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

Parawing Session - 11/6/2026

Another day of stronger (but up and down) wind.

And the surf came up a touch and added a little consistency.

Same gear as the previous days -

But for power I started with the BRM S3 4.2 and later switched to the 5.3 to get back to the launch point when the wind dropped off in the later afternoon.

I used the NSI stash bag to carry both.

I was out by myself for quite some time - then Kalani came out, followed by Roland on wing and then Prayot launched much later.

Obviously the 4.2 comes down and packs down much easier than the 5.3 - I had multiple retracted rides - three of which were phenomenal!!!

But I'm still having issues redeploying.

I got a few tacks in on the larger waves - so much fun when you pull one off!

You can see the deep lull in this windspeed graph

And it correlated to the down time in my speed chart.  I should have switched to the 5.3 sooner, but I'm glad I shed my pride and did change - saved me a long paddle back.  The times I did have each parawing out seemed appropriate.

I think early on I really should have had the 3.4 up...

Super fun session (especially the retracted rides)!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:139/FD:77/S:29

Garage Works - 11/5/2026

I looked the cut and block over this afternoon and all looked good.

So after dinner I got the slot vacuumed out and the block glued in.

Tomorrow I'll trim the excess glue flush to the board and prep it for the carbon lamination.

Parawing Session - 11/5/2026

The wind was stronger and a tad bit more consistent today.  But it was cloudier and 

as such the gusts/lulls were more up-down.

There were a few sets that came through, but for the most part the waves were on the small side.

Same equipment as the past couple of days.

It was one of those days that I could have used the BRM S3 5.3-4.2-3.4

I tried multiple times, but I couldn't redeploy the S3 5.3 - somehow the lines would get around the bar....

I did get one long retracted ride - so good!!!!

I was fine on the 5.3 in all but the points where the gusts were blowing through.  I could depower the parawing, but I definitely could have used the smaller PWs.  But then during the background wind I might have been underpowered.

Those longer down periods were where I was having to untangle and redeploy the parawing.

From the past few days (this wind event) it looks like the wind is strongest around lunchtime. 

PF:11/W:3/PW:138/FD:77/S:29

Garage Works - 11/4/2026

I cut out the slot on Roland's board.

And here is the block dry fitted.

I'll clean up the slot tomorrow and get the block glued in.

I'm targeting this weekend to get the bottom done (and then start on the footstrap inserts on the top deck).

Parawing Session - 11/4/2026

Similar conditions to yesterday... this wind event has it's pattern - go earlier if you want stronger, more dependable wind.  Go later, and you risk getting dropped.

Roland was out on wing when I got to the parking lot.  Kalani got there as I was getting back to the truck after taking this picture.

Same gear as yesterday

And similar results as yesterday.

Except that I got in a really long stashed ride (the waves were a little better today).

It was really fun while the wind lasted.

Which unfortunately wasn't all that long.

The forecast calls for wind to be present over the next week at least - but it looks to be the same type of wind (strong early, weak and falling off in the afternoon).

Good times!

PF:11/W:3/PW:137/FD:77/S:29