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Yep once, snagged a few goodies but scraps. Was over it big time because the crowds and hassle of the big smoke. We bailed down the Sth. Coast and found some "almost" as good waves down there.

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anyone surfed much in vicco?

i might be in melbourne in late july for a few days visiting a friend. i've spent a few days in melb here and there, so i'm not to keen to just hang in the city.

i was going to take some time off work and either going to duck down to torquay or to phillip island for a cheeky few days of waves. i've got a standard 3/2, and can wear a thermal rashie underneath. body-wide i think i'll be fine, but i'm curious as to whether i'll need a hood or booties (or heaven forbid, gloves too, but that seems a bit extreme)

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I've surfed the vicco coast for years and I'd say ya best bet would be the Island. Always an offshore spot and it picks up heaps more swell than the west coast.. Though if a bells favorable swell is approacing....

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yeah, i was just gonna sit tight on the forecast and if it looks all time, hit it! they had some epic waves there a few weeks ago.

so how cold are we talking in mid-winter?

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Just spent a couple of hours browsing this thread. I had my first attempts at surfing very recently and have browsed http://www.japansurf.com but sometimes people there can seem pretty negative and aggressive, nothing like here, so I never posted. Good to see that SJ has surfing covered as well!

Despite having nothing in the way of knowledge to contribute here I'm going to ask you guys a couple of questions. Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread, please just ignore if you want to.

 

1) I've been surfing at Onjuku (Chiba, south of Ichinomiya, near Katsuura), but it is a mighty long train journey from Tokyo... can be a little tiring especially when I'm on my own. Where in Chiba do you think has the best access for train surfers, while still being reliable (as far as Japan can be)? I heard Taito mentioned earlier in the thread, but I've never been there. Obviously at my stage, much as I'd like to ride them, big waves are not really a realistic prospect so I don't mind if it's relatively small surf.

 

2) Until now I've been using a rental board, but it really is time to get my own I think. I've been recommended a mini-mal as they are reasonably versatile but still stable enough for a beginner (feel free to disagree!) and they seem to cost somewhere around JPY 100,000 or a bit less. Is that expensive? If that's the real cost then I don't mind paying it, but so much in Japan is unnecessarily pricey unless you know where to go... and when it comes to surfing, I am clueless!

 

OK, sorry for the thread clog!

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can't really help you, but i'm sure someone on here will.

 

i know boards are expensive in japan, but that seems like alot to me. i would have thought you could get a reasonable 2nd hand mini mal for half that.

 

good luck with it King!

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yep, expensive in this place. Sorry, I can't help you at all with the surf questions mate. I'm down in Hiroshima. I think Indo used to import boards here right? He might be able to point you in the right direction smile.gif

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Kingof...

 

Mate I frequent Japansurf and yeah you can get an initial beating! but it's just an initiation process! There's alot of stress flying around at the moment due to huey not delivering any goods at all, but with questions like you have I think you'll get the best response there, especially for the train info and there are a few nice new guys there with cars that are always looking to split the costs..

 

for your board, without knowing your size etc I would say a 7'6 - 8'6 would be good.

I just got my mate a NSU expoxy board 8'6 I think it came with leash and wax for around 56,000 yen brand new. If you need any links PM me here.

Epoxy boards are good for learning as you can bang em around and you don't really have to worry about dings and repairs.

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Thanks for the replies. Obviously I'm not the only one having a less than thrilling workday...

 

Indosnm, I guess I should just jump in at japansurf and stop pussyfooting about...

 

I will PM you about those links, sounds good to me (I am 175cm/5'10"?? by the way).

 

Thanks again for taking the time to help out.

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i would say get something in the 7'-7'6" range. a mini mal this size will be stable enough. it will be a good sized board to learn on and progress for a year or two. getting something bigger than 8' will be less manouverable and more difficult to deal with. that's my opinion anyway.

also, taking a bigger board on a train will be a freaking hassle.

an expoxy NSP style board sounds like a good option. they just pop em out of moulds, so they are cheap, plus they're very durable.

