Evening Foil Drive Session - 4/13/2026

I got home from work and plugged in the Foil Drive battery to get charged.  Then I took a nap.

I woke up, looked out the window and saw there was practically no wind.

I put the Foil Drive setup together and headed out for a short-ish session.

Curt looked like he was getting his time in on the DW SUP foiling board... 

Three Monk Seals were chillaxing on the beach - so I had to start out to the right of them, and because of that I hit the stupid pipe... but I think I was lucky and didn't damage the foil or the stabilizer.

I could see the horizon today - so no seasickness!

If you were patient, there were some good sets still coming through.

Same setup as yesterday.

There was actually a slight onshore breeze - and that made motoring out and around not so smooth.  My battery consumption rate was a little high - but that was fine as time was a ticking.

I had a few really great waves - long with lots of top to bottom carving.  I really enjoy the Enduro 900/Mako Carve 130 - makes me think I need to give the Silk 650 a shot (on No.39 or No.40 to help build speed).

I count 16 rides here - but my watch stopped recording for a bit so I don't know if that's all I rode.

Coming in, I scraped up against the pipe again - I hate that pipe!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:28/S:11

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/12/2026

No wind this morning so the surface was just shy of sheet glass.

The current was not nearly as bad as it was yesterday.

But the bomber sets were far and few between...

With all the speed issues from yesterday, I opted to use the Enduro 900 with the Mako Carve 130.  Everything else was the same.

Despite the good conditions, the sky was full of clouds from the near stationary Kona low pressure system just north of the islands.  When the sky gets full like this, discerning the horizon from the waves gets really difficult... in fact I pretty much got seasick from not having a solid reference point.

And despite those challenges (weird migraine that I woke up with, onset of seasickness, no horizon to see how big the incoming waves were) - I got drawn out to 5-O's because of the empty breakers running out there...

And I enjoyed every second!!!

Really long rides screaming down the right breaking wall!!!  Patience paid off with overhead sets (and no one else out that far).  The waves were breaking pretty much like the western most peak of Pavilions.

17 rides and I called it (getting too seasick).  I came in with NO FOIL SCRATCHES and 63% battery still - I'll call this a great session!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:27/S:11

Garage Works - 4/11/2026

On the way out yesterday, I thought I was in deep enough water - knowing it was low tide (0.1') I even paddled out further than I thought I needed to.

I had checked the water depth, flipped the board over and was even just getting situated.  The longshore current was kicking and I got pulled over to a different spot from where I checked the depth and I was no longer in deep enough water.

The foil stood up twice on the bottom.

It eventually happens to every foil if you are a White Plains foiler.

Yesterday evening I got to work on not just addressing the scratches from that day, but also tuning the foil.

I notice this more with AFS foils - lately there are tiny voids where the carbon and epoxy don't exactly press fully into the mold.  These are nothing major, but since I had to fill minor scratches, I figured I might as well take care of these and tune in the trailing edge.

After a couple of hours of filling and sanding - all done and better than new!

Unfortunately I did not get to use this foil this morning - the swell is starting to back off.

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/11/2026

First time in 4 days that I paddled out - the 2026 Kona Low Round 3 saw more rain and lots of south winds so there wasn't much quality to miss.

This morning saw some size still - and the south wind swung around.

Unfortunately it was low tide and with the large waves there was a strong side shore current.

I did hit bottom twice paddling out.  And on the AFS Silk 850 V1.... 

Long session today - but that was more because the good sets were infrequent.

It was pretty darn good very early, then it backed off once everyone came out.

And the waves were off - there was size and carveable faces, but the clouds covering the sun made everything look the same.  With no contrast, it was hard to tell how high up the mast I was, where the face ended, and if there were any surface warbling.

And because of those factors (and perhaps a bit of shaking off some rust), I ate shit burgers multiple times.  Foil breaches at speed and with a big wall of water behind you can hurt.

I did get in some turns, but this session didn't shape up to my expectations.

19 rides and multiple missed waves.  They were moving too fast for me to efficiently catch them on No.43 (No.39 was probably the board to take out today).

Despite the challenges, this was still a super fun session!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:26/S:11

Evening Session - 4/7/2026

Same pattern today - came home from work, took a nap, then headed out to get a few waves.

It was breaking overhead out at Foil Drive Country -

I was debating about which board to bring - I ended up deciding on the Machadocado with the NVS Wolverine fin set.

I caught three good ones.

The first was a long right and I got in several good turns.  This board and the fins are a great pairing.

