering me on with every wave! I think I stood up on the 3rd try and was HOOKED!

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/

you'll never forget your first shot of stoke!
good for you
keep da stoke!

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... positioning and selection

Standing on Cocoa Beach Pier in 1964 and watching the boarders below. I was hooked before I even hit the water on my Sting Ray popout a couple of months later.

My oldest brother and a partner owned the first real surf-shop in Ft. Pierce, (Banzai). I started on a banana yellow Jim Campbell pop-out. Doug Haught was his shaper. Doug moved to Santa Cruz and from what I heard was a pioneer of the sail-board.

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"You know some people are different now ain't that a cryin' shame, but wouldn't it be a real drag if we were all the same."

A friend won a new Murphy board at the Eau Gallie home show in 1963 so we took it out the next day after school behind what used to be the Bahama Beach Club in Indialantic.

He sold the board a few months later and as far as I know never surfed again but I stayed with surfing all these years and wish I had that old "Murph the Surf" board now.

found a longboard in 1975 in the ditch behind a house we just moved into in myrtle beach,took myself and another friend to drag it to the water weighed like what felt like 100lbs.

I was riding a 6'10 Charley Baldwin Mini Gun in about 1 1/2' surf in cocoa beach. Never did stand up for about 2 months. Best feeling ever.

dont know the exact board, but it was my babysitters longboard, she took me to the beach when i was like 7, i remember riding the board all the way in until the fin hit the sand and i fell off. it was amazing

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"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything. "
- Tyler Durden

@ second light on a P.O.S. surfboard with my brother. one of my best memories, to get up and ride line for the first time.

going down the line for the first time is some serious stoke, everyone remembers and can relate. I think I'm more stoked about that than the time I got virginia for the first time!!

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You should have seen it yesterday

Haulover Pier 1985 NE wind chop and I was hooked!! I remember my first 20 face plants/nose dives like it was yestaurday

1974, My sunday school teacher took us surfing at picnic tables. I was hooked and mowed lawns to buy my first board. A Hobie 9'0 silver bullet longboard for $25.00 from a neighbor. His name was Brian Shore.

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Luv this forum and sunrises.

Edited: 08/22/2007 at 09:15 AM by Earlybird

Folly Beach - 1968 -- Rented Hansen Longboard from McElvens Surf Shop

First time riding a wave was when I lived on Terry Street in 1975 to 76...My dad was out of town, my sister was in school so my mom bought a box of donuts, bought one of those foam boards that you tear your chest on and I rode the whitewash in to shore in two inches of water. It was across from the old 7-11 in IHB kinda near Oceanique? My better beginning memories were when i was 8 or 9 and my sister's 6th grade teacher Mrs. Peters (her son came to be a ripper named Eric later on) sold my mom a twin fin natural art and a twin fin fox. She took me out for a few lessons and that was history...I surfed my tail off the rest of my childhood, into my 20's, and I'm not stopping....Will be 38 in May. Got my first custom board at Natural Art (local motion I think shaped by RC) in the early 80's after going to Local Motion Surf Shop in Oahu (Didn't Alex cox's dad build that)? Good memories..My earliest days of actually riding ok were at Dunes in North Indialantic across from where I lived from 1977 to 2000....

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Went to Winslow, just south of CB pier and watched others until one day I FINALLY stood up. For almost 2 weeks I just stayed on my knees. Completely self taught, but I learned the love.

Not counting two overinflated canvas mats which ripped out at the seams, and a half dozen $2 dimestore styrofoam paipos which broke after 10 waves, I would have to say it happened on a 9'0" Keoki popout around 1964 or 1965 in one foot chop at Jade beach (south pompano beach Lauderdale by the sea area).

back in the 60's a guy named Paul & brother Pete had a Ron Jon outlet in Orlando ( Edgewater Drive ) close to Lake Adair. Paul rented me a plain jane 8ft 6" single fin dinged up board for 10 bucks & 20 bucks deposit. We took it to New Smyrna went south to Bethune Beach. 2 foot slop that day but we took turns trying to stand up. Finally stood up and rode 15 yards before eating sand....lol. i'll never forget the first ride.
sdt

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crazy like a fox!
ha ha > Vote for Rewind Cain, he'll get it right....eventually.

1967 - watching the local stars at 12th St., Folly Beach, S.C., then lugging my 7'2" Hansen five blocks to 7th St. to earn the right to surf at 12th.

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updated profile

Oldclub!!! Started late!! I was a senior in high school(88)!!! Old Ricky Carrol shapes!! I beleive it was a Proshapes! Stood up first time out!! Actually the guy who took me was impressed!!! But I still stink!!! But it's all about having fun, right??!?!

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It's not how big the wave is! It's how you surf it!

Primus sucks!
PLayalinda sucks!!!!

GO BRONCOS!!

The #1 cause of accidental death 4 yrs and younger is drowning!! 407-855-SAFE!!! infantswim.com

Riding one of those blue canvas air mattresses my mother would rent for 50 cents a day from a beach vendor in the Miami Beach wind chop. A couple years later on Wide World Of Sports I watched Fred Hemmings win a big contest at Sunset Beach (Also surfing were Buffalo Kealana and Rabbit Kekai). I HAD to do that!! Bought a 9'6" yellow Royal Hawaiin popout from the only surfer in my school a few weeks later. Whenever I could I'd take the Metro bus (with my 9'6") and after a transfer in Coral Gables I'd be at the dog track at South Beach. Next to the Great Lakes, Miami Beach probably is the least consistant spot in America, but I learned how despite it. I eventually got to know a guy that worked at the old Surfboard House shop next to the bagel shop and he let me store my board there and a little later let me trade the Royal Hawaiin for a decent used Surfboard House standard shape. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I actually got pretty good. We'd live for winter and I remember as if yesterday my first "refracto" swell, course we didn't call it that back then. An almost point break tilt to the left off the end of the old south beach pier. The best surfer in the water was a guy named Larry Solomon and of course the infamous Murf the Surf. Met and became bud's with Lewis Graves on the bus one day. They were older and Lewis and I just got out of the way. Most weekends it was flat but you went out and flailed around anyway, had a coke and bagel in the morning and most Sunday's "Holy Joe" the Evangelical Preacher would spread his version of the "The Word" on the beach. I think he was actually pyschotic but maybe he was just filled with "The Lord". When one of the guys finally got old enough to drive we'd pitch in for the $3.00 worth of gas it took to go round trip to "Pierce", Ft. Pierce North Jetty. It was like going to the Maldives for us. No I-95, just US 1 North. When I was 16 I bought one of those surplus 3 wheel covered Post office Cushman delivery scooters. Put lots of miles going 40 mph up to "Pierce" with 2 buddies in the back box and jerry rigged racks on top. Finally flipped the damn thing going around Alhambra Circle in the Gables to fast. Ruined a Hansen 50/50 and Surfboards Hawaii Model "A" in the process (I'm still sorry about that Dennis and Frank) my board was in the middle and came out alive. MANY moons since then, but Miami Beach still has a place in my heart.

