One more month and summer will be officially here.  Summer means long sunny days and usually small to no surf around my local break.  But when there is a little surf it is usually fun.

Summer is for small wave surfboards.  Some guys don’t like it but long boards are great for small waves.  If you can’t ride a long board and always ride a short board then the alt boards that are wider and usually even shorter than the normal short board are a good ride too.

But, the traditional long board in my book is the ultimate small wave surfboard.  Catching waves is easy,  fading left go right or right go left, step up and trim, step back for a reset, step up for a nose ride,  step back and cut back, step up a reset again.  Unlike a short board where you move around on the wave face, on the long board you move around on the board itself.

When the waves are small there’s not much wave face to move around on. Moving around on a long board takes wave knowledge, timing, balance, coordination.  And to do it well.. style.  Riding a short board takes all the same stuff of course but, in small surf the long board is so much fun.

Maybe it’s just me and memories from days long gone.  But, warm summer days at the beach surfing, hanging on the beach and surfing some more… always on a long board because that’s all there was… is what I see as the ultimate for surfing during summer.

And sure, there are some summer swells that have some size, and depending on where you are can give you a good pounding.  But, for the most part summer is the laid back, take it easy, have fun kind of stuff all surfers enjoy.

D.R.