Evening Session - 4/29/2021

After I finished sanding the rear stabilizer and Marlon finished his homework/studies, we headed to the beach.  There is a swell hitting - so Marlon brought out his Submoon - and I brought the HS1420CS/chopped 300 on the Wide Prone Foil Board.

Marlon was on the outside and was busy catching bombs.  I started out at Fenceline because it didn't look crowded and there were breaking waves (on top of the really high tide of 2.2'+).  I caught a few, but the tail felt draggy (I did use acetone to remove the wax and checked for any issues).  I decided to move over to Two Cots.  I caught some of the bigger gems that came through tonight.  Riding the foil high and parking in the pocket.  By the time I got my footing back, I then banked hard off the closing sections - SO MUCH FUN!!!

This is the perfect setup for 90% of the surfing sessions (if it gets bigger, I'll step down to the CF1200).

Great way to end the day!

Latest Rear Stabilizer Chop Done

Sanded, wet sanded, sprayed, done.

Garage Works - 4/26/2021

I got some garage time in this afternoon.  I did some final shaping on Prayot's rear stabilizer, then I laminated some carbon over it.  I used saran wrap to get the laminate butted up tight to the stabilizer.  Next step (tomorrow) is to trim the excess carbon, sand it down tight to the edge and put a fill coat of epoxy on.  Last step (probably Wednesday) would be to do a final sanding.

La took the truck out to run some errands so I pulled the new foilboard out.  I've been wanting to adjust the rocker on the bottom deck - and I did just that (lots of tension released!!!).  I went ahead and sanded the top deck a little as well to get the shape dialed in.  Tomorrow I'll do the fine sanding, and since I'll be putting a fill coat on the rear stabilizer, I'll put a void filling coat on one of the decks on this board.

The next day will be the void filling on the other side (I'll likely do the top tomorrow and the bottom on Wednesday - so I can keep going with track reinforcement block).

Progress on Prayot's Chopped Uni 300 Tail

Since I was working with the sander, I figured I'd get some progress done on this rear stabilizer also.  Here I'm trying to get symmetry on both sides.

And here is the rough shape faired in to both sides.

I'll put an overlay of carbon on the tips, fill, sand, polish and done.

Roland's Fuselage Repair is Done

I added a final fill coat yesterday evening and sanded off the excess this morning.  I went through the 80-120-180-220-320 dry sanding, then 320-400-500-1000-1500 wet sanding.  Finally I put a clear coat on and that part was done.

After that I cleared the holes again and installed the M6 helicoils.  The tangs broke off pretty easy with a rat tail file end.  Then I tweaked the rear stabilizer so it lies flat.

All done with this one.

Wing Foiling Session - 4/24/2021

The crew hit Kailua for the wing foiling dawn patrol.  The wind was nice and strong - perfect weather for ripping on a wing and a foil.

I setup the HS1532CS/232/A+ 60cm Fuse/85cm mast on the NWFB.  With the stronger wind, I pumped up the Ensis 5.2m wing.

According to my GPS watch, I got 16.73 nm in.  Jump City was so much fun - I logged a 16.8 kts max speed (19.33 mph) - probably riding swell at Jump City.  This is almost as fast as yesterday's run with the HA1125 (17.1 kts).

I'll pull the wind graph once iwindsurf.com releases it, (and here it is)

but around 8:30 the wind started to drop - I had 2 hours of bliss so I figured I should head in while the getting was good.  Besides it was getting pretty crowded.

Awesome session!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 4/23/2021

The forecast was for decent trade winds throughout the day - so I packed my stuff and hit Hickam after work.  I set up the NWFB with the HA1125/232v1/A+ 60cm fuselage all on the 85cm mast.  I used the Ensis 6.0m wing.

I was out from 3:30 to 5:30.  You can see the deep lull during the middle of the session (sucked).  The HA1125 is the following:

- no low end; needs power to generate lift (where the HS1850 just pops up)

- runs when powered up (I hit 17.1 mph - could have gone faster)

- turns differently; I got some transitions in, but it is like starting from ground zero

- turns well when powered up

- pulls upwind at crazy angles

- hard to start; drops off instantly if you hit stall speed

It is a fun front foil - I'll put in my time with it, but without the low end, this will definitely be a stronger wind day tool.

I was out running Kalani (he was on the HS1550) and pointing higher.  The swell lines that run past the reef normally out run me (on the HS1850) - I was able to run them down and over take them today.

Good fun!!!

Mid Day Session - 4/22/2021

I did get out today for a couple of hours.  It was a little windy (but it would have been marginal winging), but the tide was favorable for taking out the Armstrong foil and there was surf coming in around waist high.

