Evening Session - 5/31/2020

Marlon and I hit the beach around 5pm - it was still a little crowded, but manageable.  The conditions were pretty much a copy of yesterday.  I changed out the front wing to the GL180 and the tail wing from the flat wing to the wing with turned up tips. 

With the GL180 I was picking up waves on one side of the beach and riding them all the way across to the other side.  Then I'd ride another back to the other side.  I pumped back out to the break several times and had a few 2 for 1s.  With the turned up tips rear I could turn the foil harder and I didn't breach a tip. 

I saw Marlon on several of his takeoffs (all on the peak).  He nearly completed a helicopter takeoff, almost got a cover up, and could have had a floater on another wave.

This was one of the best foiling days I had so far!

Evening Session - 5/30/2020

Marlon was feeling better today so we went out in the evening.  I was mistaken yesterday - the tide was a rising high, but it was 0.5', not 1.0'.  Today it was about the same height - 0.5'.  The wind was up but nothing out of the ordinary for this side of the island (and not really impacting the surf shape either).  The swell was about the same as yesterday, including the lulls and the wait between the sets.  I had the same setup - GL140, P18W, 24.5" + 3" mast, 4'10" prone - but I really should have switched the front wing to the GL180.  I had several waves, but only a few long ones - and even these were not long in GL180 terms.  If we go tomorrow, I'll likely swap the front wing.

Marlon had a bunch, but he was getting similar results to mine - shorter rides.  He went in a few minutes earlier than I did to make sure he wasn't over doing it (he got his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday).  Still a fun day in the water -

New 4'10" (V2) Outfitted

This morning I epoxied in the vent plug.  I really need to get a 1" hole saw so I don't have to put in more epoxy.  After it set I drilled down the vent hole to open it up to the stringer, then I drilled sideways to make sure the blank was accessible - black boards heat up fast.

You can see the Creatures of Leisure pads on the board - I'm using this board as an opportunity to evaluate a different brand as the backfoot arch on the Dakine Wideload on the 4'10" seems to be breaking down already.  I also wanted to find a front foot pad that doesn't tear up my chest if I'm paddling without a rash guard - more testing.

After the vent was set up, I went ahead and started applying the top deck Marine Grip.  I just used three 2" x 12" strips.  I have the 4'6" beside the new 4'10" for comparison and reference.

I moved on to the bottom deck.  Signed, dimensioned, numbered, and time stamped with a white Posca pen.  I sprayed a clear coat over the writing and then placed the Marine Grip on the bottom.  I opted for 4 of the hexagons and a small 3" stub.  Each of the foilboards I've made are all different - the Marine Grip layout is specific to the board.  Lastly (but not pictured) I dropped in the track bolts.

I'm going to wait another day to bolt on a foil and paddle this one out.  Time is your friend with epoxy.  I'll wax it up the day I take it out, just to give the clear coat more time to harden.  I can't wait to see how this board rides!

Evening Session - 5/29/2020

Marlon came with me this evening, but he didn't surf - he didn't want to over extend himself as he just had his wisdom teeth pulled.  The swell was waist high for the most part, but chest high surf would roll in from time to time.  The tide was a rising high going to 1.6', but while I was out it was at least above 1.0'.  I had a couple of "love" taps from the reef - I didn't notice any damage so no foul.  The wind was up, but it only was an issue when I was trying to go right - got under the board and made for a slower ride.

This was the first day I foiled in a few, so I had to shake a little rust off.  Had some good takeoffs and a few long rides.

The GL140 did not fail me.  Better for the takeoffs that were present, but the GL180 would have made for much longer rides and some wave connections (I did get one with the GL140 today).

Marlon heard from someone on the beach that White Plains is supposed to open on June 1st.  That will help spread the crowd around again.  Funny thing is I might not want to go back (because I really like this place).

Almost Done with #18

I sanded the leash plug cup down this afternoon and I sprayed the clear coat on the bottom deck.  I left it to dry while we went out for dinner.  While we were out, I found a Creatures of Leisure "Eugene" pad (wider) so I'll put a Creatures front foot pad on this board.

When we got back I went ahead and sprayed the top deck with clear coat.  I'll let it dry overnight and finish outfitting the board tomorrow.  I still have to drill a hole for the air vent - going to put this one between the front and back pads since my earlier mess up (epoxy burn voids) are still in this area.  After that epoxy sets, I'll put the dimensions on the bottom deck (4'10" x 20" x 4 3/8"), sign it, spray some clear coat over that, put the deck pads on, string up the the leash line, stick on the Marine Grip patches and lastly put a coat of wax on the nose (to help during takeoffs - remember this board is only 4'10" - every inch is used).  With the completion of this particular board, I can really make comparisons of what properties work best for which conditions.  EPS vs Polyurethane blanks, narrower vs wider, thicker or thinner, more or less equal volume distribution - this is going to be a fun summer!

