Monday, March 31, 2008

Bonzer Ride Report

Got the bonzer out at a tight little pocket cove with a bowling takeoff. After that the wave will do one of several different things, like sometimes just dissolve under you, line up a tapered wall, tapered barrel, close-out, and sometimes another peak will crank towards you. I started out with the fin pushed to the front of the box thinking I'd see if it would loosen up the board. This puts the center fin in about an inch overlap with the side runners. On one left and one right I felt no hold or drive from the fin and it quickly washed out when the whitewater hit me. I went into where the water was waist deep and, thanks to the wonderbolt I was using, readjusted the fin to the center point where there was about 1/4" gap with the side runners and was back to the peak before the next set came.

I had good waves after that. I was burying the nose on the takeoff a few times, which is something I don't normally do. This could be the sudden steepness of the bowl, the offshore winds hanging me up, the flatness of the rocker or a combination of them all. I was also wondering if the side-runner fins also cause more drag at low speeds resulting in a slight hang up on the lip. Besides those times, I was having fun catching the small (3') bowls and sitting in the pocket to see what would happen. I've been trying some home made wax and this batch was super slippery so I wasn't able to crank any cutbacks, but I enjoyed the waves for the most part.

I was noticing that even though the board is only 6', I could catch smaller waves than the thrusters in the water, and also enjoy the small zippers more than they were. The result is that I was often sitting inside by myself catching wave after wave. Not doing much on the waves, just kinda cruising in the pocket trying to cram myself into the occasional barrel, but having a good time anyway.

No comments: