Tuesday Errands - April 30

Marlon and I hit the surf again - this time I brought the foil.  Marlon brought the Wavestorm.  The swell was a hair smaller, but it was still challenging on the foil.  I caught some good lengthy rides - and I eat it on some wipeouts.  I am getting to the point where I know if I'm going to fly or if I'm going down in a blaze of glory - I can't remember when I was so stoked to see smaller, barely breaking waves...

Marlon caught a bunch - then he came over and was acting goofy - trying to blow bubble rings, accusing me of being a slow paddler, and just giggling for no reason.  I guess he likes surfing!

I am going to try out the smaller front wings - I'm starting to think the Slingshot FSurf Infinity 76 may be too big to catch fresh white water, or the steeper pitching waves (since I instantly breach after getting up despite the forward weight).

These pictures above are actually in reverse order...

After the short surf session, we hit Lowe's to buy more wood for the deck project.  Here's the truck pulling errand and surfmobile duty.

Duped - April 29

I thought the swell from yesterday (which was pretty darn good) was supposed to get bigger today.  I figured I should bring the Greedy Beaver.  Well - I got duped - it was smaller, choppier and less consistent than yesterday.  I should have brought the foil.  I did get some fun rides on the beaver - but the swell and the tide were not complimenting each other.

Marlon brought the Wavestorm and he was happy with that choice.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm complaining - any day spent in the water is a good one!  It's just I really really really don't like it when I bring equipment that is less than ideal ;)

Sunday Foiling/Surfing - April 28

The surf was absolutely perfect this evening - and Marlon and I both brought the wrong boards.  I brought the foilboard - which I had just finished cleaning up and putting deck pads on; the deck pads make getting foot placement simpler than using just wax - you can see instantly where your foot should go.  When I cleaned the wax off, I could see my heel dents so I pretty much just covered those spots.  I caught 7 tonight - the first 5 were flawless and lengthy rides.  The 6th ended in a breach and the 7th was short.  So this was the first time I batted over 50% (71%) - another milestone in this foiling journey.  I actually got to the point where I could feel when I had adequate front foot pressure and when I needed to apply more.  I'm crediting that to the fact that I haven't surfed conventionally this year (except that one time with the Greedy Beaver).  Retraining my brain and body to not "surf" on a wave, but instead to use the foil to move has been a long process - and there is so much more to learn still.

That said - the waves were so glassy and big today - head high and consistent - that I really should have been on the Greedy Beaver.  Marlon did bring out the 6'6" hybrid and he caught some fun ones, but he said it would have been even better if he had a longer board.

Hopefully this swell sticks around for a little bit (or not and I won't be tempted to break out the conventional equipment).

Friday Evening - April 26

Near repeat of Thursday - swell was the same but the wind was light and on shore.  I used the short mast again and I moved the foil back a notch.  That cut the breaching in half (but still had some - I'm crediting those with not enough front foot pressure - too much surfer in me...).  I took a couple of waves from the mid lineup all the way to the shoreline (with some margin for not grounding) so I would call today a move forward day for sure.

Marlon was rocking the Wavestorm again - he's been knee paddling it so when I glass his board, I'll reinforce the deck area so he can knee paddle that board (I really need to spend some time on that project).

And the resident peacock was large and in charge - it let me take a few pictures before running off to address another part of its territorial obligations.

Thursday Evening Surfing/Foiling - 25 April

Marlon and I went surfing this evening - swell was waist to shoulder high and pretty consistent.  The tide was supposed to be +0.7' so I opted for an 18" mast on the Slingshot to avoid any issues.  I had set up the foil to just forward of center on the 5'6" - I was able to foil on every wave I paddled for, but on about half, I would lighten up on my front foot pressure while trimming and I'd breach.  I caught 10 in the hour and a half we were out and as usual I was up on longer rides on half.

I'll pull the foil back a notch and I should be good with the front foot pressure I'm applying, and hopefully get to the point where most waves will be long rides.

Marlon had the Wavestorm out again and he was having fun.