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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith

Edited: 02/15/2007 at 09:16 AM by eibla

I remember my mom renting a blue canvas raft growing up down in Hollywood! Talk about nipple rash! Lots of fun. First board a pink w/ blue pinstriped Sunshine from Little Hawaii Surf Shop on Hollywood Beach. I' guessin around around 1983, wow.

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wish I was ocean size, no one moves you man, no one tries...

Janes Addiction

My older brothers had to babysit me sometimes so whatever they did I had to do also. The Christmas when I was ten, one of them bought me a seriously used red board from the old man that rented rafts & boards behind the Holiday Inn, CB for $5. Best gift I ever received. It was the gift that kept on giving. Going on 32 years now.

Pearled on the reef at the Pavilion in Boca. Broke the nose off my friends Nomad (never before ridden) single fin. Paddled in.

First stand up was at Melbourne Shores after 8 full hours of trying my first day with a Sea Shape twin fin from IWS in Deerfield that I saved my paper route money for. Circa 1981. Been stoked ever since.

February 26, 1962 - Lewter's Beach, East Ocean View, Norfolk VA (North facing beach at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay).
My buddy Joe Guerra got his brand new "Ten Toes" popout off the purple delivery truck that afternoon and we immediately hauled it 2 blocks to the beach. We had heard that you had to wax it, and Bowling Alley wax didn't help, so we took some of his mother's beeswax from her sewing kit and rubbed it on as best we could (the wax was real hard and the weather and water were very cold, so it was not an easy or particularly effective job).
It was windy, bumpy, and mushy, but we took turns getting thrown off into the frigid water. We managed to get a few brief rides before we had to come in, puke our guts out and drag our shivering selves home. We couldn't even talk about it til the next day, because neither on of us could make intelligible sounds through the hypothermia.
You'd think that would have put us off surfing forever, but we both couldn't wait to do it again. In fact it wasn't long after that that we somehow escaped death trying to surf the infamous "Ash Wednesday" storm (March '62?). I guess its better to be lucky than smart.

when i was ten pulling into my first barrel...my older brothers and all my friends yelling for me to pull in... i couldnt stop smiling...i was so stoked.

1960, Crash Boat, north of Aguadilla. Noxious shorebreak, but great fun for kids with pliable bones.

1967 at Cocoa Beach on a Surfboards Hawaii Model A that belonged to Gene Guy, a friend of mine. He took me surfing for the first time. Somewhere behind Ron Jon's on Cocoa Beach.

First surfing experience?

Wow. Thinking about it really brings about that nostalgic feeling. Great memories!

First time I experienced surfing was when I was 8. I went with my sister to visit her father and he happened to have a surfboard. Tried it that day and that was that. Loved it, but I was young.

Not until I was 13 years old, did I fully understand the "stoke" of surfing. My best friends mother was the property manager of the apartment community that we were living in, so he knew EVERYONE. One day while skateboarding we ran into a guy who surfed ALMOST everyday, that he happened to know from his mother. We told him how much we wanted to start surfing and he pretty much hooked us up. He sold me my first board... Took me all the time. The feeling of becoming one with the power of nature, Indescribable; So of course once I stood up on a wave, I was hooked... but even more than that, the vibe that we had while surfing was amazing. All of the guys that he hung out with, and I ended up surfing with, were cool as all get out. It didn't matter if we were in the car, having a barbecue, or actually surfing... Everyone was stoked and it was just a great vibe.

Not only was I hooked on surfing itself, but the lifestyle in which it encompasses.

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I was 13 in 1979 and out with my cousin in back of where Taco City is now. In a borrowed misfit one piece wetsuit I could barely breathe or paddle but managed to get to my feet for a couple of seconds then did a faceplant and gulped my first taste of the Atlantic.

That started what I still feel today - stoke and a taste for this place.

drewcifer5

Posts: 317
Joined Forum: 11/26/2007

My earliest days of actually riding ok were at Dunes in North Indialantic across from where I lived from 1977 to 2000....




I found a board on the beach at the Dunes in 1968, nose broken off, rails all splinters, I used it for a year before my parents got me a new/ used board for Christmas. I lived in the neighborhood and surfed the Dunes til 1976, it had a nice left and usually had workable shorebreak....

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You first surfed at Crash Boats!? I guess you didn't know any better at the time.



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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith

My first were at South Patrick entrance across the dunes back in 67' had a big yellow 9'6" hobie that my dad got for me what a tank weiging in at about 32 lbs. we would surf until our arms were about to fall off. later we would either hit the Royal Castle in front of Publix in Sat. beach or go a little north and have some Lums hotdogs. All brings back some great memories walking to school over at Sea Park Elem, then walking the beach to Delaura Jr. High before it was called middle school, then satrting at Sat. Highschool.

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I've been beat up by people a lot smaller than you !!

Edited: 06/16/2009 at 12:05 PM by oldone

ditto , except some years later and insert



me and my sis carried the board , at least 4o lbs
the big red BARGE, we could both ride it.


dodge dart with racks , pushbutton automatic,
daisy stickers and hang ten feet.

Rooesevelt Jr hi and Freedom 7 elem. & CBHS


a few miles north of u , but very similar experiences.


ahhh
those were the days....




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Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean


Edited: 07/07/2009 at 03:48 PM by bob3000

My first attempts to stand were on a boogie board.  I'd get maybe ten feet or so while riding whitewater.  Then, one day, I just kept going for a long time until I rode up to the beach.  It was a thrill, so I begged my dad for a Morey Doyle.

On my tenth birthday, my brother and I (same age but actually step brother) were called upstairs to my parents' media room.  There they had two identical gifts wrapped.  Each was slightly larger than a softball and very rumpled.

