Mayo...  he did my twin keel fish and it's one of my favorite boards to ride if conditions are right.  my custom Mayo Farrah is versatile in all forms of FL surf and performed really well in head high Wildos and double overhead Pavones.

 

Mayo Twins

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"Don't count the days, make the days count." -Ali
#rydyrstrong

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[B]who | grep -i blonde | date; cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep[/B]

Erie

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SURFERS SUCK 

SHOOT THEM ONSITE

BICE CREW

Worst advice right there.

Don't buy a CI or Lost. You can get a custom board from a local shaper much cheaper and get it built for your size, experience, surf conditions, etc. If not buying a used board is better than throwing good money away for a big name retail board.

That said Keith Sims is a great person to deal with and is very knowledgeable and very affordable! We have so many shapers here that can build you a board I would never look anywhere else.

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i have two fishes by chris birch, they kill it in our small waves

Allen White, Foam Shapers, Minuteman Causeway, Cocoa Beach. You'll get a lot more than just a board.

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"I remember South Africa in the late 70's, sleeping on the beach at J-bay, smoking ganja with the blacks. On weekends we'd go to the pub in East London to drink beer and fight with the Afrikaners. They liked to fight, I liked to fight. It was a good time"

LOL

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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

Mr. Stu Sharpe is my shaper and he is making me a performance short board, its getting glassed this week. a 6'3 I cant wait. I hope the waves get here about the same time its done next week. Stu is the man!

PS I can hook you up with a Sharpe performance ninja sword of your own. it slices' it dices. it juliennes.

You have some great shapers on your list as well.

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-hey jack i saw john taping your new board off for paint a few minutes ago at pro design before i left this afternoon looks like another sweet board!

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support small business - get a new board every 6 months :)
Fatcatsurfboards - hecto en estados unidos - fatcatsurfboards.com
fatcatsurfboards@instagram

Woohoo! Yeah I saw it earlier today on the rack. it looks like itll float me.

My smallest board yet. You been staying busy Keith? You shape some sick boards too.


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There are many great shapers in Central Fl, however if you have only been surfing 3 months your skills are most likely not yet at the level that needs a "custom" board. There are tons of used boards for sale that will be more that enough for you at your current development stage. You need to make sure that the board you get has enough floatation. Based on the weight your mentioned 128lbs you should get a used board with dims something like 6' long * 21" wide * 2.5" thick if you are jonsing for a "short" board. This is way more volume than an experienced surfer of your same weight would need,but you need it. Once you've got all the fundamentals down which will take a least a year....then you start looking for a "custom" board and by all means get one from a local shaper...keep that money in your own community. The big name west coast labels are sexy but very expensive....save your $$$ especially at your stage in the game....my two cents

I grew up riding nothing but hand me downs. Even as a little grom, I was riding the cast off boards of local pros. Riding a bigger board helps you get down the fundamentals and makes life a lot easier. Plus, you have to think that you will be screwing up and possibly washing up on the jetty at Smyrna or Ponce or colliding with an SUP. Basically, get a used board. Later, when you have more control over your surroundings and your board; then get a custom board.

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My parents went to Cocoa Beach and all I got was this lousy surfboard!

 

My Mayhems ride better than any Florida shaped board Ive ever owned, and I only shell out about $300 on gently used mayhems as well. No deposits, no unexpected delays, and you can see and feel what you want in your hands before a purchase. Custom boards almost never come EXACTLY the way you had them in mind, kinda like haircuts. Also, big name boards retain their value significantly more than local shapes, which would be ideal for a beginner as they are getting rid of boards as they improve and figure out what boards best suit them

 

On a side note, you can find GREAT deals for used domestic and big name shaped boards on craigslist, surf shops, etc

Is a used shortboard significantly cheaper than a custom shaped one, though? Why would it be better to get a used than custom shaped? Im expecting both to be around 500$

Definitely is, absolutely sure. $300 can get you a great used board in 9 out of 10 condition

To me a "custom" board means you go in and tell the shaper how you surf or what you want in a board and they put it together for you. You don't need that. Most the local shapers do have standard models they produce that have been found to ride well in local conditions. You want that. So if you go and look for a used board in a shop how do you know if it's someone's custom board that didn't work out as predicted or if it's a shapers standard shape? You just know its a e.g. fish by a particular shaper. The reason I suggest CI or Lost is IMO they have been most successful in researching and fine tuning their standard shapes and then cranking (yes a dirty word to some) out massive quanities. When you go to a shop and buy a new or used CI Flyer you know pretty much exactly what your getting.

 

I've got nothing against local shapers and going in and saying you want their Rocket Fish for example, but that is not in my definition a "custom" board. A custom board would be you go into a shaper and say I want your Rocket Fish but with a little more nose rocker and narrower tail. Then you start getting boards that don't work IMO.

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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

Take your time. Do not be in a hurry, or let high pressure sales staff sell you, what they want or need to sell. Good advice here on 2nd Light!

If you're into alternative shapes and whacky (and functional) boards, take a look at Label Surfboards (used to be Royal); Rob Lion builds super fun boards--does the whole process start to finish as a one man show.  Plus he's a super nice guy. Don't think he does conventional shortboards--more sims, fish, asymetrics, twinzers, hybrids, etc.