another first board question

[weever]

Hello, first time poster with the usual "what board to get" question... some advice on boards would be much appreciated though if you're not too bored by the question! I just seem to get a different opinion in every shop, so thought I'd consult the wisdom here --

Starting to surf after too many years out of the sea; grew up in Santa Cruz and did a lot of bodyboarding as a teenager. I've been learning to surf on a 8' foamy. Can catch waves and stand up easily, still working on turns and such but finding the softboard a bit sluggish. Looking to buy a board now.

I'm 5'7", 165lb, 30s. I'm fairly fit and a strong paddler (done a few open swimming races). I'm surfing on the east coast of Scotland, down from Dunbar. Not sure if these details matter?

Would a 7' wide-ish funboard be a decent board to start on, or is that too small? I've been told by some to avoid mini mals and just go for a longboard to max the wavecount at this early stage (then get something like a fish or a fatboy flyer for the quiver later down the line)?

Your thoughts?

[ATTMFKH]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-Surfboards/28833019195 Jason will hook you up ..........

[weever]

Thanks -- spoke to Jason last week actually. His recommendation was that I look for a used board initially before going for a custom. Suppose I can’t be too specific about what I need in a board when my surfing experience is so little. But keen to support a local shaper eventually.

So trawling the web for used mini mals or longboards. The former being a lot cheaper, but been told a log is a better investment for the long run...?