A few questions

jk47

starting surfing recently and have a few questions. thanks to everyone for helping me out.

1. What fins should I get?
I want to get fins for my BIC Natural Surf 2 board. i broke the plastic fins that came with it when i came in on a wave that went to shallow. what are the sturdiest fins i could get for the best price, and how do i know what size will fit the slots on my board?

2. How do you fit soft racks properly?
I recently attached my board to Rhino soft racks, and as I was driving, the racks lifted off the roof an inch or so. they were as tight as they could possibly be fitted, but as soon as i hit 40mph or so, they would lift slightly against the wind. any idea how to make soft racks more secure, or are they just a waste of money?

3. Best tide time to surf?
When is the best tide time to surf? The low tide in Garrettstown is at 11.30am on Sunday, so when would be the best time to surf. when the water is too far in it's not great as i discovered recently.

4. Wetsuit care
When dunking my suit in water when i get home, should i add anything to the water?

spurscormac

Not 100% sure on the soft racks, I have mine as tight as they go & they don't tend to lift too much.
Only thing I can think of is make sure you have the nose of the board pointing down towards the windscreen & the fins up at the back - otherwise the wind will get under the board and lift it & the racks more.

Ain't broken fins yet, so suppose its just any old fins, but will bow to superior knowledge if anyone is willing to recommend something specific.

Best time to surf depends on location, best to get some local knowledge on that.

I only ever dunk my wetsuit in fresh water. nothing added, and hose off the sand. I've done that for both wetsuit & semi-dry diving suit, never had a problem with them, still in great condition - though I am pretty anal about it & give them a good dunk & hosedown, 10-15 mins of rinsing.

wideangle

Gtown works best at building tide,so about three hours before fulltide is usually the best time to go in.

jimmmy

G'town seems good at building tide...but other places I am not so sure.

I thing I do know is that the Bulldog soft rack I have is very good, it does not lift off the car or move at all.

skanno

just get regular bic fins there cheap and do the job, if youre a beginner then the bic fins are grand... on a more advanced board you would probably use fcs fins they range from 35 to about 85 euros depending on what the're made from. different beaches work off different tides you can find info for all beaches in europe in the 'stormriders guide to europe' published by 'low pressure publications'

Surfing_Xboxer

if you are just learning...CHEAP FOR SURE ..AS you progress , the better fins become more useful and required almost

c-note

bic uses "fin-loc" which is bic only standard.
fcs fins etc will not fit on your board
you'll need theese: http://www.westcoastsurf.co.uk/cgi-bin/miva?wcs/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=BIC31311&Category_Code=S

i got a set from jamie knox in castlegregory for €40

i have seen a single big fin used on some bic 7'9s but i dont know where they are available.
its always worthwhile having some spare fins!

Edit:
re wetsuits, i dont bother putting anything in the water when i rinse.
although some people use dettol or similar, i may try this if my wetsuit begins to smell (more than usual! )