New Surfboard - 11/20/2024

La let me get a new board for my Birthday (really Christmas).  I placed a deposit on an inbound Firewire Revo Max - and it came in today (on my 53rd birthday)!

We waited for Marlon to get back home from work, then headed over to Hawaiian South Shore to pick up the new board!

Yes I can build surfboards - but sometimes it is nice to ride boards shaped by other people - just to get different perspectives.  This board has a ton of different attributes - the quad inside single/double channel, the resulting spine that goes almost up to the nose, and the twin fin positioning - all super interesting.

There are not that many boards that catch my discerning eye these days - but when one does...

This one caught my attention due to a series of youtube videos - roundhouse cut backs in shitty waves...

Well - here it the board outfitted with rear foot deckpad, the leash tie and a nice coat of wax.

Hopefully there are some waves tomorrow to try this out in.

Garage Works - 11/20/2024

I sanded the patch down today.  I almost felt like I didn't need to add another coat of epoxy. but Harris asked me to look at the nose - so I figured if I was going to mix more epoxy, might as well add another coat.

And here is the nose sanded and taped up.

I'll do a quick sanding job on these areas tomorrow and spray clear coat on the repairs - should be all pau then.

Dawn Patrol - 11/20/2024

Dawn patrolled Hickam today with Bill.

I got there kinda late for a dawn patrol - but there was no one out (so it didn't matter).

I setup what has become my standard

Bill was on his Portal and his Code 980S

When I finished motoring out to the second channel marker, I checked my battery and it was at 83% - not typical.  I think not having used the battery for a couple of weeks discharged it a bit.

I went through my normal acclimating process again (not having Foil Drive-d in a while, and only winging with F One foils, I had to get used to the Spitfire again).  Maybe the first 20 minutes I catch a wave and had to fumble with my balance (no wing to lean on). 

But that corrected itself and then I got carve after carve after carve....

17 waves in under an hour - at least 6 super long rides!

There was actually enough wind to wing... but I didn't want to keep La waiting too long - I took the day off to hang with her!

W:145/PW:2/FD:81/F:5/S:20

Garage Works - 11/19/2024

I worked on repairing Harris's Appletree today.

I sanded down the fill -

Cut out the patch (and the peel ply)

Then added the epoxy.

I just came in from the garage (4 hours later) and took off the peel ply.

Tomorrow I'll sand the patch to get it flat.  I may add a thin top coat, then sand and clear coat.

I should be able to get this out of the garage by Thursday (Friday at the latest - I want to work on glassing No.39).

Garage Works, Part 2 - 11/18/2024

I also worked on No.39 this afternoon.

I routed out the slot for the mast track block.

Nice tight fit.  I cut it so nicely I did not feel compelled to use the foaming gorilla glue (I used the clear version).

Perfect install!!!

Tomorrow I'll take a last look at the shape, make any tips/tucks, then lay out the bottom deck laminates.

Garage Works - 11/18/2024

I opted to skip the water time today - tide was too low for my preference.

Plus I have some repairs stacking up in the garage - this is Prayot's AFS Pure 900.

The front carnage is filled and ready for sanding.

And the wing tip is rebuilt.

The solid paint marker on the wing is from Prayot (not sanding them).

Here is the foil all finished.

Wet sanded from 220-320-400-600-1000-1500

Came out nice!

Not sure how long it'll stay this way -

And Harris dropped off his Appletree board for a tail/rail repair.  I'm not sure what happened (I don't need the story), but the corner was pretty beat up.  I sanded off the shattered carbon (which seemed really "dry" - I know the use infusion to laminate these boards - but it felt like this needed more resin in this area). 

Here it is all clean and ready for a stabilization fill

I set it on the rack this way to keep the epoxy slurry from running.

One last look before the epoxy goes on - those individual fibers are what I was describing as "dry".  They also seemed like they really weren't bonded to the foam.  It could have been the impact - who knows.

And here is the fill.

I'll sand this tomorrow and get the carbon patches on.  I want to get this out of the garage so I can focus on No.39

Garage Works - 11/17/2024

I had a bunch of errands to run in between winging and getting home - haircuts and picking up stuff for La.  But once I got home, both Marlon and La had the garage clear.

