Dawn Patrol - 5/30/2022

Dawn patrol on this 2022 Memorial Day.  The swell cleaned up a bunch - still had some size and it was really good!  Marlon brought out his longboard and I used the same setup as yesterday, but changed out the rear stabilizer to the Kujira 178 (with no shim).

I was out for over 2 hours - buttery takeoffs, chest to head high walls, cranking turns - so good!!!  I think the more I use this 60cm fuselage, the easier it gets to use (the pitch sensitivity doesn't matter as much).  Yesterday I was eating it on takeoff - was the opposite today. This setup is so dialed in!!!

This was the 4th or 5th straight day of prone foiling or surfing - my arms, back, chest and calves are jello.  All that said I just can't help myself!

W:44/F:53/S:16

On to No.24...

And right after finishing the work Noe asked for on her boat, I jumped on the next garage project -

which oddly enough draws a strong resemblance to Noe's project...

These wingboards are not supposed to be displacement hulls - and I came full circle really quick on returning to the squared off rails and flat tail that I had built into the first two foilboards I made.  No.24 is the latest and is designed to leave the water as quickly as possible.

Kinda has a "Laser Hull" shape to it.

I routed out the track reinforcement block hole today - I should be able to get the block set in with carbon/innegra/epoxy by tomorrow sometime.

This step is always the messiest in the entire foilboard building process.

I have a calculator setup to determine the footstrap positioning.  Once this part is complete, I'll flip the board to get the footstrap insert slot reinforcement blocks positions measured out and work to get the blocks set in.

Fixing Rear Stabilizer

Kalani asked me to reshape one of his rear stabilizers.

This was after rough shaping.  I got it tuned in since - now I need to seal it with epoxy on the sides and trailing edges.

Noe Go Faster

Noe asked me to help her fix her Laser hull.  She is pretty nit-noid (like me) and wanted some chips filled, scratches addressed and the bottom treated (so she can go faster).

Pick off the bad spots - no sense filling in over something that isn't structurally sound.  We taped up the areas she wanted fixed.  I had her mix up the epoxy and make the milled fibers slurry.

Noe had to sail today (practicing for some events coming up), so I went ahead and sanded down all the repaired spots - same regime as with boards - 40-80-120-180-220-320-400-600.

And I polished the bottom.  She came home and gave a thumbs up.

Should be good for another season!

Dawn Patrol - 5/29/2022

Close carbon copy of yesterday - Marlon on his Seaside, me on the 4'8" prone board. I thought the conditions were better than yesterday (although that was a topic of debate out in the line up today).  Regardless - there was less wind, the surf was a tad bit smaller, and the current was down from the river it had been the past few days.

I did mix it up a bit though - 1095 on the Stringy fuselage (60cm) with one of my 14.875" rear stabilizers bolted on.  When I was setting this up last night, I had to use both the circle shims and the PPC plate shim to level it out.  It was level - I didn't have to wrestle the setup to ride level.

But looking at the foil, you can definitely see the lean backwards on the mast.

I caught a bunch of waves and had some long rides - I have to pump this foil less than the 980 (and it was smaller today) - but the lift is a lot more progressive and with the shorter fuselage, the whole setup had a lot more pitch sensitivity than I am used to.  The other thing I noticed during setup was the rear stabilizer bolts needed to be downsized to 14mm and I had to still use a shim to get enough distance to tighten the bolts.

Kalani, Tim, Noel and Ryan were out - lots of comparing notes on equipment today.  Roland rolled up after 8 - I got a closer look at his setup - here is where his fairly new Hyper 190 is cracking.  He definitely tests the limits of his equipment.

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Dawn Patrol - 5/28/2022

Dawn patrolled with Marlon this morning.  Tim and Kalani were there.  Surf was pretty big on the sets - it was breaking way outside - further than I was interested in paddling and it was barreling.  I stayed where the outside normally was.

I rigged the Kujira 980 with the 218 rear stabilizer and had the 4'8" prone board out.  Marlon brought his Firewire Seaside.

Waves were overhead - I got a few really solid rides - walls and great turns on the sections.  The current was pretty bad - stronger than yesterday - was dragging foilers faster than the surfers over towards Hau Bush.  

I eventually saw Marlon's drone towards the end of my session - I was already trying to get in.  He also got video of Kalani and his surfer friends.

Fun day!

W:44/F:51/S:16

Evening Session - 5/27/2022

Rising swell was hitting on Friday afternoon.  I went to WPB and used the Toots 7'4" asymmetric.  I got some good drops early, but the waves got wonky towards the end of the session.  Roland was out on his surfboard also.  There was one guy on a foil, but we didn't recognize him.

I left a hair early because I needed to run errands - but I did check out the surf at Campgrounds to see if it was worth it to go there on Saturday.  It looked like it was better at WPB. 

W:44/F:50/S:16

Evening Session - 5/26/2022

Conditions were a little bit better today.  The wind was still wingable (but on the lighter side, and it would swing all over from SE to NE), the swell had a bit more consistency and the tide was fuller. 

One thing that was different was the water activity below the surface - much more than recently.

 Marlon used the drone for nearly the entire time I was out (but he was chasing Eli who was on his 7.0 BP Alien).

