Garage Works - 7/25/2024

I was going to go winging after work, but while at the beach, I wasn't feeling it.  I figured I'd be better served knocking out some honey-dos and getting Matt's board finished up.

I took off the peel ply from yesterday and sanded down the high spots.

Then I got the carbon overlays prepared.

The top deck came out pretty good.  Next up was the bottom deck and the laps onto the top deck.

And this is the finished product (I didn't take pictures of the wrap in peel ply).  With the afternoon summer heat, the epoxy has been hardening in shorter time frames.

And here is the fill coat.

I asked Matt if he still wanted the tail painted blue.  I kinda like the raw carbon look -

Garage Works - 7/24/2024

And - I did get some work done on Matt's repair order.

I used the grinder and got the excess epoxy off.  Then I used the sander to get it just below finish grade.

Then I cut out some carbon and got it epoxied on.

For this part I used peel-ply.

Tomorrow I'll sand the excess epoxy off the bottom, cut out the patch (with laps) for the bottom deck, and get it laminated.

I should be able to have this done by Friday.

Wing Foiling Session - 7/24/2024

Today was my 500th winging session (by days gone, not the number of times I've gone out in a single day - so that number should be greater)

We had some car juggling to do this afternoon between me, La and the kids - coming/going from work.  So that meant I could get in an afternoon winging session at Hickam before going to pick up La and Marlon.

The wind was up and down when I arrived.  I had seen Jim out, but he had come in by the time I was getting my equipment together.  He had been out on his 5.0 - and said a 4.0 was doable.

I wanted to use the flatwater session to try and get recent documentation that I broke the 25mph barrier.  With that I bolted on the Eagle 690.  I kept the DW190 rear stabilizer on because part of today's run was to get the mast position dialed in - and I didn't want to have to wrestle with a stab that wasn't continuously contributing. 

And I pumped up the North Mode Pro 5.5 - figuring that this wing can eat gusts and keep me powered (as long as I didn't come off foil).

In a nutshell - today was good fun trying to go as fast as I could.

And low and behold - I broke the 25mph barrier!!!

Quite a bit of east in the wind today.  I did want to see if the Eagle 690 could ride swell - so I did go out to Firsts.  The wind out there was really swirly and full of holes - and that's why you see me headed back after a short run outside.

I didn't zoom in to the track, but if you could see the points at the transitions - that's because I was throwing tacks all over the place.

If I had a bigger front foil I could have easily used the Mode Pro 4.8.  And if the wind didn't have the holes it did, I would have used the Ezzy Flight 4.0 (maybe tomorrow). 

You can see I was off foil for multiple stints - those were the points where the wind lightened up.  Despite that, I got above 25mph!!

Now I'm going to have to go faster than 26mph!!!

W:91/FD:52/F:4/S:13

Garage Works - 7/23/2024

Marlon and I hit the garage today to get some work done.

Here's Marlon getting the fill coat on the bottom deck.

I finally sprayed the mast that I stripped of clear coat.  I may have to spray it again to get the interfaces between the polymer and carbon to fill in.

And I sprayed the bottom of No.37 again.

And I grinded the tail of this board repair for Matt.  I gorilla glued the loose foam and then went ahead and added the epoxy fill.  I'll sand this tomorrow and add a carbon patch.  I want to try and get this done so I can get it back to him (I am looking to get another board started...)

And as a note - I setup the AFS adapter on the Project Cedrus mast.  Nice fit!

Wing Foiling Session - 7/22/2024

Today was demo day at Kailua with guys from AFS letting people try stuff out.

I came for this - the AFS Ultra 750

When I pulled up, it was actually whitecapping and I pumped up the North Mode Pro 5.5.  Then after talking with the AFS guys and Milton (SUP Foiler wanting to get into winging), the wind tanked for what seemed like over an hour.  I had gone out with No.36 and the Mode Pro 6.8 - but I couldn't get the Ultra to move.

It's worth noting that this AR is 14 - this looks like a weapon.

This is the wind chart from Waimanalo (not Kailua) - the wind was considerably lower at Kailua. 

After floating around for way too long, I went back in to switch gear.  I bolted the Eagle 1090 on to the Evolution Cedrus mast and No.34.

I was able to get up on foil pretty easily.

By this time the wind had picked up a bit.  I saw Prayot going in and changing gear out.  He really got to try a bunch of the AFS gear.