The second wave I was getting stalled up at the top, but the wave doubled up and I got an elevator drop on an overhead wave.

The last wave was another right with a few turns.

I'm happy!  Especially since wave choice becomes critical when the waves get this height and larger.

Marlon was out on his longboard (and the fin bolt got loose); Roland was out on his longboard (mid-length); and Duke was SUP foiling outside. 

The weather is going to take a turn for the worse for the rest of the week... might be a good time to get the tow boogie completed.

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:25/S:11

Evening Session - 4/6/2026

I took a nap after I got home from work...

After I got up, there was still plenty of sunlight - I figured I'd get another day of playing in the water before a third round of Kona Low storm comes through this week.

And I figured I'd breakout a surfboard to get back into that groove.

5'6" Firewire Sweet Potato with the BMT fins and a tiny True Ames trailer.

I got several waves - three really fun ones with lots of turns and decently long rides.

Robby and Roland were out on FD (and it looked fun on the outside) - but I felt like I needed a change of pace.

Tomorrow may still be clean enough to surf (and bigger... Album Twinman Twinzer, or the Great White Twin - hmmmm)

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:25/S:10

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/5/2026

Waves were better this morning - but also more crowded.

Seeing Stu riding the AFS Silk 850 yesterday, I brought mine out today

And I tried out the K2Parts Mako Pro Medium rear stabilizer

Today was carving day - the Silk 850 delivered in spades!!!!

With the steeper faces and cleaner conditions, multiple hard carving turns felt so good...

And it was actually getting crowded with people who were riding the wave I was on (I don't like the possibility of getting into a collision so I prefer to ride solo).

23 rides - 

I had left already, but Kalani was hanging out and this crew took over the beach!

Happy Easter!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:25/S:9

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/4/2026

Dawn patrolled this morning with the Foil Drive.

There were some waves coming through.

The most noteworthy things was the temperature - it was really cold.

Enduro 900/HA38 on No.34

Full house today - Alex, Ben, Kalani, Noel, Roland, Stu, Eddy, Andrew and Mark (and maybe a few others that I didn't see).

Nice conditions - light offshore wind, but it was pretty darn cold.

Periodically a good set would roll through - steep walls where fun top to bottom runs could be had.

22 rides - not too shabby.

There is another Kona low pressure system headed towards Hawaii... next week from late Tuesday through Saturday we will see impacts (rain and southerly winds).

Gotta get it while the going is good...

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:24/S:9

Parawing Session - 4/3/2026

Grinding concrete floors at work... needed to rinse all that dust off

Wind was just parawingable -

Nice high tide - waves if you were patient.

Same equipment as last session, but bolted on the AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 (from the lesson learned last session)

Stu, Prayot, Kalani, Eddy, Robby, Roland, Duke and Derek were all out at some point.

The wind was more up and down than I thought...

If I wasn't so stubborn, I think I would have had a blast with the North Nova Pro 5.0

But instead I had a 50-50 session - half up, half down.  I could have gotten up pumping the wing - but instead I chose to train in lighter wind.

I did get a few double loop jibes in.  And I did get field stripped a few times.

In between those extremes I did a few normal jibes.

I did get to ride a few waves - but Robby and Eddy got the good ones.

I could sense the wind backing off so I figured I'd try and catch a few waves on the way in.

I got up on two - but the parawing pouch was full of water and my weight was not distributed properly.  But I did get up so it counts!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 4/1/2026

There were winds blowing on the outside - more of an offshore wind.

Tide was nice and high.

Minimal waves

Big stuff - except the foil... I should have used the Enduro 1300 - but I bolted on the Enduro 1100

For generating power, I brought the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7

The first half of the session was really fun.  I did not attempt to tack today - the big PT Hybrid needs a specific technique to get it moving.

The second half, I got dropped by a wave and the wind wasn't strong enough to get me moving. I drifted a long ways trying to get back up on foil.  I eventually was able to get up on foil, but I'd wreck and have to wait for another gust.

Eventually I got back to the launch.

Turns out Norm cut his ankle early on (gonna need stitches), Prayot and I got washed downwind, and even Roland had a hard time getting up on foil.

The Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7 needs a hard bank to get it to initiate a turn - I'm gonna have to practice this more.  The Hybrid 4.3 turns way easier.

Lots of on top of the water time just waiting for a gust.  Almost all the falls were from me messing up a jibe.

I think I'm gonna take a break tomorrow and clean the garage.  I definitely need a break...

PF:4/W:2/PW:30/FD:23/S:9