March 24

Bonaire Lac Bay. NP EVO 5 5.8, iSonic 90, Black Project FreeDeltaRE 21. Wind: 15 G 18

One of those 'pft' days where nothing seems to feel quite right. Part of this was I misjudged the wind, thought it was stronger than it was so rigged too small (errored on being conservative after getting slammed yesterday). Another aspect was I was just physically tired and sore from yesterday so I wasn't pumping like I normally do to get started. Had I pumped more I probably would have had more success. I'll add more excuses as I think of them :).

In continuation of a discussion topic from yesterday: rotating the hips and shoulders - I realized today that I do this unconsiously/automatically. On the first run across the bay after I got the boom height and harness lines dialed back in I was going to practice this rotation technique - that is when I realized I was already doing it - one of the few good practices I learned 'back in the day' of sailing the Gorge. It became so ingrained in my muscle memory for my stance that I was no longer paying any attention to it.

Other learnings for the day:

1) The combination iSonic 90 and FreeDeltaRE fin does not like quick rail weight changes. On my fastest run into the shallows I 'stomped' on the rail a little harder than normal because I was getting close to the trees - all this did was cause the rail to 'dig in' and the fin to lose it's grip which was not benefitial to turning away from the trees. Fortunately got it stopped before I hit anything...

2) On my last run the wind was dropping and started slogging across the bay - got a long lull and in attempting to get out of the harness I went into the water. The good news is that the EVO 5.8 is much easier to clear/keep cleared that the 7.8. The bad news is that when the wind dies it is still a problem to waterstart. Eventually I did waterstart and even got back on a plane before jibing and heading across the bay to the car. By that point I decided not to push my luck and called it a day.