This combo is definitely a session saver.

I was up on foil for all but two botches.  First was hitting the swim area buoy (wing was hiding it).  Second was a botched tack.

The last trip out Prayot had bolted on the Ultra 750.  And he was up and riding without much drama.  We switched boards as he was about the go in.

I was not immediately able to get up on foil and I started drifting downwind.  I told myself I am not walking back - and I got up.

Short run, but you can feel this foil wants to go faster.  And it has amazing glide for the is smaller surface area. 

Prayot's board is setup differently than how I have mine - the footstraps were not helping me.

But I did get back to the launch point.

The wind did fill in nicely as we were packing up.  I did like the Ultra - would be a fun foil doing the Hawaii Kai run.  I need to compare it with the Eagle 690 and the Eagle X 700.

W:90/FD:52/F:4/S:13

Garage Works - 7/21/2024

Marlon got a fill coat on the longboard he is building.

It's coming together - it'll probably be done this weekend.

Wing Foiling Session - 7/21/2024

The forecasts were shaky, but I opted to hit Hickam just after noon.  Prayot was there and switching from trying out the KT Dragonfly on SUP over to winging gear.  Zach and Naomi were out also - and Naomi was finally able to go wing (shoulder is better).

Initially I pumped up the Mode Pro 6.8 and was going to set up the Eagle 1090 on No.34 - light wind setup.  But by the time I was ready to launch, the wind picked up heavy from the SE.  I bolted on the Eagle 890 and pumped up the Mode Pro 5.5 - Perfect setup for today's conditions!!!

And with the rising tide, we got a bunch of benefits.  I went out straight over the inner reef.  Also the waves were amplified - most of my rides had overhead peaks chasing me across the inner reef at Seconds

Prayot and Zach were catching some good ones also

This was not in the forecast at all - I had thought today was just going to be trying to stay up on foil, but instead it was a totally lit wave riding session!!!

The SW wind direct sticks out like a sore thumb in this track.

And just like yesterday I spent most of my time at Seconds (which rarely happens).  

On a few waves, I'd just keep going across the channel over to inside Firsts and pick up the reform - these conditions are rare - which is too bad because it was super fun the way the wind and the swell lined up!!!

The iwindsurf graph for the airport was nothing like the actual wind was - 

And I only came down off foil once.

This was a pretty special session!!!

W:89/FD:52/F:4/S:13

Dawn Patrol - 7/20/2024

I hit the dawn patrol at Hickam - needed to meet Matt to pick up a board repair.

Jesse and Arvin were out at Seconds when I pulled up.

Same gear - because it's good stuff!

I tried to stay up on plane heading out - I wanted to see what that did to the battery voltage.  It dropped it - it dropped it a lot (I was at 83% when I hit the first channel marker).  I'm not doing that again.

Initially I headed to Firsts.  I caught a couple of belly high waves - then decided I should catch the ones breaking more consistently at Seconds.

I caught 14 waves in 48 minutes - that's a wave every 3.4 minutes!!!

Fun session - especially since it was glassy!

W:88/FD:52/F:4/S:13

Evening Session - 7/19/2024

Almost caught up -

This was yesterday's evening session.  I went on the same gear that I've been using lately (No.37/Spitfire 960/Skinny 365/PC Aluminum 80cm).

The waves had some chop on it again - pretty much the same as the day prior (I did not go on Thursday - watched Noe's concert instead).

Marvin, Robby and Kalani were out also.

Deep water/high tide launch again (nice) - waves were breaking closer inside.  Only spent 4% getting to the lineup.

Definitely choppy again.  Onshore sea breezes.  Swell was coming down in size.

But I still got some nice rides!!!

Tougher statistics today - 14 waves in the hour and a half session.  Directly related to the chop.

Kalani was demo-ing the Code 1130R.  When he was on a wave, he pretty much didn't even have to pump.  This foil has glide for days -

W:88/FD:50/F:4/S:13

Garage Works - 7/18/2024

In keeping with the "been busy" theme, I have been working in the garage but not documenting it.

Marvin asked me to put one more window on his new board - right in the middle of the tracks.

Here's the finished product - but I wanted to get a comparative review next to No.37 -

And also up to No.33

Definitely more volume and back half area on my boards.

And Marlon and I (mostly Marlon) got to work laminating the longboard he is building.

Fin box installation -

I think I had some other projects going on - but honestly I can't remember them right now.