I did place the mast base shims on - but I still had several waves where I felt like something was off.  I think next session I will swap the 17" Foilparts.com stabilizer for the Kujira 218 and see if that cures the issue I've been having.

I did manage to catch several long waves where I'd carve back and forth on infinity turns - I used the 1440 again - same setup as yesterday - super fun glide.  And I got multiple double dips - amazing what a set of shims will do for your foiling!  

W:44/F:50/S:15

Evening Session - 5/25/2022

Totally got it backwards - I should have prone foiled on Tuesday and winged on Wednesday.  Got it even more backwards by forgetting to shim the front of the base plate.  After the third takeoff and asking myself "why am I constantly hitting the nose of the board" - I had my ah-ha moment and remembered I had been surfing the ART999 for a bit.  Oh well - 

Marlon came and longboarded for a little.  Then he switched over to flying the drone.

W:44/F:49/S:15

Wing Foiling Session - 5/24/2022

Marlon and I hit WPB this afternoon - got there just before 4pm.  I was setup and out in the water within 10 minutes.  The wind was really good - perfect conditions for the Takuma RS 6.1 and the Kujira 1440.  So good in fact, Marlon initially opted to just drone.

I was out and stayed a little further out because the wind line seemed stronger outside.  I was able to jibe onto a few waves and eeked out some fun rides - then the wind died.  I then spend the next hour trying to get back to the launch.  I was able to get up on foil a few more times, but the wind field wasn't wide enough for me to pull upwind.  I eventually paddled in over at Two-Cots.

Roland said he didn't even get up.  Kalani got up only to hit the big lull.

So I ended up doing the walk of shame... at least I didn't have to get picked up at Camp Grounds!

Marlon ended up surfing on his longboard.  Looked like it would have been fun prone foiling.

And there it is on the meter - good for 20 minutes, then really calm (with a hard swing in the wind direction - total bait and switch!).

Since I did get up and catch a few waves, I'm counting this session.

W:44/F:48/S:15 

Wing Foiling Session - 5/22/2022

Did a group session with Kalani and Tim today.  Matt, Jim, Bill, Harris, Eric and another all went out also.  Wind was a lot like yesterday - good at times, then just strong enough to stay on foil - but then there would be lulls where everyone went down.  I had the big wing and front foil out today - so I was able to stay up longer than most.

Kalani had bought a new 6.2 Ensis Score.  I lined it up with the RS 6.1 to compare and contrast.  The RS has some extra girth in the center strut and the middle of the leading edge.  There is also more dihedral in the RS.  I personally like the fact there are no windows on the RS and it is piece of mind that the trailing edge should help extend the service life of the RS.

And lined up against the Ensis V2 6.0m.  Pretty much the same profile, but you can see some girth differences also.

Lots of blue mixed in to all that orange and yellow.  I spend most of the session hugging the taxiway (its always windier there).  I did take a jaunt out to Firsts.  The wind is normally stronger out there, but that was not the case today.  The wind was also super easterly - different lines than usual.

I caught two waves and then made my way back in (it was getting really light).

During the second half of the session, there was a strong shift to northerly winds (NNE was what I was experiencing).  The track shows this on the lines towards the left (in front of the beach area).

Lots of holes today.  Harris came out late - he said the wind died (looks like it around 3:30) and he had to swim in.  Arguably yesterday was a better day - I ended up going a hair slower than yesterday as an example, but it really cool when this many people are out winging.

W:43/F:48/S:15

Wing Foiling Session - 5/21/2022

The front that was shifting the wind from the normal tradewind pattern pushed through and once the clouds cleared, there was wind!

The wind was on the lighter side, but it was rideable!  Takuma RS 6.1, WWFB, Kujira 1440, Foilparts 17" rear stabilizer, 85cm PC mast - light wind weapons!

I don't know if it is the big wing, the big front foil or a bit of both - but this setup has been allowing me to knock out my inbound (toe to heel) jibes - this had been the hardest turn for me to execute - not anymore.

Somewhere in all these turns today, I even did a duck jibe (but high up with the wing).

I have really grown to love this wing.  It is more fun to fly than any other wing I've tried.  There are certainly more powerful wings, others that haul upwind like crazy, superlight and stiff ones, and even wings that down right suck - but none are more fun than the RS.

Mid jibe pics!

I stayed on the inside since there were no other wingers around.  But these sessions where I just practice my transitions are actually the ones I look forward to the most.

It seemed to be a couple of notches lighter than what this wind chart is showing.

Pretty good top speed for the big 1440.

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Evening Session - 5/20/2022

Friday evening after work session with Marlon!

He brought his longboard out and after catching some good ones, he broke out the drone and took some fun videos.

The waves this evening were better groomed that on Thursday's session.  I brought out the same setup as the past few days.  Definitely able to double dip, but was more focused on riding waves for as long as I could (not having to worry about the water depth.  Epic rides!!!

It was so good - I should have been riding a surfboard.  I saw Marvin get several double dips - he was on the Kujira 1210.  Duke was doing laps on the inside - using the Lift HA170.

Eli was out SUP foiling - you could tell he was bummed he couldn't wing.  Marlon got some good video of that -

Great way to end the week!

W:41/F:48/S:15