Garage Works - 2/18/2026

I got back to work on Roland's old Appletree board modification.

I try and remember to make sure I use my PPE...

I reconfirmed with Roland that he wanted the inserts more centered, and then cut away!

All cut!

And I also identified the delaminated areas -

And also got those cut out.  Here's the board with the offcuts popped off.

The four rectangles were removed from bonded spots.  You can see the delaminated offcuts - the foam separated and the foam is stuck on the offcut.

I'll get the delaminated areas built back up with carbon patches.

After that I'll route out the slots and get the blocks glued in.

Then I'll place carbon patches over the insert blocks.

Then I'll place a cap sheet over those to lock everything in.

Parawing Session - 2/18/2026

The wind was howling all day - beckoning me from work to go play....

I got home, packed up what I thought would be good equipment for today, and headed over.

The waves had kicked up - wind driven, short period chaos

The tide was rising so the paddle out was a little shorter than it has been lately.

No.34 with the AFS UHM 80cm mast, Enduro 1300/HA43 

And for power I packed the BRM Maliko 4.0 and the Ka'a 4.8 (for backup)

The wind was strong enough to get me up on foil pretty quickly.  Riding waves was an act of choosing the lesser evil - head high drops risking breaches, or crossing multiple waves with plenty of options to get run over by the sets.

I managed to retract the PW on a few runs and got some mean rides.

Roland was also out and Marlon was able to get some drone footage.

There was a guy (looked like Duke) doing a downwinder from somewhere going past WP to somewhere else.

For the most part I was well powered (not over powered) on the Maliko 4.0

On one run I drifted a bit west and the 4.0 wasn't getting me up.  I switched over to the 4.8 and just as soon as I did the wind ramped up.  I stayed on the 4.8 long enough to get back upwind, and switched back to the 4.0

I made it back above Fenceline and rode one in (retracted PW).  I didn't want to push my luck (I could feel the evening drop off about to happen).

Great session!!!

PF:2/W:2/PW:14/FD:15/S:8

Garage Works - 2/16/2026

And I did spend some time in the garage -

I got this new to me DMS Gherkin checked in to the hangar.

This is a super clean 5'8" coming in at 39 liters - a couple of liters above what I normally ride - but I am wanting to see the limits of uber grovellers.

This is a Surftech board - and I haven't owned one of these before.  The previous owner had also put a deck patch on so this should resist deck pressures nicely.

The tail is intriguing -  

I got the base coat and the top coats of wax on.  Never rush this step!!!

And for fins, I moved the Futures Alpha Vector 3/2 quads from the Firewire Sweet Potato.  The fin boxes on the Gherkin are pushed further out to the rails - I'm thinking this will suite a quad set better.

And having moved the fins over to the Gherkin, I went ahead and got the Sweet Potato waxed up and refinned - 

The CI BMT with an added True Ames 2.5" trailer 

I remember absolutely loving how the BMTs worked in this board - so again in the interest of finding what works best for hacking small, mushy waves apart into pure stoke - I'll give this setup a run.

It'll also be interesting to which of these board grovels better for the waves I surf over here.

Parawing Session - 2/16/2026

Went to Hickam again - didn't want to mess with the crowds or the low tide at WPB.

Kalani came with to get more parawing training in.

The wind was really strong -

The was a first for me - parawinging on No.40 (although I think I have PW'd this board before...)

And even more firsts - I set up the Enduro 1100/HA40 (on this board... I'm pretty sure that was a first).

I opted to go with a single PW - and with the texture over the water, I packed the BRM Maliko 4.0

This session I wanted to focus on getting the feel for this board-foil combo, as I want to use this more over at WPB.

Needless to say, this combo goes -

You can see there were a few lulls where I basically drifted out to the furthest wind line.  But the rest of the session I was cooking (overpowered and on the verge of disaster)

I also wanted to practice my tacks.  Once I get these committed to muscle memory I want to incorporate them into my transitions onto waves over at WPB.  I was able to get them heel and toe side while using the Flysurfer POW 5.0 - but the smaller parawings travel much faster and that is causing trouble for me.

These gusts would transform the harbor from bumpy to swell building.  And just managing the parawing and not getting pulled off the board was the focal point -

Corroborating the graphs, the Maliko 4.0 needs 20mph to get me up on foil. 

I actually think this is one of those days that I could have brought 3 parawings and then I would have been covered (2.9, 4.0 and 4.8/5.1)

Although I did not ride out of the tack attempts I made, I at least got the board through the turns.

And I have a higher degree of confidence on the setup I brought out (which should give me more options on the daily WP runs).

PF:2/W:2/PW:13/FD:15/S:8

Winging Session - 2/15/2026

I wanted to get some of the newer foils lined up on No.39 and No.40

And the fastest way to do that is on wing.

