newbie

[sepkb]

Hey guys,

I heard about this site in SBC Kiteboard magazine, I ride in Sauble Beach, Ontario (on Lake Huron), and was looking to find a good strapless board for our mushy waves and light wind days. I've fooled around on a skimboard before and I want to just get on a surfboard and learn to ride strapless that way, so that I can have a light wind board as well; I haven't yet decided whether to get a skimmy or a surfboard. I've never even paddled out on a surfboard, but I'd still like a strapless board to learn to surf, and if it's good for paddling too then that would be good as well.

I have no idea where to start, and I don't know the first thing about surfboards besides the fact that a quad fin setup is looser, and a thruster fin setup is good for power and drive. I am 5'10" and I weigh 170 lbs, and although I haven't grown in a while but I'm still 17 and I COULD get bigger. Are there any boards in specific that you could recommend? Stores here sell Naish, JL, North, Liquid Force, and I think they sell Lost as well (they have one on display so maybe they could ship something in), but I could probably find more brands they could ship in. Also, which dimensions would be good for my size (length, width, thickness) apart from specific board recommendations?

Thanks,

Sep