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Spook's right about the train. Maybe upto 8'0?

Still why I recommend a longer board is because you have to make up for the lack of power. In Oz I'd recommend a 7'0 with no worries but the learning curve is much quicker there.. (power of waves, length of rides etc) manouverability won't be much of an issue here till you get decent as most of the waves that you'll probably surf will be quick get ups and not much ride!

 

PS made a mistake... NSP are the boards, not NSU like I posted before..

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Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm teetering between getting an epoxy funboard and something a little more pricey, but I suspect the only reason I'm considering the latter is that I want to look like I know what I'm doing. Unfortunately this illusion will evaporate the instant I approach the water, so I may as well just get what's best for my surfing enjoyment/progress.

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 Originally Posted By: Indo

Epoxy boards are good for learning as you can bang em around and you don't really have to worry about dings and repairs.


Yer. except when you bang them on your head lol.gif

Kingo- Tell us a bit more about your level, What can you do. I wouldn't want to see you setup with a board that you very quickly outperform. Usually, the better you get ,the shorter, thinner and narrower your boards become.
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He said he was dead set beginner.

I recommended an expoxt board as here you can get a new one & with a fibre glass you'd get maybe nothing as even the used ones are exy.

Epoxy boards aren't that any harder than a glassed board when they hit you in the head..

Mate as someone on the other forum told ya, trains allow a 2m limit but I doubt they police it and you could probably get away with a bit bigger. Your call but don't get too ahead of yourself. If there are waves every weekend you will improve but more often than not there aren't and the learning curve tends to be slower here (only what I reckon).

Go for the funboard shape over the normal thruster shapes as someone on JS mentioned. You'll need the width. When you get good, you'll be able to sell your board pretty easy and upgrade.

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Thanks Indo, I think you are right. I can stand on the board but not much more. I have a feeling, now that I checked some websites, that the NSP boards are the same as what I have been renting, which I get on with well enough. If I get good enough to deserve a better board then I'll probably be so happy that I won't mind spending the money when the time is right.

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 Originally Posted By: Indo
Epoxy boards aren't that any harder than a glassed board when they hit you in the head..


I was thinking along the lines of one of those soft things, mac tees or whatever you call them.
Purely from a safety point of view, Especially if the surf over there is as crowded as I'm hearing.
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I rent for about 3000/day and wetsuit 2000/day. It's meant to be a touch more but I get on pretty well with the shop people. I don't know if this is expensive or not, but I don't mind paying to have this much fun!

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exercise, fresh air, suntan, even the odd thrill as I manage to get it right occasionally... I think I'm getting a pretty fine deal!

 

ps what would you recommend wetsuit wise? I've not heard so much good stuff about local custom suits, was thinking of just getting something by quicksilver as I've heard a fe people mention them. Any thoughts? Sorry for all the questions...

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Depends on what you need it for.

Some of the guys on JS swear by rip curl F bombs (I think F) for winter.

I use RLM rubber, They are a local maker and all my suits are customs. They arer way exy and I only got them because I had a sponsorship deal.

Try searching on JS for the US sites where you can order really cheap one's on sale.. SR would be the man to ask on JS.

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any of the main brands (rip curl, billabong, xcel, oniell and maybe even quicksilver) are fine. you can by wetties wuite cheap 30-50% off at the end of each season.

just make sure to keep your receipt. that way if you do have a problem with a wetty you can get a refund or replacement. problems do happen but relatively rare

i've heard bad things about quicksilver. i've bought rip curl wetties for the past 10 years and swear by em, but a mate just picked up a new f-bomb with taped seals, and he has bad seam damage after only 2 months. so who knows?

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Wetties seem to be easier to go through these days.

The extra flexibility comes at a price and seams and things like that tend to damage much quicker.

I really liked the Billabong high end models. But i'm a little biased to all things Billabong.

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