Garage Works - 11/11/2026

Since I had the day off, I headed to the garage with the intention of getting Roland's board across the finish line.

I sanded the laps around the carbon patches on the top deck.  Then I drilled out the holes on the foot strap inserts.

Then I used a countersunk bit to chamfer the hole edges

Nice!

I used spray adhesive on the deckpads and got those back on.

There was a weird bubble on the tail outside of where I was working.  It seemed like a clear coat giving way - I tried to pop it, but it flaked off.  I tried taking all the paint and resin that wasn't holding off and faired off the edges.

I used black spray paint and covered it back up.  Not my fault - but hopefully this fixes it.

After all the top deck work was completed, I flipped the board over and started sanding the edges and the flats.

I drilled holes where the tracks were and then added a fill coat.  I took a break here and headed to Hickam.

When I got back I opened up the tracks.

Then I used a file and smoothed out the edges.

I sprayed the bottom deck where I worked with satin clear coat.

The last thing I have to do is cut out the deck pad where the handle used to be and place a small patch.

This heads back to Roland tomorrow.

Parawing Session - 11/11/2026

I spent time hanging with La this morning (and then working on Roland's board in the garage - I need to get that board out so I can work on No.45).  The wind was roaring all day - except when I got to the beach.

It was still blowing - but it was up and down.  Lots of clouds choking off the flow.

Cabrinha Prestige 905/Union Rear Stabilizer 160/Apex 78cm mast on No.44

Even though the wind seemed down, I wanted to get more time on the PPC Orbit 4.5m

Stu was supposed to come along, but he got tied up at work.  Norm was setting up when I got to the parking lot.  Matt and El were finished, as was the windsurfer.  Looking at the water, I was even thinking perhaps I should just run my errands and get back home to grab a surfboard.

Norm and I figured what the hell -

And I used this session to work on lighter wind takeoffs and heelside tacks.

I did all tacks except for maybe 1 or 2 jibes at the outside turning point.  Tacking is starting to become fun with this setup!

But periodically the wind would stop and leave us sitting around.

Good correlation between the two charts.

And one last gust came along so I wouldn't have to paddle in.

I'm going to start feeling my way through the toe side tacks.

PF:11/W:3/PW:144/FD:77/S:29

Garage Works - 11/10/2026

I got the area around the inserts sanded and prepped.

Then I taped off the insert holes.

And then I used 2.8 ounces of epoxy to saturate and laminate the carbon patches onto the board.

I'll sand everything (top and bottom) tomorrow morning and work on placing the bottom deck fill coat.

Then tomorrow evening I will see about opening all the insert holes and the track slots.

After this one is done, No.45 will hit the rack.  I've been contemplating the approach to shaping it - I've already started taking the excess from only the top deck.  Next I'll work the rocker profile - only the rocker.  I'll save the rails/chines for last.

Garage Works - 11/9/2026

Before settling down for the night, I went into the garage and got this work done.

I first took off the excess gorilla glue from around the insert high density insert reinforcement blocks and got everything faired in.

I re-marked the slot holes.

Then I routed out the slot holes and cleaned up the inserts.

Then I mixed up two batches of epoxy.  The first was 1.4 ounces, but that wasn't quite enough so I mixed another 0.7 ounces.  All with milled fibers.

I got the inserts installed and placed the extra epoxy around the inserts.

I then went ahead and got the carbon patches cut out.

When I get home from work, I'll seal up the insert holes and laminate the carbon patches.

After that work hardens, I'll flip the board, sand the edges of the carbon cover sheet and add a fill coat of epoxy.

I should be finished with the board by Wednesday.

Parawing Session - 11/9/2026

When I got to the beach, there were whitecaps ripping across the outside.  Knowing the forecast called for the wind to drop off I headed out to get some while it was out there.

I only took the BRM S3 4.2....

And I figured with the strong wind, that I could try out the Whippit 850/Tweaker 160

First off - this foil (which works brilliantly for Foil Drive-ing) is best left for Foil Drive-ing.

With not as much (not much at all) glide, I had to work to keep on foil during the lulls.

It does surf phenomenally - I caught a few good ones while the wind was up.  But without the glide in between peaks and gusts, I felt vulnerable to dropping out.

Which I did.

And down I stayed for quite some time.

And when I was up, the lower AR of the foil and the smaller PW made for difficult times trying to get upwind.  I was losing ground just to keep foil speed up (hoping I wouldn't drop off foil - which I did anyways).

