Foil Drive Downwinder - 11/21/2025

And I got in a second session this afternoon.  Norm, Stu and I did the downwind run between WP and PV.

This was the start -

Same gear as earlier

And this was the finish.

I packed the BRM Ka'a 4.8 just in case the wind was strong enough - might as well since it is pretty compact (so I said at the beginning).

The waves were still decent sized - overhead on the big ones.

I had some really long rides.

I tried deploying the PW but it wouldn't open (not wind on it).

Ride count doesn't really work for downwinders.  

Of note, I did get some double dips.

And the waves on the outside were pretty big -

Fun run!!!

W:58/FD:132/PW:69/S:15/PF:1

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 11/21/2025

After everyone else (La and Marlon) headed out to work, I headed to the beach.

There was more wind than I thought there would be - more than enough to mess up the surface, but not enough to parawing (maybe wing...)

And it was actually pretty cool - temperature wise.

Enduro 900/HA40 - but mounted on No.33

I wanted to ride this board again as I might be selling it to Stu.

There were waves breaking all the way outside - definitely seemed like summer swell (not late November waves).

I mostly stayed to the east of Fenceline.  Nice pattern in the rides (lots of consistency).

18 gnarly rides!!!

W:58/FD:131/PW:69/S:15/PF:1

Parawing Session - 11/20/2025

Clouds were thick and everywhere.

There were more waves than yesterday, but the wind was lighter.

I setup the big stuff today including the Flysurfer POW 5.0

And Koa was there - he was SUP foiling.

I was able to get up a handful of times.  But the wind was not consistent at all.  Several of my jibes were jacked because of the swirly, weak winds. 

I was able to ride several set waves - and I was thinking "how awesome would this be on Foil Drive right now?"

I'm a little perturbed that the forecasts missed this low pressure dome over us.  I would have brought a surfboard if they didn't say the wind was going to be up.

Regardless - it was good to be out in the water!

I'm going to charge the Foil Drive batteries.

W:58/FD:130/PW:69/S:15/PF:1

Parawing Session - 11/19/2025

Strong winds filled in around noon.  I got off work and headed over to WPB.

There were widespread white caps, but there was still ups and downs.  When the gusts were plowing through, it was brutally nuking.

I rationalized using the BRM Maliko 5.1 with No.34 fitted with the AFS Enduro 900/HA40 - same as when I use a bigger wing and a smaller foil.  I was borderline out of control.  I think the Ka'a 4.8 or even the Maliko 4.0 would have been better calls.

That said, this was my best session to date!!!  The 900 just feels so good under foot.  I had multiple rides where a wave would stand up, I'd retract the parawing and ride for a very long time - pretty much to where the surfers were seeking shelter from the wind.

Towards the end of the session when the wind had started to back down a little, I was easily able to relaunch the parawing and kept on moving.

23 miles is record for me.

I didn't attempt and tacks today.  But I got through all my jibes without issue.

From the looks of the wind report - if I had brought out the Maliko 4.0, I would have likely been underpowered at multiple points.  This is one of those days where bringing 2 parawings is probably the right call.

Up on foil for most of the session.  As long as there was a gust, I could takeoff pretty quickly on the Enduro 900.

Norm and Roland were also out - both on wings.  Prayot came out closer to 4pm and he was on his Pocket Rocket 4.3.  He seemed to be losing ground slowly - validation that wrestling with the Maliko 5.1 kept me upwind.

Super fun session!!!

W:58/FD:130/PW:68/S:15/PF:1

Garage Works - 11/18/2025

I decided to rest up another day - considering the forecast, I want to be at 100% for the next few days.

So staying home, I figured I should go ahead and finish off this cosmetic repair on No.40

I sanded the excess epoxy off and then took the repair area through the full grit regime (80-120-180-220-400)

Then I sprayed on the clear coat - just the regular Rust-o-leum gloss and not the 2K.

With the nuking winds tomorrow, I'll likely take No.40 with the Enduro 1300 and either the BRM Maliko 4.0 or 2.9 (TBD).  If it is really raging, maybe even the Enduro 900

It is going to be EPIC the next few days!!!

