I've never really surfed. 13 years ago I lived on the beach in San Diego. Surfing was akin to breathing for most of my neighbors. I used to watch them from the beach and was always quite fascinated with the beauty of the endeavor. One time, my neighbor let me wear his wet suit and go out with his long board. I'll try to explain what I went through. I'm a pretty athletic guy. I downhill ski, snowboard, and grew up playing most sports. Taking a long board out for this first time on a San Diego beach is like slapping skis on a newbie and pushing them down a double diamond slope. After 45 minutes of rantic swimming, and spinning, and fighting, and grappling...I finally made it past the breakers. I was so exhausted I never really did much else. So...now I've moved to Carolina Beach NC. I'm checking out the breakers and thinking...this...this here is what one needs to learn on. This is like going down 'dipsy doodle' at ski liberty in PA. This I can handle.

 So my questions are...where to I start? What kinda board should I get? What do I need to know? Thanks to all.