So, we unwrapped them at the same time and they were surfboard leashes.

Now, those of you who frequent the NSR know that I can be pretty dense, so as a kid I was no better.

I looked at the leash and thought, "why did they give me a leash?  I don't even have a surfboard."  For a second I kind of thought they were being insensitive.  My dad often pulled a lot of well-intentioned pranks that caused hurt feelings, so I assumed it might be one of those times.

He said, "Go to my bedroom."

On his bed were two brand new 6-foot Morey Doyles.  My brother and I were thrilled.


So, that night we went to the beach.  The waves were about head-high and the paddle out was easy.  I thought I'd just catch a wave, stand up and ride.

I caught it alright, and stood up just fine.

I was introduced that day to the concept we call PEARLING.  I went straight down the face of the wave, standing up tall, and the nose of the board dove straight down.  It was like hitting a pebble on a skateboard.  I slammed, face first, into the bottom of the wave, and continued down to the sandy bottom where I got further worked over.

My dad said (he was swimming with us), "I think you have to start in the smaller waves."

He wasn't kidding.

So I started riding whitewater.  I could easily catch it, stand, turn, etc., but I simply could not successfully catch and ride at an angle on a real wave.


Then one day something magical happened.  I'll never forget it.

It was a sunny day.  My mom took us down to the beach (we lived a block away), and layed out while my brother and I went into the water.

Something (like a storm) must have changed the bottom contours (sandy bottom) and made a temporary Waikiki-type of wave.

My brother and I went out to the middle break and caught larger whitewaters that were about waist high.  Then as we rode, the whitewater that normally washed right up to the beach, reformed into a fresh wave.

I'll never forget the feeling of riding an unbroken wave for the first time, and having the time to angle and ride the shoulder.  We were getting long rides on real waves, and it was such a thrill.  It felt magical.


Unfortunately for me, the Doyle couldn't duckdive, and as that first couple years went by, I became increasingly frustrated because I was a "wimp" who couldn't make it out past the break.  It was horrifying.  I actually cried a bit.

Then, one day I was at a Swapmeet and found a Fish (a real fish) for 20 dollars.  I only had about 7 bucks, so I called my sister and begged her to loan me the rest.  She did, and I got my first real board.

I had some magical sessions on that board, and at the time tri-fins were becoming popular, so kids teased me about my board.  I shouldn't have listened.  One day they talked me into letting a bulldozer run it over.  It was destroyed.

Dumb.

Then, as the years went on I was able to get good boards and become a real surfer along with everyone else.

Surfing was the center of my life for about 15 years.  Not much else mattered.

Now I rarely surf, but I'll never quit.  I just don't live near the ocean.  Someday I hope to be in San Diego again or live in Brevard.

I've learned to appreciate any ridable wave.

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Later

Hasn't happened yet!! It has been flat for too long!!!!!!!!!

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It's not how big the wave is! It's how you surf it!

Primus sucks!
PLayalinda sucks!!!!

GO BRONCOS!!

The #1 cause of accidental death 4 yrs and younger is drowning!! 407-855-SAFE!!! infantswim.com

Playalinda did NOT suck then!!!



-------------------------
Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Mike Perry took me out at two roads and gave me my first surf lesson back in 1974, I bought his board.  he has long since quit surfing and is an avid fisherman.  He also save my life one night at dos amingos when I was choking on a chip.  I owe that man my life in more ways than one!!! 

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enjoy the day... Live like Rob

It was around 1984 at Franklin Street in Hollywood. My buddy was given a McCoy twin fin in dire need of repair. After a gallon of fiberglass resin we did our first of many repairs. We made it out to Franklin Street with the instructions.."when the nose of the board goes DOWN you will feel the wave taking you, THEN stand up!" The basic instructions seemed easy enough so we gave it a try. It worked! That was the first of many "Wahoos!" I realized that there was no other feeling like it! My old high school buddies no longer surf, but everytime that I talk with them the subject of surfing comes up. It is something that you will always crave no matter if you only surf once or many times. I'm glad I stayed with it!

Edited: 11/26/2009 at 07:39 PM by FlatsNBay

Out in Cocoa Beach when I was like 13 or 14. On a 7 foot Mini Gun ( hahahah) count my first wave, and went straight in the white water. so Stoked. 6 years later, progressin, and having more and more fun!

trent I probably knew yor mom bill ridoff  little hawai   hollywood bch south florida surfclub..My first  S  EXP  is a girl in a bikini surfing playing beach football  getting us lunch at the blackbull ashley young  and surfing ..denne cafaro best surf musican Ive ever known  hallandale fl..nothing like as surfer girl

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surf to you drop God Bless

I saw Point Break a lot as a kid. Bout four years ago, quit my job because I was fed up. Lived off my 401k and took a six month vacation. Took up surfing, never really came back from vacation. Now I get paid about 30k less and have a badass job I can take off whenever I want. Was a rough year, it was a very cold winter, and my hot water heater broke for four months. I took showers at friends houses on the way home from the beach if I wasn't going to surf for a few days, or rinsed well at the pier. Nobody likes an ice cube shower in the morning. 

First board was a Hawaiian potatoe chip for $50 with Delam. Was super stoked just to have it. Got a new job, got new boards. Ditched short boards and picked up longboards. 

 

Best thing I ever did was quit that job and surf

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9-6 Neilson Pig__9'4 Donald Takayama in the pink (signed)__9-6 Yater Spoon__9-1 McTavish Razar

In your suggestion or recomendation;

What type of surfboard should a beginer use and why?

Please give me more insight or information for beginers. We are going to launch a Penny Auction Site very soon for Surfers and we have had lots of different opinions about surfboards even from some Pro's and they all have different opinions too.

"What is Your first surfing experience" is a great topic because I'm now trying to go to the source which is the begining of when you started surfing.  I would like to know what was your first surfboard, was it good or bad and why?

Thanks in advance to everyone...

JParra

http://www.waystoked.com/ 

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Get connected with Way Stoked!

since you asked - my suggestion , recommendation and insight - for that question you asked , if you are serious about wanting answers - is to start a new topic over in the surfing section of this forum. nice website, by the way.

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Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Now that sounds like a great retirement! I'm hoping I can find something similar to that one day.