Morning Session - 11/16/2025

I got a late start this morning.  I was going to just push off water time until the afternoon - but I looked at the forecast and it looks like the south energy is tailing off.

I had some stuff to do to support La, but I had just enough time to get in a quick prone foiling session...

YES - I said "PRONE FOILING"

It has been a long time since I had done this.  Using the Foil Drive has pretty much negated this activity from my skill set.  But with all the paddling I've been doing through parawinging and surfing, I should be in decent enough shape to at least give this a go.  And it would be nice to see how foiling without the extra weight would be.

I broke out No.24 and bolted on the setup I picked up yesterday - a 75cm Project Cedrus carbon mast (with base plate and Unifoil adapter) and a complete Unifoil Progression 170/M fuselage/14.5" Progression rear stabilizer.

I only wanted to see where I was conditioning wise, and maybe catch a few.

I paddled for four, missing the first one and then riding out the last three.

And the second wave I almost got a double dip.

It wasn't the prettiest thing, but I did get up and rode decently long waves given the conditions this morning.

W:58/FD:130/PW:67/S:15/PF:1

Parawing Session - 11/15/2025

And in the afternoon, since I was in the area anyways - I hit Hickam to see if I could get in a parawing session.

There was just enough wind -

Big stuff day.

And I decided to try and tackle the heelside tack.

After I got one in slow motion, it unlocked this transition, and I threw multiple ones.

I said slow motion because that's the approach I took - if I do the move deliberately and methodical, I should be able to identify any issues and incrementally work my way through the tack.

The slow and steady approach worked - but on the first try. 

I'm going to keep on repeating this so it becomes second nature and I can execute it spontaneously.

When I'm there - I want to use this to get onto waves.

Lots of north in the wind.

There were some significant lulls.

But when I was up on foil - the drills today made for good fun.

There is some good correlation between the graphs.

Oddly enough it seems like the toe-side tack is going to be the last essential transition that I learn (same thing happened with inflatable wings).

W:58/FD:130/PW:67/S:15

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 11/15/2025

The forecasts called for a decline in the wind - so I figured I should Foil Drive.

Decent surf (and it's mid-November!!!) and a mid-rising tide.

No.41 with the AFS Enduro 900/HA40 on the UHM 80cm mast.

Almost 2 hours from the standard Max battery.

I had some long rides - picking up swell from way outside and carving all the way to the inside.

Roland came out about 40 minutes after me.  And there were a few others on e-drives also.

23 rides this morning - and a few double dips in here.

Good fun this morning!!!

W:58/FD:130/PW:66/S:15

Parawing Session - 11/14/2025

The wind is supposed to start backing off - so I hit WPB this afternoon to grab some of the wind.

Medium tide and even some waves.

No.34, the 85cm mast, Enduro 1300/HA43 and power provided by the BRM Maliko 5.1

And Kalani brought his new wing/PW board

The early part of the session was pretty good - more than sufficient wind and I even got some rides with the parawing retracted.

Then the wind got below the level needed to get me up on foil - and I drifted past the last cabin.

The wind picked up enough to start foiling again and I made some headway.  The wind died again and I drifted back down.  Finally there was a good gust followed by a long wind field and I was able to get back above Fenceline.

Roland was able to get up and pretty much stayed up.

My speed track basically mirrored the wind speed chart.

Despite the second half wind falling off, this was still a fun session.

W:58/FD:129/PW:66/S:15

Garage Works - 11/13/2025

I have been wanting to give the Sweet Potato a go as a quad again - but this time with the Futures Alpha Vector 3/2 set (I bought the rear quads when La got me the Album Twinsman Twinzer).

These look fun!  But I ended up doing lawn maintenance work and skipped out on the second session.

And I also set about to fix this interesting ding in No.40

Some cracked epoxy... not sure where or when that happened - but in order to set the universe right, I went ahead and sanded, prepped and recoated this area.

Should be good as new tomorrow.