I anticipate this board being able to catch waves nearly as well as the V1 4'10" - but I am thinking it'll be a tad harder.  This new board is narrower, thicker and lighter - lighter by a wide margin - so it won't have the momentum that the V1 has.  But the flip side is the V2 has way less swing weight so turning should be better, the mass has been driven back so the foil will respond better (better pumping, better control while up on foil), and lastly it should float me better (so despite the lesser momentum during paddling, it'll still paddle easier and I can just outright catch the wave faster).  All theories to be tested soon!!! 

Final Sanding and Leash Plug on the New 4'10"

I hit Home Depot and grabbed the other grits of the sanding net 120-180-220-320 (I got the 60 grit yesterday).  When I got home I got to sanding again.  I got through all the grits.  This may be the best sanding job I've done to date.  These sanding nets are awesome!!!

The logo decals made it through the sanding process without a hitch.  Not sure if it was the sanding nets or the extra caution I might have been taking - regardless it looks pretty good and it still has some thickness on top of them.

After I finished sanding, I went ahead and cut out the hole for the leash plug.  I am installing it into the back end of the board (just like on the 4'6").  I mixed up 1.4 ounces of epoxy and added 3 scoops of milled fibers along with a dab of black pigment.  I used the deep cup leash plug and babysat the epoxy until it started to set.  I removed the tape surround before the set and again it came out really well - no recesses on the perimeter.

Tomorrow I'll grind down the leash cup, sand around that area, wipe down the whole board, spray the clear coat on, cut out the hole for the vent and epoxy it in place.  On Friday after that all work dries/cures, I'll place the deck pads, marine grip and leash line.  This should be ready for the weekend.  This board is about half the weight of the wider 4'10" - but that board is a polyurethane blank.  It's going to be interesting to test this along side the wider board - with pretty close dimensions this will be mainly a material/weight difference test.

No More Procrastinating

I opted out of foiling today to run some errands.  La needed some Gorilla Tape so off to Home Depot Noe and I went.  I found some low nap 4.5" rollers - I'll try these when laminating the next board, and a new sanding "net" from Diablo.

I got the 60 grit to test it out.  We got home and I went straight to sanding.  This sanding net really works well - none of the circular scratches that I normally get from sand paper, and the net was really efficient.

I got through most of the 60 grit sanding in less time than I would normally take.  And I actually felt satisfied with what I had accomplished where normally I'd be quite frustrated with burn throughs and those pesky circular scratches.  I'm going back to HD tomorrow to grab the other grits.  If this works out - I might actually stop bitching about sanding.

Evening Session - 5/25/2020

Marlon and I waited until 5pm to surf.  It was worth the wait - super light wind made for very easy wave catching conditions.  The swell was chest high with a few bigger sets every now and then.  And the tide was high at 1.9'.  Marlon brought out the GoPro board mount and the mouth mount.  I got him to tail me on an inside wave - fun pictures!  These pictures were all from the same wave.  I nabbed some from the outside that had some really fun drops - some GL140 magic!!!  No breaching - lots of speed runs and some hard turns - can't really ask for more.

And he had some great takeoffs, even though the GoPro seems to magically shrink the wave size and blow up bellies.

Really fun day of surf!

Evening Session - 5/24/2020

Marlon and I hit the beach in the evening to grab some of the elevated surf.  The swell was chest high with a few bigger ones every once in a while.  The tide was super full at 1.9'.  It was already deep just off the beach (I could have been using the 29.5" mast with the 3" track adaptor...).  The wind was the driving factor - it was blowing side on shore and it was stiff.  I went right early in the session and I was definitely going slower.  But the wind did die back as the sun got lower on the horizon.

Here are some pictures Marlon asked me to post.  Additionally, I witnessed Marlon on a pretty gnarly wipeout.  It was on a bigger set and his board got airborne and was flying all over the place.  I do not know how he did that, but it was spectacular.

After I figured out that I should go left at takeoff so I didn't fight the wind, then turn back to the right as I got in the wind shadow on the inside, the rides got really good.  I really like the combo I'm foiling now - I switched back to the GL140 and it paid dividends.  At my weight, I'm giving up pumpability (which is what the GL180 offers), but the speed gains, ability to crank turns without fearing breaches, and being able to takeoff on steeper waves or make it through big whitewash pickups totally makes this front wing the best I've ever used.  So don't judge your session on what you see from the beach - I would normally have turned this blown out surf down, but once I was in the water, I ended up getting one of my better sessions this year!

Top Deck Lamination on the New 4'10"

I got the top deck lamination done yesterday.  I am still a little concerned about the voids that developed when I dropped in the reinforcement blocks with straight epoxy (DON'T DO THAT - cut it with aerosil or milled fibers), so I added some additional fibers - left over carbon and innegra.

