The Long and the Short of it!

I started surfing at the age of thirteen in 1970 at the Brighton swimming club based on the beach. From this spot there was an amazing collection of surfboards, paddleboards and surf life saving ski's.

My brother Adrian and I would have to carry the 10" plus logs down the beach to the surf with one at each end as they were too heavy for one grom to handle! Over the years we rode many boards and paddled all sorts of rescue ski's as well as developing our open water swimming skills. For some reason I always loved the longer boards and would always try to emulate the styles of the likes of Dora, Phil Edwards and Nat Young.

Some ten years ago now I started to SUP on my 12" Big Blue and shortly after a 10'4 Jimmy Lewis.

The groundwork, just like my surfing was starting on a longboard, learning to paddle through the surf, back step, paddle to turn and take off on the wave, riding, kicking out the end and repeating. For my short board I am currently riding a Starboard 8"5 full carbon Pocket Rocket which is amazing, I also have a 12" Big Easy for the smaller days.

I still love the glide of a bigger board, the slow motion effect, and the different ways you have to turn and cross step to the nose to keep the board in trim, simply put, I like to ride and paddle as many different size and shape boards as possible as this keeps me more of a well rounded surfer in the water.

My advise is don't shut yourself down to what can be ridden in the surf, just go out and enjoy "The Long and Short Of It!"