Is it possible to get a surfboard (7-8 footer) to the beach, somehow, without having a permanent rack on the G or damaging its paint?

 

I tried for about 5 mins. It didn't go in easily at all so I just gave up. I didn't want to risk scratching anything or getting sand all over the inside of my car.

 

7-8 footer, that's a canoe...

 

I have a 7'6" board and it aint no canoe. Get real. I wouldn't even try to fit it in a G35.

AS FAR AS GETTING SAND IN YOUR CAR...OH POOR BABY IF YOU DID. OH BROTHER.

 

^^what nefster said 7 footer thats a dang canoe. You can go deep sea fishing on that thing. No offense but im not a surfer but I imagine that thats not going to fit my man.

 

I say use a soft rack.. I used to use one all the time and if your car is clean you'll have no issues with paint damage. Goes on and off quickly and no real corrosion maintenance to worry about. They work GREAT.

Just make sure you rinse your board in the shower before you roof it. That'll cure the sand worries.

:-)

Something like this:

 

can't do without a rack. the one pictured above works well for people here in hawaii pushing Benz/Bimmers with boards on them.

 

Looks like a plan to me. I wouldn't like to give up the surfing just for the car.

 

Same here; It's just a car, after all. I'd use a smaller board, but I'm just starting out. Learning on a short board is extremely difficult and goes against what every experienced surfer has told me.

 

What if you surf where there is no shower. Soft racks are scary.

 

wow, lucky I live hawaii. the beach is in walking distance for me.
7'-8' boards? we've got long boarders here riding on +10' boards. on the topic of cars, there's a brand called Dakine here in hawaii that sells soft racks the strap to the roof. if you're worried about the straps scratching up the finish, put something in between the strap and the paint, like a sponge or something.

edit, I just saw the daking straps i was writing about. didnt bother to look thoroughly.

 

I bought a beater for the beach. People don't respect your car at surf spots. I took my G to the beach for a while and I have two dents and scratches to show for it. And I carefully picked my parking spots too.

 

I just found it as well. Well, it's probably better to start with the long boards. Those short boards require quite a bit of skill before you can handle them.

I'm wondering if those straps will be sufficient to hold the board on the coupe (since the coupe only has one openable window on each side).

 

I spent years using soft racks before I switched to Thule's. You can pretty much tie anything down with Thules. They are great, but I don't know if they make em for the G.

If you do use soft racks, keep the speed down especially around large trucks on two lane roads.

Only time I ever lost a board was on some OEM hard racks on a Ford van. I was greeted with "those racks aren't meant for carrying anything" by the Ford rep - I won't even start with my Ford stories...

Personally I have a beater down at the beach and use it. Sand, salt water and close parking is no friend of a car you want to take care of.

Surfsnow

 

6' 0" fish for waves up to head high... 6' 5" mini squash for waves up to half that again and a 6' 8" pintail for double overhead fast bowlin' waves is all you need in Florida. Come on Hurricanes!!!!!

I've only been outgunned twice, once in Barbados and once in Costa Rica. I'm not sure a bigger board would have helped me much back then.

BTW, all my boards fit in the G with the passenger seat reclined. YMMV