I got through from the rough shaping to the fine sanding on No.39 this afternoon. 

And I even got the track block all measured out and ready to route

This is where I'll be placing the track block (which I'll try to get opened up tomorrow).

And after working on No.39, I got the excess epoxy off the repaired areas on Prayot's AFS Pure 900

The front edge repair needed additional epoxy to get filled properly.  And since I was working with epoxy anyways, I got the starboard wing tip all dressed up as well.

I should be able to fair this in tomorrow and then wetsand (and it could be done).

Wing Foiling Session - 11/17/2024

Today was forecasted to be the strongest day of this ongoing wind event.  I figured I'd avoid the low tide challenges at White Plains and hit the other winging community I haven't seen in a bit - Kailua.

The wind did not disappoint - it was nuking!!!

I decided to follow the pattern from yesterday and pumped up the Reedin SW2 4.2 and setup the SK8 750/C161W on No.34

I also gave Kalani the Reedin SW2 5.2 and 4.7 so he can get back on the water (as I'm not using those wings anymore since I have the Norths).

This session was EPIC!!!

Well overhead waves at Jump City - super strong winds (knocking me off the board at times) - long rides  - can't really ask for more!

Looks like the winds were straight from the east.

Lots of people out - Mark, Donnel, Rex, Sonja, Erik - it was fun to ride with other people you know.

There's that squall that blew through and knocked me off the board!

The more I use the SK8 750, the more I really appreciate it.  I'm going to have to sand the C161W rear stabilizer - it is making some vortex based noise.

And then it got crowded - way crowded.  This is why I only dawn patrol here.

There will still be some wind for the next couple of days, but I am eager to get work done on the projects in the garage and to get rested for the upcoming Foil Drive-ing sessions.

W:145/PW:2/FD:80/F:5/S:20

Garage Works - 11/16/2024

I mowed the lawn and edged the back lawn.  I also cleared the backyard of the plant debris that had been building up - then I hit the garage to do some shaping.  This is No.39 - a 5'8" foil drive/winging board.

Here is the blank cut out from the billet foam.

And here it is rough shaped.

It's easier to dial the shape in when the sun is out and it is bright.  I'll do this tomorrow.

And while I was in the garage, this is Prayot's AFS Pure 900.  He drove it into the reef yesterday.

I had to pick sand and rock out of it.  Then I sanded the areas that needed repair.

This will get fill and the tip will get a layer of carbon.

Filled and patch attached.

I'll trace the unscathed wing tip and get the patch grinded down to the same outline.

I'll need to add more epoxy to get this solid.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/16/2024

I was a little tired of the low tide management techniques - so I ventured to Hickam today.

It was definitely low tide - but over here it doesn't really matter - super easy launch.

The wind didn't look excessively strong - but at points it was knock you down strong.

I wanted to use today to test the Ezzy Flight 4.0 (which gave me some trouble on Thursday) and the Reedin SW2 4.2 (which has always been a more grunty wing).  I also wanted to dial in the SK8 750/C161W on No.34

Here's the wind over both the runs I made

First up was the SW2 4.2

Easy takeoff with the SW2 - better have been - the wind was really strong.

After getting my turns down with this foil and board, I journeyed out to Firsts.

The wind was super nuking out there.  I rode one and headed back in.  But then I saw Jim heading out so I followed.  I caught several more since I was out there - the pit was working flawlessly!!!  Waves would stand up and peel to the right.  The only issue was the super nuking wind - which made the runs a little rocky.

I spent the second half of this first run trying to see how fast I could go

I went in and swapped wings.

I didn't entirely trust the Ezzy, but I did develop an understanding of it (again - it's been a while since the wind was strong enough to use this wing).  I think if I treat this wing more like a 3.5m wing, my expectations will meet the performance.

I did not venture out to Firsts on this run - I didn't want to deal with any issues out there, and the waves seemed to die back (so not worth the effort).

Of notice is the higher top speed using this wing.  I don't think the wind was stronger - it's just that this wing performs better at it's top end.

Fun session and confidence inspiring for the SK8 750.  Basically if I'm going to use this foil, I'll just have to use an appropriately sized wing - bigger than what I would use for my main stay foils (but this is not new information).

W:144/PW:2/FD:80/F:5/S:20