Dec 31 - PB Alpha

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 5.5, Hi-Tech Carbon Slalom 9', Angulo. Wind: 22 knots

Enjoyable day fully powered on the Gorge Gear. Worked on jibing/Alpha, made some improvement.  Not as fast as the race gear but a lot more comfortable in these conditions. The far side of the bay was starting to have some decent swells instead of the random chop.

Dec 24

Bonaire Lac Bay. NP Evo 6 7.0 , iSonic 107, MFC KP-RC 360, Wind: 17 kts

Got the NM start/stop points scoped out better. The run is a little more broad reach than before which means a little more tense for me as I'm not yet completely comfortable running downwind over the backs of chop... From launch site to launch site for a NM is a 4.3 mile trip. About all this old body can handle without a short rest.

Dec 23

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks 4.6 cam 1+1, Sailworks Retro 5.5, Hi-Tech 9' Slalom, iSonic 90. Wind: 19 knots

pft.., pathetic judge of wind. Arrived and wind was 23-24 knots. Rigged for Gorge Gear, wind died about the time I hit the water. Rerigged, wind died some more... finally bagged it.

A friend, Adam, got face-planted through his sail on the far side - took him an hour to paddle back - ended up at the Tiki resort.

Dec 22

Bonaire Lac Bay. NP Evo 6 7.0 , iSonic 107, MFC KP-RC 360, Wind: 15 kts

A few more NM runs. With the lighter wind the runs were comfortable without much chop. Need to start farther south and bear a little more E on the runs as I'm not allowing myself much margin on whether a run counts towards NM.

Dec 21

Bonaire Lac Bay. NP Evo 6 7.0, iSonic 107, MFC KP-RC 360, Wind: 19 kts

Short but good session. Did a few NM runs, had a couple of random drag races across the bay and was pleased to have held my own. Feeling more comfortable with the NP/iSonic setup. Still a little dicey in the chop on the downwind run back to the launch area in part because I'm looking into the afternoon sun reflected off the water - hard to see the details of the chop.

Dec 20

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 6.5, iSonic 107, MFC-KP 360, wind: 17-18 knots

Short session. Arrived late, wind faded early. Good session to get comfortable on the iSonic 107 after moving mast base and foot straps forward. The board handled very nicely in this configuration. Next up, back to the NP Race sails for the next level of tuning.

Dec 19

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 6.5, iSonic 90, MFC-KP 340, Wind: 18 knots

Good day to get some run-time on the iSonic 90 after the mast track and footstrap adjustments - very pleased with the results. Still a little more of a handful to control than the Gorge Gear but not bad and certainly faster. Jibing not as easy as on the Hi-Tech Carbon Slalom but over time I should get the hang of it... Raised the boom to be centered between 3rd and 4th stripes on sail luff - felt good, hooking in still easy.

Dec 18

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 5.5, Hi-Tech 9'0" carbon slalom, iSonic 90, MFC-KP 320: wind 20 - 21

pft... expected a repeat of yesterday with even stronger winds, nope. Underdone today. Got a couple of decent runs on the Hi-Tech. I have to say it is a mellow ride compared to the iSonic. Bottom-line: right now I'm exhausted on the iSonic after about 15 minutes due to the harsh ride and twitchy behavior. The Gorge Gear Hi-Techs are slower but I could ride all afternoon (if I guess right on the sail size).

WazzaYotty commented:

That looks like a very beautiful and relaxed part of the world Barton. I probably don't need to suggest that you take it easy! Jealous !

I commented:

Hi Jamie, yes very relaxed, and beautiful if one likes dry tropics (lots of cactus and acacia plants). Hard to complain about the wind either (but I still sometimes do) as the last two weeks have been about 20 knots each day and the forecast for the next week is more of the same :-). Now, if there was only a good place in the bay to hide from the chop :-). The windward side of the bay is reef open to the ocean so not much help there. 

Regarding 'take it easy': That is part of my plan, :-) , which is why my old 'Gorge Gear' comes out when the chop gets big...

WazzaYotty commented:

Sure like the look of the winter in your place! Chop? That's the beauty of Coodanup in the Peel Inlet where we sail......flat as a tack....we can groove in the smooth and speed in the weed. OoooYeah!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

I commented:

Winters: well, if you hanker for 85 F (sorry, 29 - 30 C) temps and 20 knot winds, no air pollution and clear water to sail on, then Bonaire might be worth considering... :). On the other hand, I'm Jealous of 'flat as a tack' water for sailing..

Have a great holiday season!

Dec 17 - PB alpha

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 5.5. Hi-Tech 8'9", iSonic 90. Wind: 21-22 knots

A good Gorge Gear day. Did one run across the bay on the iSonic - was about 4 knots faster but not relaxing. Spent the day working on jibes. Most jibes were planing jibes but it doesn't show in the Alpha since the board entry speed was about 19 - 20 knots.

First track over and back is iSonic, second over-back is Hi-Tech.

Dec 16 - New iSonic 107

Bonaire Lac Bay. NP EVO 6 7.0, iSonic 107, MFC KP-RC 360, Wind: started 17-20 knts, ended 23+.

Taty Frans delivered to the beach the birthday present I bought myself yesterday - Taty's 2015 iSonic 107 Carbon board. Taty had sailed it maybe 10 days, 5 of those in the PWA competition in New Caledonia in November where he earned a 2nd overall podium finish. Of course, Taty is now busy unpacking his 2016 boards. Taty's recommendation is use the iSonic 107 where conditions warrant the 7.8 and 7.0 sails and use the iSonic 90 for 5.8 conditions. He suggested I try the board with his footstrap setup and then modify as needed - mistake. Taty is about my size but much stronger, more agile, you name it... He has the front straps in the 'middle' position which is probably OK for now but had the back straps all the way back. I made a run north to the mangroves - board seemed quicker than the 90 in similar conditions (yesterday). Stopped at the end of the run and adjusted foot strap size then made a run to the rental sailing area. Felt OK but I was noticing some tail-walking as the wind seemed to be increasing. Adjusted straps again and and made another run to the mangroves - this time the board felt pretty twitchy as the wind was picking up. Was going to make a downwind run to the launch area but got overpowered, and catapulted. Limped back overpowered to the rental area, made one short downwind run and walked the rig back as I was way overpowered at this point. Moved the back straps to the center position but suspect I may move them to the forward position for a while. In general I liked the way the board handled when I wasn't overpowered. More stable than the iSonic 90 although I had the feeling that I will get catapulted more as I'm not sure the 107 accelerates as quickly as the 90.

First picture below shows iSonic 90 on left, 107 on right. Second picture shows 107 cutouts.