Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/25/2026

The north winds were blowing this morning.  It was actually 5.0 strong out at the outside breaks (but it was pretty calm on the inside).

The waves were there, but on the outside where you would have thought it would be top to bottom, the waves weren't standing quite as tall as they could have.  And it was a dropping tide as well - quite the conundrum... 

Based on yesterday's conditions, I opted for the AFS Silk 850/USurf 135

I spent most of my session out at 5-O's.  Brent was SUP Foiling out there and I followed.

My Garmin watch had stopped twice during the session - and I don't know how many waves/rides weren't recorded (at least two, maybe up to five).  That means the rest of this data is incomplete.

In fact you can see one of the "forced data fit" straight line mods the app did.

I did pick off one wave that gave me a ride from 5-O's all the way to where I would pick up waves on the inside (super long).

These charts say nine rides - I think I was closer to 15.

Fun session (but yesterday had much more thrilling rides)

PF:11/W:3/PW:131/FD:76/S:27

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/24/2026

Dawn patrolled PVs this morning.

There was a northerly wind - so the waves were groomed.

And when the sets came in - they had some energy

Norm and Stu were out on Foil Drives.

Lance and Nick were on SUPs.

I brought out the same gear as yesterday.  The foil position for the Silk 1050 is perfect.

The plan was to run one battery - then go in and put Nick's foil on the board and let him run.

The waves were just overhead.  The swell was coming from the SW and the rights were firing at what I came to found was called "Tree" (the break to the left of PVs - it's what Pat Caldwell calls it).

Nick didn't want to leave Lance's board out alone, so he asked just to get a few runs on the battery I had in place.

He caught 3.5 (one double dip) waves and we swapped back.  I even caught a wave on the SUP 

he was using (haven't done that in years...)

12 rides on the first battery

I followed Norm in because I wanted to trail him going back out.

Which I did (and I also took the time on the way back in to do some soundings to find the potential high spots.

The waves didn't seem to have the same energy over the course of the second battery.  And Stu got his heel cut open (from the foil).

11 rides that second battery.

It was great being out on the water with Lance and Nick again!

Super fun session!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:131/FD:75/S:27

Evening Foil Drive Session - 10/23/2026

And I got an evening session in on Foil Drive.

Waves were much better than this morning.  But the wind - at times - were actually strong enough to parawing....

Oh well -

No.43 with the AFS Skinny mast (75cm), Silk 1050/Usurf 150

I got in a bunch of really good feeling carves on this combo!!!

I used the adjustable alignment custom wing screw wing nuts.

I could definitely feel less drag going through the water - nice add to the equipment list.

Look at those curves!!!!  The Silk 1050/USurf 150 are magic on smaller waves!!!

16 rides in an hour and a half - not the usual take, but there was a lot of discussion between waves.

Fun session!

PF:11/W:3/PW:131/FD:74/S:27

Dawn Patrol - 10/23/2026

Nick is back on Oahu, if only for a day and a half.

Lance and I met up with him this morning to dawn patrol Fours

Wind was almost calm so the conditions were nice.

The swell was waist and below for the most part - but every now and then a chest high set came through.

My board of choice today was the Viking!!!!

Good times catching up with Nick and Lance!!!  And sneaking in some fun right sliders!

Unfortunately I did scratch up the right upper rail on a sign I didn't see.  Cosmetic issue that I'll correct next time I have a ding repair session.

PF:11/W:3/PW:131/FD:73/S:27

Parawing Session - 10/20/2026

The forecast was calling for winds similar to yesterday with slightly bigger waves.

The wind looked questionable from the beach - but really the wind line shifted further offshore.  The waves were a little bigger.  And the tide was nice and high.

I really wanted to take the PPC Orbit 4.5 to make sure the C line repair stuck.  I was a little worried, but once I was out in the wind line everything was perfect!

I decided on using the AFS Silk 1050/USurf 150 before leaving the house.

Derek was finishing up his session when Norm, Stu and I showed up.  Norm and Stu did the WP-PV run; I just stayed at WP. 

With the wind out of the NE, I didn't really bother trying to retract the Orbit.  I just practiced flying it and minimizing its pull to the point where it was more or less drifting.

I would use it similar to how I would use an inflated wing for leverage, but it was still out of the way and floating when I didn't want any of its power.  Drifting also made the jibe back out risk free (no redeploy to get screwed up).

The more I use the PPC Orbit 4.5, the more I absolutely love it!

Lots of curvy lines in that spaghetti!!!  And I mostly rode goofy foot going in to keep the stress on my right knee to a minimum.

The first down spell was due to a good lull.