First time surfing, I don't remember anymore but I do have a lot of memorable hurricane wind chop sessions in my first 5 years of surfing. After that waves just started to seem small and weak, but that's probably because that's when I outgrew my surfboards. I still remember my first two boards a 6'2 University Surf & Skate and a 5'11 Cannibal thumbtail thruster. I used to love paddling out thinking the surf was pumping when in reality it was probably only 5 or 6ft wind chop. We had a lot of good surf sessions as groms and always paddled out no matter how small or crappy it was. Since then I have been on surf trips and surfed much better waves than when we started surfing, but nothing tops off my first 5 years of learning to surf in Cocoa Beach.

Maybe the waves were better from 2000-2006, but I still think learning how was the best part and can still remember 5 or 6 amazing sessions and waves all from the first 5 years.

Edited: 06/04/2014 at 02:15 PM by Sector9surf

Ahh... found an old school pic of me and my first board. That board was the bribe that got me to cut all my hair off.

 

1964 I started getting rides from my sisters boyfriends who would sit up in the car and make out; I got to ride their boards. 1st board was an Oceanside, then a Con then hundreds since then, I have spent a college education in surfboards.

I grow up in NJ.  We lived about an hour from the nearest beach. My Father hada small boat that for many summer he kept at a marina on Long Beach Island.  As kid we would go down to Ship Bottom and while my dad and one or two of his Fishing buddies went fishing, the wives and us kids would head for the Beach.  We Had canvas mats and i loved riding them.  I never saw a Surfboard untill I read an artical in Look or maybe Life magazine. It was in a Nov or Dec issue. From those few photos I learned about the craze taking over in Calif. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a Board and try riding waves.  The Following Summer Ron Jons opened their first shop in Ship Bottom. I begged my Father to rent a board I was 13  He made deal with me If I cut the lawn at his sample homes ( he was a builder )  He would rent a board My first efforts were pathatic. I spent most of the day underwater or getting hit by a 35 lbs log.  I have no idea whay I tried again. A sane kid would have just given up. Then again getting a case "Surf Fever" is a sure sign of insanity. On my next attempt an older kid took me under his wing showed me a few things and in a couple of hours it all cicked I stood I turned and The rest of my life was happily ruined by Surfing. 

I think surfing is the most deficult task in this world.......

I began at 21, I would say it should all be about fun. If you want to spend the rest of your life catching white whater its fine as long as you are having fun.

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http://whitebacklinks.com/

First surfed at Galveston Texas, then Dad transferred to Homestead AFB and South Beach was my proving ground.

First time I surfed was in Galvestion Texas. The Dad transferred to Homestead AFB and began sufring South Beach.

Va. Beach, 1974...6 foot styrofoam board with a plastic fin...My grandad pushed me into my first wave and I was hooked.  Hurricanes and Hatteras (Rodanthe pier) taught me all I know. 

PS -My grandmother gave away my grandad's 12 ft. Velzy to the lawn guy. 5k + lost.....

Kauai 1975.  Been at my family's new digs one night.  Bought a board from neighbor Billy Isherwood for $15.   Walked to awesome break.   Stood up on first wave fell and got the crap beat out of me in that beautiful blue water for the rest of that gorgeous morning.  Hooked.  

I'll keep the tread going. 1965 15 years old and 145 pounds, surfing a 10 foot something Harbour surfboard.  We  loaded our boards into one of our small boats and sped across the Great South Bay on Long Island, New York to one of the barrier islands that had no roads or car access. Crowd factor 0 on a 1-10 scale. First day stoke factor a 10.

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Josh Rubin

1970/71 Ditch Plains, Montauk, New York on a 6ft Corky Corrol Space Stick.

1971; 2.5 years old. On a 7'6" O'Hare Pig/Beach board,(one of the 1st "shortboard" shapes). Rode my 1st wave to the beach after being pushed in by my neighbor!! He told my Mom that I was a natural and its all I've Loved since,.....Until my Daughter was born!!! Still LOVE it to this day, although we've had our ups and downs!!!!

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Tubes, Boobs, & Doobs!!!

This is a fun thread...

My first surf experience was in 1975 when I was 4 years old. My folks took my little brother and I to 4th St South. My dad pushed me into a wave on a styrofoam belly board, I was hooked on the feeling immediately.

My first stand up session was Spring Break 1984 behind the old Cocoa Beach Holiday Inn on a borrowed Cocoa Beach Surfboards board. Don't remember the exact length (maybe 6'0") but it must've been 3 inches thick. I recall a slightly older dude making fun of the board! I never heard of that label before or since. At any rate, I stood up on the first wave I paddled into, not because I was a natural but more likely because I'd been sponging for years.

About 2 months after that my dad dropped me and a couple friends off at Islander Hut early one morning. I had in the interim acquired a 5'11" Canyon twin fin shaped by Rusty. The waves were head high and clean, probably an early season tropical swell (nobody knew where the waves came from back then). I caught a long clean right where I was under control and trimmed, wall flying by, offshore wind in my ears. I'll never forget that moment. One of the older guys from my neighborhood was out and hooted at my wave. That day is in my top 10, right up there with my kids being born.

One common theme in these stories is mom and dad taking us to the beach and getting us started. I've done that for my kids. Keep it up parents!

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"If I say it's safe to surf this beach, captain, then it's safe to surf this beach!"

Edited: 08/18/2018 at 07:37 AM by SurfCaster

1965 I was 11. My dad rented me a 8'8" red Atlantic from Juno Surf Shop. Mrs. Butterworth and Tommy were there and she still comes in at 80 plus years old today. They had only been open 1 year then. I paddled out at Juno where the pier is today. The original Juno Pier was about a mile south of the current one. It was 2-3 ft swell with 1 ft of chop on top. Fought like hell to get out, got thrown over the falls about 10 times and then got to my feet. I have been chasing the dream ever since. I got a 9'6" Dewey Weber in 1966. Real heavy volan glass. I surfed the Ship from 1966-1971 when they finally pulled the keel out to sea. It was a WW2 Liberty ship that stranded on Singer Island in 1965. It made a perfect left sand point break that would break for 200 yards on a nice north swell. There were two clubs in town that I remember. Possum's Reef and Sandy Shores. Doug Soverel was a Holmsey team rider and had a very short Sidewinder. John Senate did the first 360 I ever saw. Mike Bowe was a standout. Kim Nielsen was a Holmsey shaper and had a Vee Bottom model. Skip Leddingham shaped for Holmsey and later started Lower East Side. In 1969 I got a threewheel mailcart, put on some Aloha racks and started my surfari days. Ft Pierce N jetty was a long haul at 35 MPH top end but I did it a lot of times. I could camp in it and drove to O Club twice. I still have the mailcart. I cut down the Weber and made the world's worst short board out of a beautiful log. I still have my 7ft 1969 Holmsey Kaliedascopic Machine. Life was better in Florida in the sixties. I don't feel that way because I am now old. It just was. I am glad I lived then.

