Garage Works - 6/30/2021

After I got back from winging, I went ahead and converted the 85cm mast to the A+ setup.  I figured I might as well - I have the hardware for it and I did everything else (drilled out all the front foils, converted the 72cm mast).  That took me to dusk.  

Next I sanded Nick's foil board's top deck, cut out some carbon and innegra, then laminated it on.

I used saran wrap to hopefully avoid having to sand later.  Tomorrow I'll get the bottom laminate on.  Will probably be just innegra and some fiberglass to give a sacrificial surface.  

That of course is after a nuking winds wing foiling session!

Wing Foiling Session - 6/30/2021

The trades are back!!!!  Hit Hickam after work.  Pumped up the 5.2 and rigged the HS1850/85 mast.60 A+ fuse/232 on to the WWFB.  There were two guys out when I pulled up - one had a Duotone Echo and the other had a Slick.  There was also a guy named Zack that came up - he had a prototype Uni wing made of Aluula.  It was a 6 meter and it was super light.  I still love my Ensis.  Knowing the wind is going to be up for the next several days, I also rigged up the harness line and my Dakine Chameleon Harness.

I started out by riding on the inside - wanted to shake the cobwebs off, get some turns in and start playing around with the harness.  The wind was definitely up and strong, but there were a few lulls, and because of all my tweaking the harness line, I drifted down a little.  I went ahead and headed out to Firsts.  There was a fresh swell hitting and I got drawn out.

My turns outside were really fun - with the stronger winds, I was pulling tacks and not coming down at all.  The waves were coming in at a decent pace - I caught several, but the HS1850 was a little slow to keep out in front of the waves consistently.  I might try to use the HS1250 tomorrow.  I'll give up some ability to pop up in the lulls, but I'll have more speed and maneuverability on the waves. I caught a few bombs and it was surreal!  Lots going on while catch a big wave on a foil, going goofy foot with a wing in tow.

I was out from 3:45 to about 6.  The 5.2 was perfect for today and my arms aren't as nuked because I'd use the harness on longer runs.  I'm going to have to work on this but I noticed that while I was using the harness, I didn't have the same "connected to the board" feeling that I had while unhooked.  And I also didn't have the same reaction time to gusts (and I seemed to drop off foil more when hooked in).

My top speed was 15 knots - probably on a wave.  Super fun and I am glad the forecast is calling for strong winds all the way out to next Wednesday at least!!!!

Evening "Foiling" Session - 6/29/2021

I got home from work and asked Marlon if he had time to get an afternoon session in - he said he was finishing up his math studies and had a few minutes on another assignment, but that after he could go.  I told him to take his time because I wanted to put stickers on the 4'8" and also needed to get it setup with the foil.  He asked if today would be a good day to learn to foil - and I figured it was so I setup up the 5'2" for him.  The tide was super full.  The waves were around belly to chest high,  The wind was up - not enough for winging, but enough to churn up the surface.

I put him on the Iwa - since he was able to handle it last time we were on Prayot's boat.  I put the HS1532CS front foil on and got the foiling wingnuts on - I figured I could get the adjustment of this front foil down faster if I could change the position without getting out of the water.

Marlon did well for his first time.  He was falling properly (away from the foil), catching waves and popping up.  When he was up and riding, he would get over powered.  I reminded him to put a lot of front foot pressure since that foil was thick.  

I caught a bunch and after every other wave, I made an adjustment to get the position dialed in.  The waves were funny today - duck diving, you'd feel a secondary drop/push as the wave rolled over.  This same effect made riding really challenging today.  I guessed that the shims needed to go back on since that was what made the HS1250 sing, but I took them off towards the end of the session - there was just way too many waves where I was fighting the board on takeoff.  I had to put too much rear foot pressure to get the nose up - rear foot pressure means the front wasn't generating enough lift - but with the forward adjustments I had already made, I wondered if it was the shims.

I took those off (and got hit by a few waves in the process - thank goodness I didn't lose any hardware) - and the board came to life!!!  I got a double dip early on, but after I took the shims off, I got a triple dip!!!  I still felt a little rear foot pressure - made one more forward adjustment and then I felt the board-foil was perfectly balanced.

Too much fun getting board-foils dialed in.  Makes me feel like I actually know what I'm doing with regards to trimming and adjusting to maximize performance and efficiency!!!

Nick's Kite Foiling Board Halfway Done

I wanted to take the day off from paddling - and I had to get this project done (Nick is coming for a vacay).  I added more fill (epoxy/milled fibers) and placed the bamboo chopstick stringers.

Tomorrow I'll layer on carbon, innegra and fiberglass.

Garage Works - 6/27/2021

Got a bunch of lawn work done today - then took a nap.  After my nap (I love naps), I headed into the garage to get some progress on some projects.  First up was getting Nick's kite foil board ready for some more epoxy work.  I removed more deck pad on the area I'm going to have to wrap.  I sanded the band around the board where the wrap is going to go.  Then I finished up by routing out four slot where I'm going to insert some bamboo chopsticks.  It was pretty warm today, so I opted not to mix epoxy. 

Up next was converting my 72cm Armstrong V1 mast over to the A+ system.  Here is the mast after I took it off the 4'8" board - no through the mast bolt yet.

All I did was watch the video Armie put up on YouTube.

Probably took 15 minutes.  I encountered a lot of debate on whether this modification is necessary.  In my mind, it can't hurt and I already have the hardware/conversion kit so bam - all done.

I also got the 4'8" sprayed with gloss coat.  I don't have any pictures of that, but I annotated the HS1250/300 bolt locations, cleaned up any dirt/salt on the board then sprayed the bottom.  Tomorrow I plop some sticker on it and do some touch up painting on the top - I will likely take a break from foiling tomorrow so I can rest up - so plenty of time to work on the board and finish it up.  While I was doing all that, Noe was in the garage with me sanding the components for her desk.  I let her use my shapimg/sanding rack.  When she was done, I started the big project - Kalani's wing foil board.

