Evening Session - 2/24/2026

The forecast called for parawinging/winging conditions this afternoon - but the clouds said otherwise.

Sure there were gusts that would come through that would have gotten me up on foil.  But those clouds would come back and shut it all down.

I had originally brought the same gear from yesterday - but I went back home and switched out to the...

DMS Gherkin

First time I had this board out.  I had the quad set of the Futures Alpha Vector 3/2 fins on the board.

Dare I say this board has more groveling power than the Firewire Sweet Potato???

I did catch some waves that would have been challenging on the Sweet Potato.  And I had a few waves that I was able to maneuver to stay in the pocket.

But from this limited session, I'd say I can turn the Sweet Potato harder.  And the Gherkin can go down the line better (and also catches waves easier).

Definitely a fun board if you can get your hands on one! 

PF:2/W:2/PW:16/FD:17/S:9

Parawing Session - 2/23/2026

Wind sport level winds were forecasted to be blowing this afternoon.

There were white caps (sporadic) when I pulled into the parking lot.  But there were periods where lulls set in.

Pretty low tide again - just had to paddle out a little further to get to deep enough water to flip the board.  

Big stuff all around today

Did I mention the wind was side OFF shore???

Even though there were lulls, there was still enough wind blowing to stay up on foil.

I had some really long runs, and almost always enough wind to jibe.

On one inside jibe, I felt the parawing moving slowly - so I exaggerated the downloop turn and got it all the way around - and this was with the Flysurfer POW 5.0 

This was pretty close to what was blowing at the beach.  The Kalaeloa meter doesn't read correctly on easterly reaches - but it looks like north winds read correctly.

Any session mostly up on foil and not involving paddling back to the launch point from Capmpgrounds is a great session!

Winds are forecasted to be better over the next few days!

PF:2/W:2/PW:16/FD:17/S:8

Garage Works - 2/22/2026

This post was from yesterday - but I didn't get around to posting it.

I got the patches on to the delamination spots on the board I'm dropping footstrap inserts into for Roland.

Prepping -

In place -

All pau.  Next is routing out the slots and gluing in the blocks.

I also finally got this rusted cargo hook out!!!!

I took the one above it and relocated to this spot.

I also ordered a vertical hook set for the rear - that'll make securing stuff in the bed easier.

And lastly I tested the repaired parawing - works perfectly!

And I even got in a grocery run!!!!  Productive day!!!

Foil Drive Session - 2/22/2026

Way cleaner this morning compared to yesterday.  Also a tiny bit bigger.

Nice higher tide again - and no brown water (like everywhere else).

Stu, Ben, Roland, and others were out (foiling boogie guys, eFoiler, Carlo and his girlfriend, and one other - then eventually Jason - more on this in a bit)

Last night I had a clear garage and I got the modular AFS front foils all situated on the correct fuselages.  The Enduro 1100 was on a short fuselage while the Enduro 1300 was on a standard-length fuselage - I'm beginning to think that may have something to do with the takeoff speeds I had been experiencing...

I've got the Silk 850 and 1050 on the 68cm fuselages, and the Enduro 1100 and 1300 on the 65cm fuselages.

And for today I set up the Silk 850/HA38 - the surf forecast was showing a bump up so I wanted to bring this one out.

Long running waves today - 

And the Silk 850 delivered in spades!!!!  Hard carving turns converting speed to torque - so much fun!

 

The odd thing that happened was I didn't bring the Foil Drive bag and didn't have the wrench to move the mast position.  The mast position was set on the Ultra HA750 from yesterday.  I figured I'd just ride it and deal with the extra lift.  Turns out this spot was even better than the previously marked setting.

I recall the previous setting was fine - but there was this feeling of "dragging" that I couldn't shake off.

This setting from yesterday woke the Silk 850/HA38 up and it was amazing!  I even recycled on a couple of runs with a second wave behind.  I went ahead and redid the mark on the board.

