Wing Foiling Session - 7/31/2021

Really fun session today!!!  Wind was super strong, there were some waves and the tide was high enough to get in and out without too much drama.  Pumped up the Ensis 4.5m, bolted on the HS1550 and held on for the ride!!!

Not the best conditions for luffing - the swell was coming in from the SSE and the winds from hard from the East - but it wasn't too bad riding goofy today.

This one was taken mid-jibe - I've already switched my feet and am getting ready to carve to the left.  I tried jumping three times today - ate it on two, didn't even take off.  But the third I got everything lined up and took off using a wave as a ramp - I felt I got pretty high up (but it's hard to tell on foil).  I came down and fell backwards.  My feet didn't come out of the straps easily... I could see how you can mess up your ankles if you don't control your landings.  I decided to just focus on riding waves for the rest of the session.

I got in 17.4 nm in two and a half hours of winging.  The chop made it a little harder to ride today - lots of little bumps on top of the bigger swell posed challenges getting up as well as riding.

The wind chart was from Hickam, but it seemed more correct for what was out at WPB.  Crazy nuts!!!!

Top speed was 17.6 kt on the HS1550.  If the wind is as strong as it is forecasted to be tomorrow morning, I'm going to pump up the Reedin 3.6m and bolt on the HS1250.

Wing Foiling Session - 7/29/2021

Yesterday the wind materialized and it drew Roland, Kalani and I out for a session at WPB.  Marlon came with and used his new GoPro to take the pictures.  By the time I got there, the wind had lightened up - but we still went out.  I had the Ensis 6.0 - first time since I blew out the strut bladder a few weekends back.  I did use the Arvo pump - same one that I was using when the strut bladder blew, but no drama this time and I set up the board and got geared up while the wing filled up.  Bolted on the HS1850 - didn't want to chance not getting back.

This was about as low a wind as I could go out it.  In almost all the runs, I had to pump to get up on foil.  The pictures make the water look glassy, but there was some texture to it.

Roland was out on his 4.5 - he's gotten really good since the first time I saw him out at WPB on his 4.0 Wasp.

I didn't bring my watch so no data on this session.  

Even though the Kalaeloa sensor reads the airport and not the beach, the chart shows relatively what was going on.  By my count, this was the 97th winging session I've had.  I think I'm going to stop pulling the wind data since I can tell what equipment I need to set up now based on what the signs are - water texture, trees blowing, and clouds.  We'll see - kinda hard to stop something that's been going on for a while (like this blog) - but it would save some time.

Bryce's Board Done

All done!

And now the garage is clear enough to work on Kalani's board.

Evening Session - 7/28/2021

For the evening session I took out the same setup as yesterday.  I also stuck with the same mast setting.

The waves were smaller today - thigh high mostly with the occasional waist high set.  The tide was full and there was enough wind for Roland to use his Ensis 4.5m.  Paul also showed up and was using a Cloud IX 6.5m wing.

I got some fun rides - same as normal - ride in, line up, lots of banking turns, pop over the top, pump back out and if lucky, drop back in for a second wave.

I'm noticing the same performance issues that I experienced with the HA1125 - no low end, sensitive side to side (pivoting about the fuselage - so on the roll axis), and doesn't like too much wave on take off.  

Next time, I'm going to bring the Garmin and get some stats.  I think it's going to be even smaller tomorrow (I really should start getting Kalani's wing board done...).

Axis Rear Stabilizer Rebuild

Here is Harris's Axis rear stabilizer all finished.

This is controversial among sailors, but after wet sanding to 1500, I put on two coats of caranuba wax.  Half the racing sailors will say just wet sand to keep the boundary layer attached to limit friction to water-water.

In my experience, I can feel the drag when the finish is just wet sanded.  I've also tried placing a coat of clear enamel to help fill the minute scratches and that helps. The fastest finish I have felt in my experience is a coat of wax.

Done - next up is finishing Bryce's ding repairs on his longboard.

Evening Session - 7/27/2021

And after the garage work, I hit the beach to wash off all the dust.  I brought the PNL185 front foil and used the wingfoil bolts to get the foil position dialed in.

 

The tide was nice and high with the full moon overhead.  The wind was on the marginal side - Eli was out winging, but the rest of the usual suspects were prone foiling today.  The waves were also marginal - waist high at best with a bent towards going left.

I originally had the foil further back in the boxes.  I rode three waves and was able to get some distance - but the foil seemed lack luster and pumping was hard.  I moved the base up four times and on the last adjustment, it actually felt too front foot heavy.  Pumping this foil is really easy, but it is also pretty sensitive.  I was able to get back out to the line up on pretty much every wave and I could have had a few double dips.  My last wave I was doing figure 8 turns all the way to the beach.

I think a few more sessions and this will be my under waist high go to foil.

Garage Works - 7/27/2021

Slowly but surely I'm knocking the projects.  I had already finished the Nico 15" rear stabilizer and the 5'2" prone foil board.  Today I worked on Harris's rear stabilizer.  Sanded with the random orbital sander through 60-120-180-220

Then I wet sanded through 320-500-1000-1500 

And I also sanded down the fill on Bryce's board.  I still need to get the fiberglass patches on then I can sand the repair.

I need to finish this so I can get Kalani's wing foiling board prepped and glassed - no more room in the garage...