I'll try to go back out again tomorrow - the current swell is supposed to be similar to today.  The days are starting to get longer now so after work sessions will get longer!!!

Foiling/Surfing Easter Sunday - April 21

This weekend La and I got a lot of work done on our backyard project.  Yesterday I got the crossbeams cut for the deck, then we went to Geobunga and bought a bunch of paver stones, and we dug up the middle section of the yard to prepare it for the rock/pebble installation.  Today we got a bunch of sand bags to settle in the landscaping rocks and we pretty much took a huge leap forward in getting this project done.  I'll post pictures of the project - we've got about a 1/4 of the middle section to cover up yet (ran out of weed barrier).  This is relevant for two reasons - first we hung up an old Laser sail that La had laying around for material for bags.

When this deck gets finished, I'll have a place to do foil and board maintenance - I can't wait (but it'll be after this coming payday - need to buy the planks and the screw gun).

Second was after getting all sweaty and nasty, I took Marlon out for another late afternoon surf.  We brought out the same gear as yesterday, but the swell dropped a notch in size (which was fine by me on the foil).

We were out for only an hour - I caught several but two of them were really long and I was definitely turning and riding up and down the bump.  Wave selection is everything - pick the right wave that isn't going to give you too steep a drop , but is still just about to break and the ride will be long and super fun.  Pick the wave that does have that steep drop and keeping the foil from breaching will be your only priority (which you'll likely to fail since you are moving too fast).  There were a few other foilers out at the break - one was recycling two or even three waves - looked like he was on an Iwa and a cut down Firewire Sweet or Baked Potato (whichever has the least tail rocker because there wasn't any on his board).   Marlon was catching a bunch - don't underestimate those Wavestorms!  Great weekend!!!

Saturday Evening Surf/Foil - April 20

Busy day today - but Marlon and I hit the beach in the late afternoon to catch some of the bump up that is coming in to the south shore.

I had 5 rides up high and didn't breach.  I tried turning a few times - more deliberate turns and not a drift over - and I fell - and one was hard.  I actually haven't fallen this hard in a watersport for some time - humbling but makes you feel alive!  I had the 5'2" and the Slingshot Infinity 76 out.  The waves were actually almost too big to foil - almost.

Marlon brought out the Wavestorm and caught a bunch.  I actually like surfing the evenings - less crowd and you get to hang around for the glass-off.

Thursday Foiling - April 18

I went out again this afternoon since La and the kids were at sailing.  I was actually going to go windsurf foiling, but I forgot my tool bag and I didn't have the correct allen key to set the foil in place - I left work and headed home to swap out the gear.  I'm glad I did - the wind seemed to die back a little (the weather forecasts out here just plain suck).

The foil placement was a definite positive - I got up and was balanced without really having to try.  I did get a few waves (even smaller the yesterday if you can believe that) and botched getting my feet planted properly - that is muscle memory carried over from longboard surfing, where walking all over the board was a must.  I still did relatively well in my opinion - just wish the waves were longer.  High tide again and as shown above, miniscule surf again.

Hump Day Foiling! April 17

Yesterday evening I hit the surf, with a foil.  Brought the 5'6" foilboard and used the Slingshot Infinity 76.

I got some decent rides, and the waves were miniscule - which made the rides even better.  The tide was full (moon is almost full), but I still touched bottom with the rear wing.  I found a 'high' spot on the reef apparently.  I had placed the foil just back of center (I put tape on the centerpoint of the foil mount and at a reference point on the foil) and I knew I was not optimizing for lift.  After the session I went ahead and adjusted the foil position (so I wouldn't forget on the next trip out).

I'm getting to the point where I don't even want to go to the beach with anything except the foil.  I'd say I batted just better than 50% this trip.

Catch Up Post - Windsurf Foiling - April 13

I needed to get these photos from La, but couldn't until just now - so the few posts will be catch ups.  Last Saturday I went to Hickam to foil since the winds were supposed to be up and more easterly.  Well - the wind was up alright - too up - the gusts were way too much for sailing without a harness.

