Taty (2763km):
2476 days ago Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
2018 GA Vapor 7.1, 2018 iSonic 90 Fin testing day
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Barton (5511km):
2476 days ago 
Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
2017 GA Vapor 6.4, 2015 iSonic 90, MFC KPRC340, Wind: 15 - 20
A day of struggling/learning... Wind was strong enough (in the gusts) to be fully powered on the smaller gear. Unfortunately, everything felt different today. The chop was bigger, of course, the board was smaller which was good in the chop but fell off a plane very quickly when trying to jibe. Also, was using the GA carbon boom I got from Taty, which I like but I was struggling to stay in the harness lines. Took me a couple of runs to remember that Taty decided to force me to use longer harness lines by including 30" lines with the boom  . Once I finally remembered this, I adjusted my grip on the boom and didn't have as many 'disconnects' of the harness popping off the line.
On the positive side, I got more proficient at surfing the chop (baby swell) faces to keep from getting launched off the face. Probably slowed me down some but not as much as getting launched would have... I had a couple opportunities to try waterstarting - doesn't take much of a wind fade to make that more difficult than on the bigger gear. I'm now heavy enough that the iSonic 90 reminded me of the old Gorge days of almost sinking the board if I didn't have the proper weight distribution when doing a 'light wind waterstart'. The good news for me is that I don't freak out any more if the wind isn't strong enough and I have to float for a while when waterstarting. Also, GREAT news for me was that the Vapor 6.4 was really easy to clear for waterstarting. Not nearly the issue I remember having with the older Neil Pryde EVOs.
The introspective reflections for today were that I need to accept my present windsurfing reality and abilities. Watching Taty and the young guns blasting around it great fun to watch but also a downer to recognize that they are going 5 to 10 knots faster than I am in the same conditions. More specifically, I need to accept that I really don't want to be going any faster in the chop, at least not until I increase my skill/confidence level. Today was enough of an E-ticket ride, I don't need anything more. And, I was the only 70 year old out there (and on slalom gear no less  ).
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