Eibla . holy joe houlover bch  grenolds park the castle houlover bch cracking,the keith brothers,Alot of people gave holy Joe a hard time I stop a few  Byrd surf shop etc  the image sammy the gipp

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surf to you drop God Bless

This has to be one of the oldest living thread on 2ndlight haha I replied to this on my old username like 5 years ago.

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Romans 5:8

 

Still relevant & interesting /

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crazy like a fox!
ha ha > Vote for Rewind Cain, he'll get it right....eventually.

I'm 12 yrs. old in 1963. Long Island, NY. Saw surfing on TV and had to do it. Never knew surfing even existed. Saved my money bought a Malibu popout from a marine supply store. First day Mom drops me off at the beach and says call me when you're done. Walked the 1 mile plus trek to West End II, Jones Beach State Park with my 35 lb. 9'6" log. Not another person in sight way down by the jetty. Spent half the summer wallowing in shore pound learning by doing. Dad heard about Gilgo Beach and took me. Paddled out to the sand bar and caught my first real wave. A right. I was hooked forever. 44 years later I'm back wallowing in the shore pound.

Well, I was 46 or 47, an old lady so to speak, Actually started when we were in Nosara, Costa Rica on playa Guonies- And many of you know this beach well, It was breaking on the outside about 13 feet- No one could make it out- People paddling in the white water on the inside- I with my yellow 7'2 heavy bomb of a board- actually stood up a few times but then when we came back to Melbourne Beach that summer, I got a 6'10" funshape and actually learned to really drop in- Now I can ride a 5'11" board and I can paddle out with no fear in Costa and on the 5-6 foot days here - I am gonna be 50 next month so anyone can do it! Moral of the story- Anyone can learn- just have plenty of patience and keep your arms in Shape!

GEEEZ. If I can remember that far back. After the days of belly riding the Hawaiin Punch
blue canvas (nipple, armpit rash) raft out by Desperados. I stepped it up in 82' I was 8yrs old.
The board was a used twin fin from Ron Rosenberry who used to have a rental shak out by the Pier. Anyone
remember him?? I remember taking many to the head while learning with my neighbors, and
ILL never forget the first time I actually went down the line. Its right up there with riding a two
wheeler for the first time!!!

Edited: 03/23/2007 at 09:20 AM by TATTOO74

It was the summer of 1965. My older brother's friend let me borrow his ( I think it was a 10'0" , not sure ) Campbell. They were made here locally by the Campbell brothers over where the Melbourne Airport is now. Must have weighed 45 lbs. I had to drag it to the water because I was only about 110 lbs. I was at Conova Beach and have been stoked since.

My first ever wave was ridden in Ocean City, NJ just before 4th of July in the early 60's.    My dad took me to the boardwalk one day and we watched the surfers.  I told him I would like to try that sometime.  Sure enough,  being the awesome Dad that he was,  next morning we were down at the 16th st. beach  pier where they rented  big old  surfboards.  The waves were  small but clean,  and on my first wave I stood right up.  Dad snapped the photo(classic) and that was the beginning of surf stoke for me.   Next day Dad took me down to the local surfshop on 8th St. and since neither one of us knew anything about surfing,  the store owner steered us towards a pretty yellow Greg Noll Ironing board- I think it was about an 8'6".   I took it out at the surfing beach on the 4th of July and got my first ding and cried.   Such great memories,  thank you Dad for all that you did. 

at second light on a head high day with a 4'9 spectrum cutoff almost drowned like 3 times but loved it

hurricane swell 04 i think 6-8 foot on my 6'8"quiet flight i bought from my friend with my dad on his 10o . we were coming in and he lost his board and i nearly lost an eye. two years later at shark pit he jumped off and nearly lost his eye. theres something about our right eyes they attract boards

-------------------------
20 $ and food and you've got me for the night

Grew up in South Patrick Shores. I had seen the "surfers" in Cocoa Beach. Easter Day 1964, Jack K-bomb says "do you want to go surfing with us (him and Hugh Smith)?" "Heck why not". Went to old North Officer's Club. Spent the day, off-and-on, paddling and sort of "riding" Hugh's 9'2" J & O. Immediately hooked. I was an "expert" swimmer at a young age and could paddle with the best of them and, as such, the "getting out" part did not deter me like it does a lot of beginners. Mowed lawns that summer and bought a Surfboards Atlantic from Stan The Man as soon as I could (for $97). Learned to surf at O'club and Sandpiper Towers and then moved on to Gulf Station and Lums. Got to be known and accepted by the Lums Bums and from there was able to surf 1st Peak in the middle of the "enforcers".

-------------------------
Dora Hates You

Cocoa Beach on a 6'8" Sunset single fin pintail. I could hardly get my arm around it to carry it down the beach. I was not allowed to wear a leash cuz my stepdad said I was too small and it would drag me under. Of course he pushed me into every set and I chased that damn board to the beach every time. I think he was riding a Lightwave, probably about 8'6".

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I love animals............They're delicious!

83' Oceanside Harbor--5'7 Seaside something or other (from cardiff Ca)........stood up first wave and was hooked. It had the martin potter zig zag but was pink and yellow. Twinnie with a box for the 3rd.

Even better, pushing my daughter into a wave (age 7) and she rode it the 8' LB to the shore and hopped off like "what"?!?!

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Time and tide wait for no one.....

Edited: 05/16/2007 at 08:37 AM by KP

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† <0)))><

Live Strong
Surf Strong
Love Wins

hah

i remeber it was right after a wakeboard competition we went to our local lake to wakeboard. i went to my grandmas house on the lake and my uncles old 56 cb was in their boat house. i asked if i could have it and he looked at his stomach (250 pounds worth) laughed and said its all yours. the next week we went to cocoa and i caught my first wave on little rollers that never even broke and started jumping up and down on the front thinking it was the collest thing ever.

haha i miss that

i think i was better then that i am now

-------------------------
† <0)))><

Live Strong
Surf Strong
Love Wins

It wasitn that long ago that i caught my first fulll wave with my youth pastore at seconds light -3 foot waves i caught one and poped up and started freekign out that i caught a wave. good times good tiems

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2nd light is the new pipe

Need Fast Money? http://www.varolo.com/village/Stickybumps Get your friends to click adds !!! Easy,quick, and FREE!!! Has a A Rating for the Better Business Bauer !!

