New to this, some questions
 

i am new to this sport, I would like to buy my gear before the summer gets here so that I can immediately go for some lessons as soon as it gets warm and start to enjoy myself without wasting nice weather looking for gear.

I am 5'9 and weight between 190 and 205 pounds ( depending on how much I work out ... want to be 205 by the time summer starts)

What is the best size kite to buy ........ from what I have read it seems a 12m kite would be the best ???

How big of a board do i need for surf kiting in a lake ? ( Great lakes of Canada) waves are not very big.

What is the difference between a Wakeboard and a kiteboard ? does it matter which one I use ?

Thanks .....

All important questions but out of sequence. You really need to put in the time with quality pro lessons first before worrying about what sort of kites and boards to buy. You will have your own ideas about what sort of kites and boards will suit you after some instruction. There is no shortage of good deals on new gear out there and even more good buys in used gear. So I wouldn't sweat that question too far in advance. It is likely that you may end up with the wrong size kite and board at this early juncture. Your typical winds will largely dictate kite and board sizes. Yes, there are significant differences between kite and wakeboards. I wouldn't pick up a wakeboard for kiting. All this should be discussed in quality pro lessons and the best part is you get to use their gear at no extra charge for the training.