Single Fin Time

After the success at WReefs on the Buttons single fin I was excited to give it a go at VFWs. The first run was a few weeks ago and the weather was great, waves were 4-6' and hollow. The crowd was out but it didn't completely shut me out because the Buttons has plenty of float to get in a bit early if I have to, but able to take later drops too. I was having a good time, but it got better when I walked south to Lincoln where there were fewer people and I could find my waves better. I even got something deeper than a narrel that I came out of. Later that day things fell apart but I went out with JZ to Balboa and the Cove. The quality had diminished, but we had a few fun ones. One the beach I had a guy want to get a better look at the Buttons and said he saw me pig-dog on a few lefts that looked good.

Skip forward to last Tuesday morning (or was it Wednesday?) The conditions were very similar with a bit more size. This time I stayed put right in front of VFWs and got my share of waves. A few memorable ones including a set wave that the guy at the peak decided at the last minute he was too deep. I was over and inside of him and went for it at the last second. Nearly a free fall drop where I landed right where I needed to be and hit a solid bottom turn that gave me the speed to make it down the line. After the session I stopped at Mollusk to look into a bigger fin.

See, the deal is that I am having trouble keeping the fin engaged at all times on the Buttons. I've had it release on a steep angled take-off more than once, and I had it release on me that day when the whitewater hit my feet. With the wide point so far forward, and not much rail in the tail I get my center of gravity too far forward which lets the fin release too easy. I figure the fin I have is 7-7.5" which is what is suggested, and when I put bigger fins in it they just looked wrong. I decided I would try the big flex fin off the GeeBee first to see what too much fin felt like, then I will ask around to see who has a fin in the 8-8.5" range that I could borrow. Maybe it's just a matter of technique.

Meanwhile, I took note of a 5'10" Bonzer Bumblebee (three fin) on the used rack at Mollusk. The price just dropped to $350 which looks like a steal to me. The hold up is that the template is closer to the GeeBee than the Buttons. The thing is short and fat! I'm not sure what it would be used for and I suspect it has a ride somewhere between the GeeBee and Haut2, and those to aren't very far apart. I'm not sure when I would choose it since I'm trying to find a way deeper into the pocket, but still...