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I do it a lot, depending on water conditions. Makes me glad I got an adjustable.

Craigslist.com, you can find all sorts of roof rack parts on there in your price range.

not much on craigslist at the moment, most things just a little under what new would be priced for. i'll keep looking, but if anyone selling... just after cross bars and attachments.

I grew up 200 miles from the ocean, but summered on Cape Cod... 50 miles from surf.
At 16 years old, my brother & I decided to hitchhike 50 miles to the ocean beach and go surfing. I made a sign that said "Nauset Beach or Bust" ...my brother took a picture of day one, before I had ever touched a surfboard... a surf virgin, on his way to a lifelong obsession!

Got to a rental stand, rented a board and hitched another mile to the beach.

No one knew anything. My first wave I stood up and rode it to the beach. Didn't get another ride for 2 weeks... but I was hooked for life.

Overweight and bad shoulders prompted me to buy a SUP 3 years ago... for the small days.
Day 1 - Paddled into the lineup... caught 1 wave on my knees. Fell over 100 times. So much for surfing experience making it easier.
Day 2 -  got 3 waves
Day 3 - I figured it out (how to stay upright while taking off)
Never rode a prone board again.

Tips:
-Stand in a "semi- surf" stance.... Your back foot slightly further back (3 or 4") and turned slightly to the rail. This will help you with front to back stability, which is hardest just as the wave lifts the tail and you begin to pick up speed.
-Keep the nose up a few inches from the water.
-Paddle smoothly when a wave approaches.
-When you feel the tail of the board lift.... Keep paddling till you feel the board "release" and begin to drop down the face of the wave.
- When you fall:
......avoid the board
......keep your paddle away from the board
......do NOT dive head first
......come up SLOWLY, with  your hand over your head.
.....look immediately out to sea.... Danger comes from THAT direction.

Repeat.

Remember how simple your life was before your first wave.

Really good advice, thank you. Especially the "fall" section.

I noticed how dolphins love SUP... last week I saw 2 out at Porto Marina, slowly followed them and was joined by another 4. I followed them down to Temescal. One of them swam under me several times and they were never more than a few feet away. I was very respectful, let them choose to be close to me or not and it was pretty obvious they were happy for me to be there. Seen someone else do the same at Topanga.

Hello,

Looking for some advice on transportation. I normally drive a 2000 XJ on SUP trips, have soft pad system on top that works a treat, but sadly my Jeep has started complain about long trips so I am going to be switching to use my everyday day - a 2007 Audi A4 Avant. It has factory installed roof rails, but I need to get cross rails in order to carry my board. I looked at the Thule Taxi system, but reading about it on here, it seems a few problems, so just looking for some good rails and will use cam straps. Does anyone have good suggestions for the rails? Thule/Yakima ones are kind of out of my price range at the moment, but obviously want something that will work, and be safe for my board and of course other people on the road (don't want to cause a wreck if my rig fails!). So if you got any suggestions of have experience with something more around the $100 range would love to hear it.

Very sad news.

RIP Mr Ito.

Just out of interest, do any of you paddle around Topanga/Malibu?

What really helped me learn turning, balancing and getting getting the nose up to stop pearling was doing 360's in flat water.  Out in flat water, move your back foot all the way to the rear of your board, so you sink it and the nose is out of the water, and do wide strokes.  Do a 360 and drop the nose down and walk back to the center of the board and then go back and do a 360 the other way.  You can see videos of this on youtube for learning how to turn.

For me, this helped me turn to start paddling to drop into a wave when out SUS'ing, and although much more exaggerated it helped me from pearling to get the feel of the nose going up and down.  And I also got used to walking back and forth on the board.

Start in small waves, you'll have fun especially on an SUP.  Knee high or less for beginners is fun all day with virtually little risk of getting hurt.  The bigger the waves get, the more power behind them, so be careful.  Once you get comfortable in small waves, you can start to venture out into bigger waves.  Bigger is more fun only when you can handle it, otherwise it can be downright painful.

thanks for that, was hoping for some flat today to practice, but it was really choppy with a big wind. a lot of fun paddling through it, really starting to feel at ease on my new board. maybe the weekend will be flatter...

The first time I surfed, I was 7. We took a trip down Baja in the family wagon with a bunch of long boards (my older brother and cousins). My little brother and I spent a week in ankle high surf, surfing tandem on an 11' Jacks. We got pretty good combining efforts to steer this huge board. We could hang 20 by the end of the week. The next year I traded a friend one of my skate boards (that had polyurethane 'metaflex' wheels) for a 6'2 'Tom Southerland' surfboard. I surfed that board to death.
Forward almost 40 years. I'm out on my 1st owned SUP, a 16' Infinity. I'm paddling in the harbor with the shaper Steve Boehne and friends. He says lets go down to Boneyard and surf. I'm thinking "how do you surf a 16' board?" Plus there are shallow rocks! And it's my new board. Peer pressure to say the least. He yells at me to take that wave, and I paddled like I was trying to beat the wave. That big board caught the wave no problem. I dropped down low and dragged my paddle. At that moment I felt like I was 7 years old and I could surf this big thing. I did, and made it till it got shallow, then bailed. About 6 months later I picked up an 11'6 Naish Nalu and started SUS'g. Then a shorter board and shorter...... Some much fun.   

thats a great story

Stay away from others while learning... it's hard to concentrate on what you want to do when you are having to avoid hitting or being hit by others....

My local break has a point with a lot of prone surfers, but there is a more relaxed spot just off to the side so going to try there, well out of their way.

Initial Question: I went out and caught waves on my first day with a rental Laird Softtop.  It was only 3 or 4 ankle to knee high rollers, and it helped to have a longboarding background.

The quoted tip is the one I would go with as primary, but since that was made, here is my second choice.  Find a buddy that has done it a while and take him with you to coach you.  A second set of eyes sometimes catches the missing piece to a successful effort.

Thats a good idea. I actually really love the quiet I get when go out, so normally paddle alone, but I am sure this would help things alone.

I was 12 when I caught my first wave.  First wave was around 3 foot and I did a bottom turn. I was hooked for life. 

You are ready. Just do it! Don't worry about being a kook just have fun. 

One tip is to go off by yourself till you get some basics and wear a leash. Ok two tips.

You're very lucky to have been in a situation you could do that at 12! I've loved watching surfing since I was a kid, but was land locked until a couple of years ago.

Thanks for the advice.

Stay away from others while learning... it's hard to concentrate on what you want to do when you are having to avoid hitting or being hit by others....

My local break has a point with a lot of prone surfers, but there is a more relaxed spot just off to the side so going to try there, well out of their way.

Since you only asked for one tip:

1.  Wear your leash.
1.  Realize that you trim the board by moving around front-to-back.  Moving fwd will speed the board up but also bury the nose if you're not careful.  Moving back will slow the board, and it also keeps the nose from burying during takeoff.  So, wave-riding is about getting comfortable moving around on your board -- you don't stand flat-footed like you do while flatwater paddling.  Took me awhile to figure this out.  Wish someone had told me.

1.  Quit wasting time just watching.  Go try a wave!! 

Got the leash - very good suggestion.

I've been SUP for a few weeks now. Fell in love from day 1. Pretty comfortable in the open water even when it's choppy/windy and think my balance is improving daily. Really want to start trying some waves and spending a fair amount of time just out of the line up, watching and looking at technique.

How long did you wait before you dropped in, and if there was one tip you could pass on what would it be? And is there a specific skill set I should try and master before doing this?

I'm realistic about what I would be trying to catch (small...very small) and also being away from anyone else who's day I could mess with!

I got a bag today, was thinking that be a good idea to avoid damage.