I got the bulk excess planed off both the bottom and top decks.  Kalani wants some of the fancy chines on the bottom deck - I'll start working on the rails tomorrow and then add the chines in after.

More garage work tomorrow (I think the swell will be dropping and the onshore breeze will kick in again - I'll wait for the trades to fill back in on Wednesday).

Dawn Patrol - 6/27/2021

Dawn patrol this morning - this was the scene pulling into the parking lot.  Marlon and I never take these moments for granted.

The surf came down to about half of what it has been.  The tide was low (but the surf was still breaking outside the shallow areas).  And there was hardly any wind - so the surface was glassy.

I saw Marlon catch a few waves on his longboard - it was one of those days where you could lay some nice carving turns down.

For me out in front of the cabins, the waves had a bias to the lefts.  I'd takeoff on a concave face, make the transition to my feet, lean into left and just adjust up and down the face to keep the ride going.  If I started to outrun the wave, I'd redirect and go until I ran into a breaking section.  

I'm going to need a vacation from my weekend!!!

Evening Hydrofoiling Session - 6/26/2021

After we got back, I grabbed Marlon so he could take pictures of the evening session.  The depth at the waters edge was super deep thanks to the King Tide - you could paddle right from the beach without worrying about hitting the bottom.  There were still some good sized waves coming in and the wind was not too strong (slight sea breeze).  I got in a tome of great rides -

We were lining up outside of the cedar cabins at WPB

So this picture points something out to me as a rider.  My foot positioning is mirroring the way I wing foil - where my front foot is offset towards the heel and my rear foot is biased toward the toe.  I was not expecting this at all, but rather both feet being aligned to the center. 

This is Brian with his new prone board.

This is Marvin - the guy I would sometimes see Winging at Hickam. 

And this is Prayot.

Super fun session!!!

Surf Shop Saturday

After a wonderful nap, we headed out the door to check out some surf shops.  First stop was Pioneer Saloon for lunch.  The atmosphere is really eclectic. 

Next stop was Surf Garage.  They seemed to be low in stock right now.  Marlon was looking for fins for a board he is planning.  I really like their board stands. 

Then we hit Patagonia.  They had a couple of foil boards on the rack.  This one was tiny - probably the smallest production model I've seen in person.

Our next stop was Hawaiian South Shore.  They also seemed to be a little low in the available board inventory, but they did have these JS foil boards.

We then hit T&C at Ala Moana so Noe can get some stickers.

And last but not least, we hit West Marine.  In case you are looking for self tapping stainless steel #12 screws for mounting footstraps - they have them here.

Fun afternoon!

Dawn Patrol - 6/26/2021

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol yesterday.  Super glassy, head high + sets and a lowish tide (which was fine since the majority of the waves were breaking pretty far outside).

Marlon brought his longboard - I didn't see much of him and he actually came in a lot earlier than I did.

I was out for a long time - the waves were really good and I wanted to keep reassuring myself the mast settings were good.

Tim and Kalani were out - and Kalani was pumping around everywhere.  Tim was enjoying his new Amundson custom Firebolt.  Marvin came out towards the end of my session - he had his Glen Pang board (I might have to template that thing).

Most of the waves I caught were lefts - swell direction driven.  After almost 3 hours out I called it and went home to take a long nap.  Perfect day!

Evening Session - 6/25/2021

I got in an evening session after work - was at the beach around 4:30.  The wind was lighter than yesterday, the tide seemed fuller and the waves were a hair smaller - but overall the conditions were better today.  The only change I made to the gear from yesterday was removing one of the two 1 degree rear stabilizer shims.

Kalani, Scott and Prayot were riding the inside - picking up waves and riding for a bit, then peeling off the back and doing 2 and 3 for 1s.  I did that for a bit, but didn't feel like I had a lot of runway, so I paddled to the middle.  The waves would pitch lip, so not the best for foiling, but I did manage to catch a few gems.  After that I went ahead and paddled out to the ghost break.  I caught my first one and lined up on a head high wall going full speed.  I would head down wave when the sections showed, but this was a long wave and I was going really fast.  I ended up by the first cabin, and instead of going in, I paddled back out for another.

I caught a second one and got pretty much the same results - picked up the wave while it was big and not pitching lip, setup the ride and run the racetrack.  I can't put into words how much fun this is!!!

I had to get home to get Fabien's board back to him (especially since there is swell). 

I threw in this picture to show the alignment is better between the board and the front foil - it is amazing what two little plastic shims will do for performance!

Evening Session - 6/24/2021

I hit WPB this afternoon.  The swell was up, the tide was really high, and the wind was blowing.  I should have brought the winging gear....

But I did want to test out some other adjustments on the new 4'8" in the quest to get it dialed in.  I brought the same setup as last time - HS1250/Chopped 300/60 A+/72 cm mast.

First off, I put two shims under the front screws of the mast base to correct the nose down attitude of the board.

This actually worked really well - the board was riding level and it was way easier to make the drop and set up for the ride.

I also brought the mast back up to where I had the base when I was using the CF1200.  This totally balanced the pressure between my feet.  I'm thinking I need to remove one of the1 degree shims from the rear stabilizer to get the drag down (I could feel it when I was on a run).

I caught four really good rides from the outside and rode them all the way in.  I had two waves where I got in a bunch of tight turns - the last turn on one was a full carving 360.  And I did get more than my share of botched takeoffs - with all the chop today, it was actually really hard to ride.  Unless you are Eli and on a 4.5m Ensis - you would end up ripping all over the place.  Well I had fun regardless.