The second one was where the Ride Engine retractable reel leash popped off the Truce harness.  While I was trying to get the leash situated, I drifted downwind a bit.  A gust came through and I figured it would be better to get back to shore and figure out the leash issue - I popped up and headed in.

Another super fun session!

The wind is going to die back for about a week - at least that is what the forecast is calling for.

PF:11/W:3/PW:131/FD:73/S:26

Parawing Repair - 10/19/2026

I was up and riding and then heard a "pop"

I looked and the bridle was noticeably discombobulated.

I tied the C line pigtail to the PAL line and limped in. 

Here is the culprit.  I originally thought a knot slipped - but the more I look at this pigtail, the more I think mine was a Friday special...

I looked up references on the online reviews -

And got an estimate of how long the pigtail should extend from out of the bar.

I had to remove the cleat and really get in to the inside to get a proper stopper knot tied in the spacing that came close to the pictures above.

For good measure I tied a half of a larkshead just to keep the excess intact if I have to make an adjustment.

Tomorrow the wind should be close to what it was today - so I'll get to test out this repair.

Parawing Session - 10/19/2026

Strong winds this afternoon!!!  Unfortunately it was still up and down.

Smaller waves and higher tide - nice conditions to get smaller equipment into rotation.

AFS Enduro 900/Mako Carve Pro (130)

PPC Orbit 4.5

And I used the Truce Parawing Stash Pouch that La modified for me.  I added the Ride Engine retractable leash - super clean storage solution!!!

As strong as the wind was, it still was not instantaneous to get up on foil.  The Orbit can handle ridiculous amounts of wind - when you are already up on foil.  Getting started is getting easier, but it is nowhere near as easy as using the BRM S3s.

The combo of the Orbit and the Enduro made for hauling ass upwind a breeze (pun intended!!!).

I did ride a bunch of waves, but I did so drifting the parawing instead of retracting it.  Worked out really well!

The more I use this parawing, the easier it is getting to jibe.

I think to get the wind range that is advertised by PPC, you'd need a bigger board and an early lifting foil.

It loves wind - it ate the gusts like candy!  And even in the lulls, as long as I was up and going, it behaved nicely and stayed up. 

It was awesome to be up on foil for as long as I was this session.  The first two black areas were when I went down with deeper lulls than the Orbit could handle.

The last black area was the C line pigtail breaking - I'll post on that in the next post.

Super fun day!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:130/FD:73/S:26

Parawing Session - 10/18/2026

Dawn patrolled Kailua

Wind was splitting the difference between the BRM S3 5.3 and the PPC Orbit 4.5

I opted for the same board and foil as yesterday - the AFS Silk 1050 really has a wide range, which opened up even more with the USurf 150 rear stabilizer.

I was going to bring both the Orbit 4.5 and the S3 5.3 - but I said screw it and just brought the Orbit.

Which at the front end, the Orbit was perfect.

I wanted to test out the stashing characteristics when jibing onto a wave at Jump City.

The parawing just loses its ability to fly in this straight downwind transition - which makes stashing way easier than what I've been experiencing crosswind (or even at times straight one wind) along the south shore spots.

I got several super long stashed rides at Jump City - SO GOOD!!!!  And redeploying the Orbit was pretty stress free.

And just to keep characterizing the capabilities, I tried riding with the parawing up and drifting - it worked fine but I also think that is when the wind started to back off.

The whole back half of the session, it seemed like the wind was just below the Orbit's takeoff threshold.

It's hard to tell from the wind speed graph - but the wind was on the lull side of the readings.

I picked up a gust and decided I should be happy with what I got and call it.

Those stashed rides were definitely the highlight of today's session!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:129/FD:73/S:26

Parawing Session - 10/17/2026

Hit Hickam today.

Norm was headed there after work, and I wanted to work on tacks so I headed over.

Matt, Naomi and Zach were there winging.  Matt said it was good and so were the waves.

I mixed things up setting up the AFS Silk 1050 and UHM 80cm mast since I got a new rear stabilizer -

New to me AFS USurf 150

The wind was up and down, and even trended towards super light.  This session was basically riding gusts.

Just getting up was a stroke of luck - wind had a lot of north in it.

Lots of light wind jibes - a few of them ended up with lines tangled on my hand holding the bar.

And I did get in multiple tacks (including a super light wind one).

I did down loop jibes on both sides.

I'd say I accomplished what I set out to do this afternoon.

Up and down

Up and down

Wind is forecasted to stick around until Wednesday - I may try Kailua tomorrow morning to see if going DDW will facilitate retracting the PPC Orbit...

PF:11/W:3/PW:128/FD:73/S:26