6th grade january first imperial beach san diego, 12 miles north of tijuana 2 miles north of the tijuana river. I had a wetsuit that didn't even fit me a 7 4 funboard and a surf coach who all he said to me was paddle paddle paddle... worked out well

I had fooled around on body boards, rubber rafts, even those white styrofoam 'surfriders' you could buy at Gaskin's drugs back in the day but the real deal was July 4th, 1982 in front of the old Aussie Pine just north of boardwalk Indiatlantic. A 8' foot something Rick Surfboards longboard that belonged to my buddy. Stood up on a two-foot low tide wind chop.

Boy..you guys are really dragging the memories out now...

Scratchy WFIT on the radio...Larry's Health Food smoothie in hand..watching the Spectrum guys skateboard down Wavecrest underneath the thick strand of Aussie pines...

*sigh

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"Met my baby in a used car lot, drinking cheap wine and a throwin' rocks"-SCotS

Edited: 08/08/2007 at 03:10 PM by Musashi

Used to come over from O-town to NSI with my parents and rent one of those hard blow up rafts from the guy on the beach with the trailer back in 1978 or 1979 think they had a white rope that went around the whole raft, well I was small and I used to stand up on those after watching the bigger guy's Surf. I got pretty good at standing up on those things someone said to my father I should get a surfboard so I did, but it was to late already moved to West Coast and started the surf once and a while thing until I was able to drive.

Maybe late 60's three of us carrying a longboard from Greenway to Pet Den on the hot road, no shoes. Trying to catch waves paddling tandom on the board.

15yrs old at jetty park. board was a 5'10 MTB twin fin. about 3 foot and on the 2nd wave just as I was trying to stand up I saw a big dark shadow below me so I went in. Just the first of many close encounters.

-------------------------
Brian

GREAT stories everyone!
WILP, we must have surfed together at some point in our lives. The Amaryllis was one of my favorite breaks.
Isn't it amazing how we seemed to always have surf, but when I realize we went out in ANYTHING at all, I guess most people would never
call that stuff "surf".

-------------------------
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/
flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

Whatsup! took some of the younglings from our church to the beach after church one day. We all went surfing, some couldn't do it. I was able to stand up and ride straight on his 6'7" George Robinson. It was so much fun. At the end of the day, he sold the board to me. I went surfing everyday for a two weeks straight.

I don't know if I ever said thanks. Thanks Sean, you rock. Tell me all about ESA when you get back if you're not back already.

MAMA G, we were in the same crew. Possums Reef ,Sandy Shores surf clubs, those were the days.

Somewhere around Dec. 1975, came up from Ft. Laud on the Greyhound bus to visit my cousin. He let me borrow one of his boards and we stopped at the Titusville dive shop to get some grape Waxmate as we drove out to Playalinda with Deep Purple in the eight track player. We caught some fun waves, (no wait, Playalinda Sucks) I never really stood up for more than a couple seconds, but loved everything about the whole experience and couldn't wait to come back. Second trip not too long after, he took me to meet his buddy who it turns out today is 2nd Light's very own Freesurfs. Bob let me borrow a board, a 6'8" Clinton, and again we headed for Playalinda, this time for some big choppy surf and I got my a$$ handed to me (pre-leash, lotsa' paddling & swimming from outside) but I was addicted for sure. I bought that board from Freesurfs and took it back home on the bus and have been hooked for life. Thanks Cousin Jay and Freesurfs.

Hey everyone..New here..I first time was when i was 9 went to daytona beach for vacation with my family..Mom rented me a board and i went out..I couldn't paddle for nothing..Then a school of rays poped up and started heading my way,there were at leats 10 or so in the school..Well needless to say i learned how to paddle pretty good to get out of their way..By the end of the day i was standing up and riding straight..Hooked for life!!! The next day we went to the surfshop and mom bought me a board!! Yeah Baby!!

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http://surf2yourhealthforever.ning.com/profile/prsurfer

Ninth Grade
Fort Walton Beach
March 1968
There was a guy in three of my classes, English, Latin, and social studies: Charlie Schuler. Hot shot surfer. For some weird reason we became friends. He invited me over to stay at his house and he would teach me to surf the next morning. We went to Wayside pier and Charlie laughed at my first wave. When I first stood up, both my feet were parallel, pointing forward. He couldn't tell if I was regular foot or goofy. Well, after he told me I had to decide, I did. Hence, my moniker.

First time on a real board was Easter 1970 - Acrra beach in Barbados..

Rented boards quite a few times during the 2 weeks we were there ..

Later on went to Sandy Lane up on the West coast - had a great time sharing a longboard with a local - friend of the family - until I put my foot onto a 'cobbler'/black urchin.. Prompt end to the days fun session..

Still rememeber Sandy Lane's perfect waves vividly to this day.. Never been back since..

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There are NO white people at all in the Bible... take all the time you need with that...
Please stop feeding the trolls - they will go away if you do...

Oh, BTW,

It was Charlie's board,

a 9'0" Harbour Cheater Stepdeck. Light blue.

1964, my dad took me down to the beach and rented me a 9 foot Greg Knoll Ironing board at the fishing pier in Ocean City, NJ. I think it was late june. I paddled in, stood up and my dad snapped a photo of me on my very first wave. I have that photo hanging on my wall. Thanks Dad, I love you!!!! Miss you allot!!!!

