Equipment

Luckily, we're not as equipment-heavy as, say, skiing or windsurfing. You're going to need:

A board.

A used board is generally your best bet when starting out. Chances are good that you're going to ding it up just carrying it around. There are different types of surfboards: Longboards, Funshapes and Shortboards.

Something to wear.

Hopefully this is nothing more than a bathing suit. But if it's necessary, and you can afford it, a new wetsuit can be a pretty good investment. See the upcoming FAQ on wetsuits for recommendations.

[Mary Ann Davidson / madavids@us.oracle.com / adds this tip]

As a hard core surfette, I would add to your FAQ for the gals interested in surfing - stick to one piece suits when starting to surf, unless wearing a wetsuit (in which case it doesn't matter.) You can quite easily find yourself wearing a one piece suit after a wipeout if you insist on wearing a two piece suit as a novice.

A leash.

Once upon a time, boards had no leashes. If you lost your board, you swam to shore. Only the best surfers could venture out to some breaks because losing your board could mean the destruction of you or your board. Surfers were stronger swimmers and more all-around watermen. It also meant that there were loose boards flying all over the place at some breaks.

For good or ill, those days are gone. Just a word of advice for the beginner: Treat your leash as if it were not there. Do not rely on it to always bring your board back to you. If the section you're riding starts getting gnarly, pretend you're going to have to swim to shore if you bail.

Some wax.

You can usually wheedle wax out of a surfshop owner if you buy anything there. Some surfers pride themselves on never having bought a bar of wax. If the deck of your board has some form of traction pad, you might not need the wax.

Sunblock.

With the hole in the Ozone layer, sunblock is often necessary - the net.wisdom on this is Bullfrog, with Aloe Gator also getting favorable reviews.

Most of these can be found at your friendly neighborhood surfshop. In addition, surfers in Seattle and Brittain may also wish to invest in some form of mold retardant.