I started off rigging the 5.0 and had the Slingshot Infinity foil setup with the longer switch fuse.  It was hard to tell if this setup was better or not when my arms were getting ripped off.  I did get the whole rig up on foil, but decided it would be beneficial if I went in and rigged for less lift.

I rigged up the Naish Lift 4.7 and reconfigured the Slingshot foil back to the setup I use for surfing.  The wind got stronger and I was equally challenged (this windsurf foiling stuff on larger wings is definitely for lighter wind days for sure).  The wind was so strong I was waterstarting with ease and felt I could have been in footstraps and regular windsurfing.  I'll have to remember that next time the trades go nuclear...

Even after having my arms stretched - this is still the coolest thing out there!

Tuesday Evening Windsurf Foiling Run

I left work late so traffic was going to be bad - no problem says the guy who packed his windsurfing wave foiling gear (me - I did that).  I was on the water by 4:30pm and had rigged up a 5.0 initially.  I did manage to get up on foil despite the lack of available power.

In the picture, it looks pretty calm and glassy even.  It did get windy and I came back in after a few runs and changed out the 5.0 for the Naish Lift 5.7.  More power for sure and up on foil a bunch.  I worked on getting back into the groove of foiling while sail powered.  I had a couple of breaches and a few spinout squirticles - I think next time I will mount up the Iwa on the tall mast to see if I can shed the spinouts.  I'm thinking I'm going too fast and that when the squirticles happen - que the Iwa.

This is What Too Small Looks Like

This past Saturday, Marlon and I went to get some small surf action.  It was so small, Marlon decided to stay on the beach...  I couldn't help myself and decided the 5'2" and Go Foil Maliko 200 needed to get wet.  Since the waves were super small, every wave seemed to be a party wave - not a good thing when you are on a foil

I ended up catching ten or so waves - but only rode two on foil.  The others ended up in humbling wipeouts and even a couple of close calls (falling safely is an art).  Of the two I did ride upright, one was decent (until a longboarder decided to turn towards me - I did not want anyone to get hurt so I bailed).  I did appreciate the very high mushy tide - but Friday evening was a better foiling day.

Mixing it up

I went for a foiling session Friday afternoon.  Decided to try out the smaller of the two boards I recently made, and to give the Maliko 200 another shot in the surf.  The waves were small, the tide was full (+1.5') and it would have been frustrating if I was on a surfboard - but it was perfect for foiling!!!  I can't remember the last time I was so excited to see such dismal conditions!!!

I ended up catching about seven waves - had legitimate long rides up on foil on three of them (earlier ones - I guess I was less tired???), got pitched off on three (I knew my front foot wasn't out far enough when I got up), and one other where I was up and riding, but I wasn't off the water.

I'm glad I tried this board out - it seemed like it caught waves easier and with it the foil was easier to control.  Not sure how true that is because I also have gotten smarter on foil placement - with as much lift as the Maliko produces, I jammed the foil as far back as I could in the tracks.  So on what the surf report was saying, the Maliko is good for wave faces less than 3' and on much fuller tides.  I would periodically dismount the board and check how deep the water was - at a +1.5' tide I only touched bottom a couple of times with my toes and that was much closer to shore - minimal risk of grounding the wings. 

One more observation - the Go Foil wings definitely have more buoyancy than the slingshot.  I'm wondering how much that factor plays into being able to get the foil to lift.  

Good session!!!

Taking a Break

Marlon and I went on a dawn patrol yesterday (Sunday 3/31) and instead of bringing out the foil again, I decided on paddling the Greedy Beaver.  Marlon brought the "Squirrel" (his hybrid shortboard).  I wanted to mix it up just a bit just to keep the muscle memory, and for the fact that at the last outing (Saturday evening) the foil touched bottom twice.  I could have switched to the 18" mast, but decided it was better to just try the shortboard.

It was crowded on the outside - lots of the regulars on their longboards - so I stayed inside and caught several fun ones (albeit not the crown jewels of the day, but my waves also didn't come with multiple riders).  Mostly waist high, but with larger waves on the outside.  Tide was still shallow - but that is to be expected with the nearly new moon.

Always a fun time in the water!