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My golden retriever surfs too!

daytona beach, 1963. there's a long history of surfing in daytona. back then guys were coming back from cali and riding around in '40 ford coupes with the rear window knocked out so their boards could stick out the back. long haired dope smoking hippie surfers. i avoided them like the plague.

so i am at DBCC living the stereotypical jr college party life of that era. button down collar, tight haircut, beer belly, etc....

so DB local tim ludwig says to me one day... u need to go surfing. i didn't even know he surfed. the fact that he looked like the statue of the surfer at windansea "hotcurl" was completely lost on me.

so...november 1963...somewhere on daytona beach...northeaster...6' waves, tim loans me his 9'6 hobie. shows me how to paddle. i'd lived near the beach all my life, so no fear of the water, and somehow i paddle out. turned around caught a wave. immediate wipe out. long swim to the beach. long swim.

get to the beach and immediately puke out lunch. totally stoked.

nothing was the same after that. thanks timmy.

cocoa beach probably early nineties, dad's old longboard. best memories, and then he left

1973, Majuro, Marshall Islands, 9 years old. We lived in a house right on the beach and I use to see the local island kids paddle into the whitewater with a piece of wood and take off, stand up and ride to the beach and do it over and over again. I got my own chunk of wood and was quickly out with them in no time. Did this for two years, then on a stop over in Hawaii I found out that that was called "surfing". Took a real board with me to our next home in Samoa.

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Worst thing I ever read - "No tropical cyclones at this time"

'86 jetty park 2-3 feet. stood up once that day, and saw my first shark. 5'10" MTB twin fin.  been hooked ever since

-------------------------
Brian

My first time was at "threes" off of Waikiki back in 1975, I paddled what seemed like a mile to the line up on a rented tanker, caught one wave, got to my knees, and then the wave petered out, turned around and paddled the mile back in.  Then I moved to Brevard, bought my first surf board at Foxx Surf Shop from Lewis Graves in 1976 and it all took off from there.  Use to surf regularly at AVE B and remember getting high sitting on the bench under the old norfolk pine.  I also remember sharks pit, 7^th AVE, two roads, the well, and having Spanish House all to myself when we would skip school.  I remember getting three bars of Sex Wax from Shaggs for a dollar.  Skating the bowl at Bruce Walkers. Moved to NC and got use to the Cove, before the Corps of Engineers ruined it.  Ohhhh, those were the days, now that I’m 50 I’ll occasionally go out at Damn Neck, sneaking into the restricted area just so I won’t be bothered by the crowds.   But, right now I'm sitting in Afghanistan writing this wishing I was out in the lineup, on a cool crisp blue off shore day, listening to the sound of the wind, just after a set has just passed by.   

true, sdt! fun to read the stories.

-------------------------
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flsurferzmom/
flsurferz@gmail.com
"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" Dr. Seuss

2001. Was hooked even though i didn't even stand up

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mre2226@gmail.com

New Smyrna (south of inlet probably near flagler ave) was christmas day with my middle school buddy, 1980 something? My folks out of town or something so his family took us to the beach.

Had a florscent 6'2" used beat to shit quiet flight....  was maybee shoulder high short period windslop & I got beat to death on paddle out,  but I made it to the outside....

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Get up early go surf.... it'll make your hangover go away and/or the workday more tolerable

Stood up on a 9'0+ black widow spider, or something like that, in the Fall of 2005 in Delray Beach. We [the neighborhood boys] called it "big red" because it was all water logged and discolored a uniform light brown, but had retained a large, vibrant red stripe perpendicular to the stringer towards the nose of the board, and a big, black spider etched on the top. We rode that thing to dust. Been hooked ever since.

Indian River Inlet, Delaware on a 9'10" Hansen 50-50 found in the classifieds about 2 weeks after Ride The Wild Surf hit the theaters in '64.That cornball movie did me in and I was never the same after .

Roped it down on the roof of my big sister's boy friend's car and beamed all the way home to DC later about how "I did it." From then on, all plans were centering on getting back there or to Ocean City MD south jetty or wating for the Florida vacations.

Indian River Inlet can be a clean and sometimes hard breaker, and it was a real punchy 5' first day too so I collected bruises but had been on surf mats spending summers since I can remember at my grandparent's Daytona Earl St. house, so it went pretty well.

I broke a rib the next summer..."Mark Foo often commented that Indian River Inlet could produce waves in the caliber of some of the best surfing spots in Hawaii."

Two years after high school and it was back to Florida for good for me.

 

Edited: 11/06/2011 at 10:04 AM by CThompson

Well, , , , not me but, , , ,

Back in 2005 while surfing at Kaisers (in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village), , , ,

I had been out for about 3 hours and was on my way in, paddling slowly, waiting for a little push from some soup before hitting the flat-dead-zone paddle to the beach.

Behind me I hear some loud STOKE. I turn around and see a surf lesson class member finishing a ride. He had a big grin and a big time Stink Bug stance; his chin was almost as low as his butt! He had on a booney hat, reef walkers, baggies and the surf school Tee.

He ends up fairly close to me and I say something like "hey, good ride". He blurts out "I didn't know, nobody told me, I didn't know!". I said something like "What?". He says "Surfing, I didn't know!". A few more words; he had been taking "lessons" for all five days he was at the Hilton. "I didn't know, what do I do?" He was going back to Chicago that evening. "What do I do?" I told him "Shit. You're F'd! You'll quit your job and move to the ocean within 3 months!"

Poor bastard.

-------------------------
Dora Hates You

Okay, I'll shake loose the cobwebs and try to pinpoint it. We had been riding shorebreak on styrofoam boards at Hamburg House for a short while. The older guys were just showing up with California customs. I remember Rockhead with a Hansen. He had recently won the Easter Contest at Canaveral Pier in the Boys division.

My buddies and I start on a quest to get our first boards. Pops took me to Melbourne and I returned home with a brand new Surfboards Atlantic popout. No worries, I didn't even know the difference yet.

Pops took me and Billy Heddendorf to O Club with our boards for a surf session. I really don't remember if it was my first time out on it or not. Pops took a picture I still have. You can see from one of the pictures it's breaking outside. However, we were paddling to the middle and riding white water into the shorebreak.

I guess you could say I was hooked. That was somewhere around 1964, and I still have three longboards in the garage that get used frequently.

Back in the summer of "64", WQAM in Miami was giving away two
surfboard rentals at "south beach". I called in and won so
my buddy Rick DeFranco & I figured that we would try it out.

The surf was 1 to 2 foot wind chop and we had 2 hours each to
get the hang of surfing. By the end of that afternoon we were
both hooked. Neither of us had the kind of money needed for a
new board so we made ours.

Fiberglass mat, insulating foam, a redwood stringer and not a
sign of rocker..... rocker? What's rocker? By the time we
tried to glass these beasts we found out that the resin ate the
foam. The nice guy at the local paint store mixed up some kind
of sealer that smelled like peanut butter..... it worked.