I was idling back out to the outside lineup on a run when Carlo and Roland were on the same wave.  Carlo was going right and Roland was to his left heading left.  Roland made a cutback and all of a sudden they were headed right towards each other.  Roland made a last minute ditch but they both collided.  Roland's calves were hit by Carlo's board's rails.

And right after that, I was riding a wave and another FD rider was efoiling back out, headed towards me - so I made an exaggerated turn to avoid the collision and he fell off.

I went in shortly after that because I prefer riding without the efoiling crowd around.

23 rides! 

Another great session!

PF:2/W:2/PW:15/FD:17/S:8

Garage Works - 2/21/2026

With all the rain, I figured I would knock out some repair orders.

I broke out the sewing machine and fixed Prayot's Ozone Pocket Rocket 3.5

Three of the baffles -

And one of the leading edge cells...

This was pretty therapeutic -  

And to make sure there was progress on Roland's board (boards take up space, parawings not so much), I cut out the patches for the delamination.

Four layers of 4.8 ounce carbon.

I didn't mix epoxy - I'll do that tomorrow.

Once the epoxy is hard, I'll route out the slots and glue in the insert blocks.

Then I'll roughen up the deck, epoxy on some patches over the blocks, and let that harden.  After that, I'll fair in everything and place a carbon cap sheet.

This should be done this week - then I'll move to finish the tow boogie (placing a new track block), then I'll change out the tracks on the two wingboards that I have here at the house (to modernize them).

Foil Drive Session - 2/21/2026

Stu and I hit WPB this morning.  We were contemplating going to Kailua to wing/parawing - but with the rain, we figured it would be better to stay local.

There were some waves to be had, a nice high tide and no wind.

I used Stu's chopped tip Ultra HA750 with the HA38 rear stabilizer

It was raining for most of the session, and every now and then you could hear extended version thunder.  That meant I was cold and I was heavy on the throttle (didn't want to stick around for the lightning).

The tracks are smoother using Stu's 750 compared to the session I had my 750 out.  I can't tell if it was the reduced span on the front foil, or the slightly larger HA38 (I had on the U Glide 41 last time) that smoothed out the ride - but the system felt easier to roll and more stable (so a combo of both???)

17 rides in a little over an hour.

Fun session (even though I was cold)!

PF:2/W:2/PW:15/FD:16/S:8

Parawing Session - 2/19/2026

The wind was up again today - but there was an upper layer of clouds that gave the impression of a trap.

Kalani was at the beach when I parked and Koa was already winging.

I popped up the Flysurfer POW 4.0 to see how the wind was blowing - nicely powering this PW.

The waves were more organized today and the tide was rising

With the conditions of yesterday making me feel like I could size down, I figured I should see if the Enduro 1100/HA40 on No.40 would deliver the goods

Short answer - yup!!!

Long answer - 

Initially I was setting dumpster fires...

I tried to deploy the parawing but it had a twist, and that lead to getting pulled into the wave breaking zone, which lead to the parawing sinking and getting wrapped around the foil.

I got my way out of all that after 10 minutes.

After that, I had a fantastic session.

Plenty of upwind to ride waves -

The Enduro 1100/HA40 was faster than the Enduro 1300/HA43 (duh) and that allowed me to stay ahead of the building swell.

I had several head to overhead rides, and multiple stow and go runs - long ones!

No breaching today - I used the AFS UHM 85cm mast.

The I drifted into the dead zone and got stuck on the struggle bus for quite some time.

I kept seeing "gusts" just ahead of me - but they weren't strong enough to pull the 4.0

I stashed the parawing and started paddling back up (straight blue line heading east)

I did eventually got back up and rode in. 

Even though I had to paddle back, I technically rode back in and the first half of the session was that good... all making this a really good session!!!

I really liked how the Flysurfer jibes - it isn't as quick as the BRMs, and not as direct, but the slightly slower response actually fits my pace better.  And it makes riding more relaxed.

It probably did help that today's conditions were way better than yesterday.

I think I may use today's setup more frequently.  

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

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.