And here is the setup.  I originally set the mast up way forward - pretty much where I have the CF1200/300 set up.  I got 5 waves with that configuration, after which I went ahead and pulled the mast back a couple of notched.  I caught 3 on that setting, then decided to pull it back some more.  This was pretty much where the HS1250/232 would normally be set up.  Finally, I took it back a little further and there it stays for now.

I caught three notable waves today.  First was the pump back out ride - after riding a wave towards the beach, I pulled off the wave and started pumping out.  Once up and going, this front foil definitely moves with little user in put.  The last adjustment made the foil behave better - but this foil did not have the normal "carry" that I've become accustomed to - so much so that on two separate waves, I was riding and suddenly dropped off foil.  This front foil definitely can move, but you need to keep your speed up.  More to follow on this - 

Templating the Lift HA120

This is part of the next big garage project lining up - making my first front foil.  This is Prayot's Lift HA120 - and since I had the Armstrong HA1125 out, I figured I should make a comparison (as I was templating the HA120).

I just picked up first generation CF800 for dirt cheap - I'll be cutting the majority of the foil off - and using the female ferrule to serve as the base of a new front foil - probably designed closely to the Lift HA170 or 120.  This is going to be the first time I've done this - it'll be a great learning experience.

Latest Round of Garage Work Coming to a Close

I've been back in Florida visiting my Dad - that's why the posts have been scant as of late - but I got back yesterday.  This morning I drilled out the holes to 1/4" on Roland's fuselage.  I also used the tap to thread the holes.

I'm going to get one more thin layer of epoxy on, do some fine sanding and then install the helicoils.

I also got Jimmy's paddle finalized.

Lastly - since I sold the Slingshot Hover Glide foils, I used the proceeds to purchase this fine cardbox box:

As well as these items inside - the new FV200 rear stabilizer...

And the HA1125 front foil

I bolted on the A+ 60cm fuselage (did not drill the mast holes for the barrel nut - not sure if I'm going to or not), and got the front foil and rear stabilizer mounted.

More on this...

Progress on Roland's Fuselage

The middle hole was the biggest pain in the butt to drill out.  There was a 1/4" thick piece of metal (maybe titanium) that I had to get through.  I ended up breaking 6 drill bits getting through and it took a few hours over two different days.

I tried using the tap for the M6 helicoils, but the metal portion wouldn't take easily.

I'll be away from these projects I've been working on for a few days.  When I get back to it, I'll drill out the holes a little larger, fill the holes with epoxy and milled fibers (since I have a few pukas to fill around the fuselage anyways), drill new holes and then tap through the epoxy instead of the carbon and metal.  Should make for a nicer end product. 

Dawn Patrol - 4/15/2021

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol this morning.  Forecast called for the swell from the past couple of days to start dropping off (and it did pretty quickly).  Marlon brought his longboard - the right call for the majority of the waves present today.  I brought the same setup as yesterday.  I was able to pick up some fun rides, but I didn't go too far in as the tide was pretty low at 0.6'.  After yesterday where there was copious power in the waves, I noticed today that the tail felt a bit draggy.  For sure this would have been a good day to have bolted on the 232 rear stabilizer.

Yesterday was way better - but waves are waves and you need to get them when you can!

Celebrating La's Birthday

We celebrated La's birthday early this year.  She really wanted all of us to go sailing as a family at the same time/place.  Here all rigged up Lasers and hit Pearl Harbor!!!

There actually was some decent wind.

The wind was really shifty - on, off, East, North, North-East....  This is La.

Noe getting hiked out.

And Marlon getting a good run in.

Good times on the water!!!!  After that, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for linner.  We got so stuffed!!!

We're glad you had a great time today La!!!!

Dawn Patrol - 4/14/2021

Dawn patrolled this morning with the HS1250/chopped 300/wide 4'10".  The tide was on the low side, but with very little wind and a nearly head high swell - the session was superb!

I didn't have a whole lot of time but I got in four long rides with several large swooping turns down the peaking face.  This is what it's all about!!!

Jimmy's Paddle Repair

Jimmy asked me to repair this paddle.  I think I posted on it earlier, but it had a bad batch of epoxy on it - and that took a while to get it off.  After that, I had to fill one of the shoulders to rebuild the part that had broken away.  I then laminated carbon fiber on both sides to rebuild the paddle.  I've been sanding the past couple of days and this afternoon it was ready for the fill coat.  I did manage to get the top and bottom covered.

I'm debating about just calling it done, but I think one more day of sanding will make this perfect.