And committing to a testing day, I asked Kalani and Stu of they wanted to go.

Here's the truck loaded up with three dudes worth of gear.

I started with No.39 and the Enduro 1100/HA40 (short fuselage), then switched to the Silk 1050/HA40 (on the standard fuselage).

The engine of choice was the North Nova Pro 5.0

The wind was up and down - but with a wing you can pull yourself up onto foil way easier (I forgot how well wings do this).

I put the foil through its paces and went through all the transitions in quick succession.

You can see the "knots" in the track where I was tacking and jibing in quick succession.

The foil was positioned well on the first pass.

I went in and switched over to the Silk 1050/HA40 (had to remove the Silk 850 from the standard fuselage, and add the HA40 from the Enduro 1100 setup)

Basing the positioning from the Enduro 1100 and Enduro 900, I positioned the Silk 1050.  I got the spacing on this correct as well.

The Silk felt pretty good where it was positioned.

I went in because the wind died (rain came in).

I was going to be done, but Stu asked if I wanted to try using the PPC M1 6.0

I said yes, so I set up No.40 with the Enduro 1300/HA43 (to confirm the positioning, I could then use the settings from No.39 to get the E1100 and S1050 settings laid out).

It's been a while since I've used a wing this big - lots of power.  Handling during the transitions required some exaggeration to make sure the wind didn't catch the wing incorrectly.

But I got up on foil long enough to make an adjustment, and confirm the mark on the board was for the E1300.

The wind shown below was from the airport station - it was much lighter than this at Hickam.

So with all this testing today, I got 3 foils positioned on 2 boards - all for being able to use these boards and foils with parawings.

Fun session today!!!

PF:2/W:2/PW:12/FD:15/S:8

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 2/14/2026

I took Marlon to the airport this morning, then headed out for the dawn patrol.  The wind did not settle out last night and the ocean was pretty choppy.

I got the KT board back to Kalani.  He set up the longer KT for FD and was using the 1075 foil. 

In the interest of seeing what is possible, I bolted on the AFS Ultra HA750 with the UGlide 41 rear stabilizer.  I did move the assembly forward a notch to where I thought the foil should be located.

This session was challenging with the chop.  And the wind really ramped up to make it harder.

But after the first few rides, I moved the foil forward and everything felt right.

The Ultra 750 is fast - 

But it has a higher degree of stability in that it wants to go in one direction - fast.  I didn't have a problem turning it, it was more that it preferred to move fast downstream of the energy source (wave).

Even on the GPS track, you can see it is not as smooth as the Enduro 900 or the Silk 850

15 rides (some pretty long considering the conditions)

The whole time I was out, I kept wondering if I had a parawing, could I get up on foil with the smaller board and the drag of the FD system...

PF:2/PW:12/FD:15/S:8

Garage Works - 2/13/2026

When I got home, I had enough sunlight to get this board modification/repair over the finish line.

I got the tail repair and the window mod up at the nose sanded and sprayed.

I'll get this back to Kalani tomorrow morning. 

Now on to Roland's board...

Parawing Session - 2/13/2026

Got off work, headed home, loaded up the parawinging stuff and headed to the beach.

It was whitecapping when I got there -

Prayot was out (but oddly not on foil??? - foreshadowing).

AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 on the UHM 80cm mast bolted on to No.34

What I should have done was packed two parawings - a 5m and a 4m

But I was hopeful on the side of strengthening winds (based on the forecast) and I went out on the BRM Maliko 4.0 

This beautiful woman was taking lots of pictures!

Lots going on here -

It actually took a bit before I got a gust strong enough to get me on foil - yup, as soon as I hit the water the wind dropped.  The opposite of what was forecasted - but I blame the clouds.

Once I was up, I was able to pull pretty hard upwind and made it back past the launch point.

Paul Cooper was out on wing -

I rode a couple of waves with the PW doused.  It was the second one that ended my session - I wasn't able to redeploy the PW after the wave was fizzling. 

If I had a 5.0 I would have been able to swap and get riding again.  Instead, I drifted while waiting for a gust.

The Maliko 4.0 needs whitecaps for sure.

I drifted past the last cabin into Campgrounds.  I figured I should cut my losses - and paddled back to above Fenceline

Along the way, I got into the breakers out in front of the Cabins.  I missed standing up on one that I caught, but I did ride the next one.  This is probably the third time I've been able to prone foil this board and foil.  Back in the day I was prone foiling on really big foils - this is really small in comparison to those - but it somehow feels almost too big. 

I caught up with Roland who was also down on the water waiting for a gust.  He did get up on foil - I headed in all tuckered out from the long paddle.

And I saw this guy in the parking lot!!!

Fun day despite the challenges!

PF:2/PW:12/FD:14/S:8