Wing Comparisons

Maintenance day for a couple of the wings - if you take care of your gear, it'll take care of you.

Size comparison between the Reedin 3.6m and the Ensis 4.5m.  You can see the difference in the span and the chord.

Here is one of the bigger differences - the strut has a significant arch.

Here you can see the differences in the reinforcements along the leading edge.

And here you can see the differences in the strut shape - the 4.5 has a much straighter strut.

And here you can see the size difference - nominally the difference is 0.9m^2

Don't forget to make sure your wings are dry before putting them away!

Garage Works - 7/25/2021

And before i went winging in the mid afternoon, I was at home with La (who wasn't feeling well).  She did start to feel better so I went to the garage to get more of the projects completed.  I started with fixing the 15" Nico rear stabilizer.

Good as new!

I then moved on to Harris' 420 rear stabilizer.  This one was definitely harder (and is still not done).

I was trying to see if the epoxy and carbon strands would hold.  They didn't, so on goes another layer of carbon.

I took a look at this after the test pot showed the epoxy was hard - definitely stiffer.

I also sanded down the repair on the 5'2" foil board and placed fiberglass patches in place.  I just need to sand and this board is ready to get back in the water.

I also placed epoxy/aerosil on Bryce's board where it still needed fill (the nose and the rail).  Productive day - and Harris' stabilizer and the 5'2" should be done tomorrow.  I'll sand down the repaired areas on Bryce's board and get fiberglass on the repaired areas tomorrow.  I need to clear these projects so I can focus on Kalani's winging board.

Wing Foiling Session - 7/25/2021

I went winging with Roland today.  Wind seemed a touch lighter than yesterday, and for the most part the waves were a little smaller also (but also not really - I'll elaborate in a bit).  We were pumped up and out in the surf around 3:30 (the parking lot was a total zoo - might need to start going to Campgrounds again).  The tide was rising, but still not quite deep enough to pull away right at the beach.  I had to swim the rig out a decent ways to get to the wind line also.  Launching and landing are really the worst parts of foiling at WPB.

Even though most of the waves were smaller and the wind a hair lighter, a larger set would come in every 15 minutes or so.  I would jibe into the wave and get rides on open ocean swell starting to slow down and jack up.  The right wall that developed from these sets was amazing!  Overhead walls hundreds of feet long - and I would slide right along them... I'd say these were better than yesterday, and the scary thing is I rode these better than yesterday's waves.  I loves wing foiling at Firsts, but outside WPB is just at another level! 

The sharp pointed tacks (at the bottom of the image) are where I would switch my feet (changing tacks) and head in riding goofy foot.  I would ride the smaller waves (still chest high) while doing this and I'd hold my line (wouldn't lose ground to the wind).  The loops from jibing are harder to see, but those are the waves that I would jibe in to and ride regular footed (and get ridiculous speeds - at least they seemed fast, but the GPS says I was getting over 15kt, maxed out at 15.9kt).

Again this Kalaeloa meter seems a little low - I think it 15 hitting 25 on the gusts.  The 5.2 kept me powered, but it was definitely lighter than yesterday.

I was able to crank upwind on my last couple of runs and was able to get back to Fenceline to land.  The other guys (Derek, Eli, Brian, and another guy I didn't know) all launched from Campgrounds.  I'm going to have to check that out when I come back on the weekends. 

What a weekend!!!!  Probably the best winging sessions I've had yet!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 7/24/2021

I had to take Prayot to the airport yesterday morning - he's headed to be with his family in Japan for a few years.  That meant pushing my session to the early afternoon.  I hit WPB and it was pretty much epic!  I pumped up the 5.2 and bolted on the HS1850 (I don't want to ever get stranded out there, so I opted for the big foil - in hind sight, I think the chopped HS1520CS would have been perfect).  Tons of people on the beach - but I got out on the water and had to paddle a bit as the tide was rising.

I got in 14.97 nm in just over 2 hours yesterday.

The wind was perfect for the 5.2 (although this Kalaeloa meter doesn't show what was out there on the water - I think the meter is on the runway somewhere - it was likely base of 20 mph and gusts to 30).

I got a top speed of 16.5kt - probably coming down a wave.  The waves on the outside were intermittent, but when they came, it was perfection jibing onto them, making the drop and luffing the wing.  I would ride the mast high and just surf the head high waves - I caught four waves like that and there is no better experience - almost sensory overload!!!

This spot delivered!!!

Garage Works - 7/23/2021

Kalani had called asking if I could do some epoxy work on his 90cm Axis mast.  His mast has been retaining a lot of water and he thought it was coming from the edges of the center void plug.  He asked that both ends be capped with epoxy to try and stop the water infiltration.

Used black pigment and aerosil in the epoxy.

And since I had extra epoxy, I went ahead and started the fix on Harris' rear stabilizer.  I had ground out the weak spots earlier this week, and I went ahead and inserted epoxy in the wingtip split, and added carbon on the ground out areas.  I covered the whole thing with saran wrap and clamped the wingtip.  Tomorrow I can sand it down and get it faired in.

I also added some of the epoxy to the chipped area I had on the 15" Nico rear stabilizer.  This should be easy to sand.

And here is Kalani's mast all filled in.  I had to clean the side walls to make sure the doodad would fit.

Tomorrow will be the other side of the mast and sanding the two rear stabs (before I go winging at WPB).