I took my time cutting the laps and it paid off - not perfect but really nice.  I really like using the dense 4" dense foam rollers from Home Depot to laminate - more so than the ones I used to get from FGH.  The only problem with them is the epoxy tends to collect on the tip of the insert - and before I finish the lamination, the epoxy starts setting (and since it is concentrated - smoking).

I left everything cure and in the afternoon I went ahead and grinded the laps and added the logo stickers.  I am going to see how these last under the fill coat (should be more durable than the logos on the Dually Stubby - but that's what this is all for, figuring out what works best).

Today will be addressing the voids around the tracks and the two fill coats.  That'll leave sanding and the plug installs for after work the next few days.  This should definitely be ready to ride next weekend.

Evening Session - 5/23/2020

Marlon and I headed to Surfboard Factory Outlet to get a board sock for his shortboard.  It's always fun looking at the new boards they have over there.  After that we headed to Pine Trees to get a quick session in.  The tide was peaking at 1.9' (I should have used the 29.5" Mast + 3" track adaptor - but I was lazy and just used the same setup as the past couple of sessions - GL180, P18W, 24.5"+3" adaptor, 4'10" Foil Board).  The swell was at best stomach high.  The wind was onshore and rather stiff - it did chop up the water quite a bit.

It was also crowded.  I paddled further towards White Plains, but still on the Pine Trees side of the barriers - only a few people over there.  I caught a few, pumped back out on a couple and then called it so we could go eat some takeout sushi from our favorite sushi restaurant (that just opened back up for business - still takeout only).

Marlon had put his longboard away and had come back to the beach with his cell phone - he took these pictures from the beach.

I actually tried to pick up speed before shooting out the back of the wave so I could get the foil airborne.  I was nowhere near staying on board and sticking a landing - but you got to start somewhere.

Laminating the Bottom Deck of the 4'10" V2

At the start of this Memorial Day Weekend, I got started on the last part of finishing the new 4'10".  First I set the finboxes in and then I got the bottom deck lamination on.  Each 10.75" box took about 2.5 ounces of epoxy.  And after that the bottom lamination took 4x 4.5 ounce cups (but some of that got soaked up into the roller pad and half of the last cupful didn't go on the board - so call it a little over 12 ounces of epoxy.  The lamination was a nose to tail layer of 4.8 ounce carbon fiber and a cover sheet of 6 ounce warp fiberglass.

It went on without drama (as it should).

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) I'll grind down the laps and get the top lamination on - another 4.8 ounce layer of carbon fiber, a layer of 6 ounce across the contact area and a second cover layer to wrap the rails.  If all goes well, I may even try to grind the top deck laps and get one of the fill coats on.  That'll leave the other fill coat for Monday morning, cutting out the vent and leash plug holes, getting those plugs installed and then sanding the board.

And then there is the logo and gloss coat (clear coat acrylic) applications.  Honestly this board will likely be ready to ride by next weekend.

Evening Session - 5/21/2020

The streak goes on - I did a solo evening foil session out at Pine Trees.  The wind had swung more East and it was messing with the texture - it kinda made it harder to ride.  The swell was still hanging in there - shoulder high on the sets - big enough that I had to back out of some takeoffs (knowing that I'd probably get blown off - I had the GL180 on).  And the tide was somewhere above 1.5' (dropping though).

I did bring the GoPro out so I wouldn't have to post more "foil in the back of the minivan" pictures.  I had some really good rides, but managing a camera while riding takes away the riding focus and you kinda lose perspective just trying to get the camera to turn on and in position.

My last ride I was able to get a legit 2 for 1 - without really trying either.  It is mostly wave spacing and luck with positioning along the break.

I think next time I go out I'll bolt on the Ono Foil W228 rear wing to loosen up the tail.

Evening Session - 5/20/2020

We went out again today.  The swell came down a notch again.  The wind and the tide were virtually the same as yesterday.  The crowd was thinned out a little bit compared to the last few days.  Marlon brought his longboard and was riding everything.

I brought out the same setup, but changed the front wing out from the GL140 to the GL180.  It took a few waves to get used to the additional lift.  This is the first run with the GL180 front and the P18W rear with the washer added to the rear bolt.  No attitude issues with the adjusted tail - works just as well as it does with the GL140 riding level.  After the beatings I took on the first few waves - the additional lift was enough to throw me off on takeoff on the bigger set waves - I had to back down and catch the smaller waves or white water.  The next several waves offered predictable takeoffs, long glides, turns that were not as tight as those with the GL140 (but still fun), and pumpability - I was able to pump back out on several waves.  So after riding the GL140 for several sessions and then jumping back to the GL180, the latter is definitely the chest high and lower wing and the GL140 is the waist high and above foil.  The GL180 excels at gliding (without pumping excessively) and pulling off a wave and pumping back out.  The GL140 lets you take advantage of the energy present in bigger waves - you can turn it super hard and takeoff on more critical waves because of the lower lift.  A two wing, one board quiver is pretty enlightening.