We spent that year surfing these heavy beasts, pearling alot.. ;-)

Finally, after realizing that we really did want to keep surfing,
we both purchased our first "real" boards. His was a "Hobie" &
I got a "Rick", 9'6" for $145.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation
and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our
waterways and ocean

early 80's maybe even 1980...Playalinda on an old Nichols single-fin. Got tossed around a bit. Maybe stood up a few times.

Later for my birthday I got a new (used) board from Kieth at Playalinda Surf and Sport. A Quite Flight 5'10 double-winged in-tail twin-fin with two rainbow fin boxes.  Road that for a while, mostly whitewater adventures...then had a Nevin (Greg Nenson) quad with channels. Me and a 2 friends talked our parents into letting us camp at the Inlet the first weekend of summer. It was hot as crap, flat the first two days and the racons ate our food the first day.

The last night, it rained all night an dteh wind had been blowing. The next morning there were waves, I recall it being about 3' (because it seemed much bigger at 13 years old). Windswell, not really sets. I remember the vibe being prety cool to this clueless grom. One guy just said to me, 'keep paddling, just dont stop padling'. I finally caught a wave and angled down the face for the first time ever.  I addled back out, saw the guy who told me to 'just keep paddling'. I told him with a huge grin and amount of stoke. "I angled down the face for th efirst time!"

He laughed and siad " Theres no stopping now!"

After that wave I couldnt stop. Just kept catching all of the leftovers or waves that the small group by the peak was giving me and encouraging me to go for.  Was definitely a turning point.

Later that fall after surfing P-land all summer we went back down. Camped, fought off the racoons and were told to 'get the fuc* off first peak'.   The sweet little grom act wouldnt work by then. Ah well 3rd peak was fun!

The summer of 1963 a neighbor had a miami surf patrol board and we dragged it down to the beach at the MB Casino and paddled it out and actually caught and rode a few, for a few years before that we rented and rode the nipple eraser surf mats at Indialantic near the BBC, stood up and everything on them! Hooked!!

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Romans 8;18-32 John 3;16-18

Me and my Atlantic



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Dora Hates You

Stryo boggie boards and surf mats at Pawley's Island in South Carolina in the mid 70's as a kid.  1980 or some time around that year took a family trip from Brandon FL to Daytona, bought my first board a 5'?" MTB from some surf shop in Daytona.  With no guidance my dad and Uncle said go out and surf, we will be in the hotel area by the pool. 

Self taught the hard way, no lessons, no surf mates, and a really small board.  I remember not being able to sit on the board between waves and instead would stand next to it and jump on at the last second and paddle like crazy with the nose plowing way too high as I was too far back (normal beginner mistake).  Got pounded for two days; I do not think I even stood up.  Kept at it and did the Gulf of Mexi when it broke and weekend drives across the state whenever possible. 

Now you can get You Tube lessons and pointers or go to a surf school, I learned the hard way, no help, no stability (wrong board) and no idea what I was doing.  Lots of bruises, rashes and beatings until I learned a proper "duck-dive". Props to all who grabbed a board and just went for it with no instruction or idea what to do, even the smallest tip like learn on a longboard, etc would have been great.

Edited: 04/01/2014 at 01:39 PM by SurferMic

Had a 6'2 T&C thruster we bought to use behind the boat in south florida. Caught my very first wave on it right here at the Cocoa Beach Pier on the north side in 1986.

 

 

 Hey Dingpatch,  Really diggin those surf jams man I mean totally Groovy.

I am just 20 for my first surfing skate experience. Most of the time short surfboards are for beginners. In plywood short or long surfboards can adjustable with your body weight.

For more information please visit our website :- http://ronwadesurfboards.com.au/

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Buy Surf Accessories Online

Moved to Fla from Va Beach in the late 60's. Watched the guys from shore on longboards as I kid and always hoped I'd own a board one day. Became a lifeguard on the west coast of fla and our rescue boards were about 11 ft. long. One day after work, a squall was off the coast throwing waves 3-4 ft about 400 yards out. We grabbed the boards and started paddling and taking off on waves. Needless to say, you never saw a bigger bunch of idiots. We were wiping out, running into each other and getting hit by the boards. After about an hour, I began standing up and turning the board. The waves began to reform on the inside, and each ride was a few hundred yards long. I hadn't noticed but a crowd began to form on the beach, and cheers started to rise up with each successful ride, encouraging us to keep trying. We finally packed it in from exhaustion, but I'll never forget that day, and remain a devoted longboarder.

Good stuff, very cool!

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Who needs a better life?

I learned to surf behind ocean woods apts in the winter of 94'. Back then it was a much smaller development that it is now, and had a cool trail leading to the beach that gave us

the feeling we were on an adventure through the jungel( bums, coons, bobcats, snakes, huge banana spiders).



The typical north winds would be offshore up there and I remember knee high offshore days that to me looked like J-Bay! My brother and I each had foam boards, Mine a 6'

thruster, and his a 8' long board.



My mom would not want us to go out deeper than we could stand so I remember walking out until even on my tippy toes I could not touch, then bracing my elbows on my board

so most my body was out of the water to appear as if I was walking, but really was kicking toward the outside!


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I troll 2L.com to be a better person in real life

I learned to surf in 93. My pops took me to the cocoa beach pier and i never looked back... It then turned into a hobby which quickly escalated to an addiction/obsession which my father already had. Thank Pops!!!

As a kid in the 70s went camping at Pacific Rim park, Vancouver B.C., this burned out hippy guy rented my brother, sister and I wetsuits and (leashless) boards, a short lesson for $5.  The guy (kinda fat) had a hard time getting up but we didn't care. It was 2-3', so much fun!!!!!!

1988 with a 6'0" rainbow in wrightsville beach, norf cack

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'85. I was 15. A buddy and I headed to New Smyrna and rented a couple of boards from Inlet Charlie's. We didn't know any better. They advertised on DIZ all the time. We were a couple of Kooks. The locals were giving us the typical intro by threatening to run over us if we tried to take their waves. A couple of guys headed to shore and started swinging. It was eye opening to say the least. Over the next year or so we gravated to Cocoa. At first the Pier and then within a few years to second light.  

Learned surfing by surfing on hard bottomed boogie boards until I was about 12 or so, then got a surfboard. Was small enough to ride it like a surfboard.

My first wave was at Break Wall Beach in Lahaina Harbor. We were on a family trip to Maui. You never forget that first wave!

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~ A A Ron
MahaloBoards.com