I hate the Kaohi leash.  I am never going to use those again for parawinging.  On what would have been good redeploys, the brindle lines caught the stupid coil.  I'll use a straight leash before I ever use a Kaohi coil.

I should have brought out the BRM S3 5.3 as a come home PW.

I should be able to keep the Whippit Foil Drive-ing... I just ordered a Cabrinha Domani 960 -

PF:11/W:3/PW:142/FD:77/S:29

Garage Works - 11/8/2026

I jumped from working on the bottom of the board over to the top.

First I drilled marker holes so I could remove the deck pads where I need to cut the deck skin.

The deck pads came off nicely, so they can be reused.

I took the reinforcement blocks and marked the locations so I could cut the deck skion.

The front insert for the back foot fell on the handle

I went ahead and filled the handle with pour foam

And I got the excess cut off and everything sanded flush

I marked out the cut lines, used the dremel to cut the top skin, and went ahead and pulled the laminate off.

Marlon's car is now parked in the garage... if he heads out tonight, I'll use the laminate router and dig out the foam from the slots.  And if there is time, I'll gorilla glue in the blocks.  If I get this far, tomorrow I can router out the insert slots and get those epoxied in place.

I'm trying to get this done by Wednesday... which means it'll be done by Friday.

Parawing Dawn Patrol - 11/8/2026

Did a repeat session at Kailua at dawn.

The wind was a bit stronger and more consistent than yesterday.

Same equipment as yesterday

Kalani, Prayot and Stu made the trip over.

This session was really good!

The waves were slightly more conducive to retracted riding - and I tried to ride as far towards the beach as I could before redeploying the parawing.

And I had better redeployments - primarily because I didn't go too far with the parawing folding.  Just collapsing and keeping the bar in front.  This keeps the lines a little more susceptible to tangling on me or the board - but not having to restart getting on foil again was worth the risk.

And the rides today - super fun weaving figure 8s.

The Orbit 4.5 was perfect today!

I never felt overpowered, and the bar pressure was ridiculously low.

It was rather rough at the top of the course, but as I rode downwind the waves would get organized and got better as you made your way to the beach.

Incredible session today!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:141/FD:77/S:29

Garage Works - 11/7/2026

I put some time on Roland's "parawing" board modifications.

I routed off/sanded down the excess gorilla glue and got everything flush.

Ready to get the carbon laminated.

I used two layers of 3.9 ounce carbon - block cap and wider area cover sheet. 

And this was probably 5 ounces of epoxy resin.

Tomorrow I'll sand the edges and place a thin fill coat.  If I do that work in the morning, I should be able to route open the tracks by the evening.

Then I'll flip the board and start installing the footstrap inserts.

Since I had some excess epoxy, I also put a drop to fill this weird divot on No.44

And lastly - I have been thinking a lot about getting an Amos Kruzer V2 to start prone foiling again using a different concept - longer and thinner boards to get in earlier.

Well - a new Amos Kruzer V2 is $1800 shipped to Hawaii....

After considering what I have in the garage for resources, I figured I really liked how the J Splee Hammah Fish paddles, and it's outline is close to the Kruzer V2.

At 5'4" it is pretty darn close to what I think I want the length to be - 5'7"

That $1800 can go towards other endeavors - I'll build the thinner/longer prone as No.46

I can fill in the fish tail to get the blank to the length I am looking for.

I think I'll use the billet foam I have at the office for this blank (I need to use that stuff up).

Parawing Dawn Patrol Session - 11/7/2026

Good wind blowing this morning at Kailua Beach Park.

And the brown water from the last storm has mostly cleared up.

Prayot and Stu also made the trip over.

Same board and foil assembly - but for power I opted for the PPC Orbit 4.5

There was plenty of wind to ride and with the Orbit 4.5 I never felt overpowered.  But getting up on to foil did require some finesse (and waiting for the right gust - especially with all the chop on the water)

As usual, retracting the parawing at Jump City made for awesome rides.  And with the wind swell, the rides were pretty long and there were tons of sections to bank off of - 

I made about 60% of my redeploys - better than my WPB redeploys, but I'm going to have to focus on this aspect of my riding to get these numbers up.  Restarting really burns up my energy reserves.

The PPC Orbit is the smoothest tacking parawing ever - I got five in without any drama.  I'm going to keep hammering these out to get it to second nature muscle memory.

I'd say the outside had perfect wind - while the inside was good it you had a 5.0 (or didn't go down).

I think I'm gonna have to get that Domani 960 to go faster.

Super fun session!!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:140/FD:77/S:29