Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 9/13/2026

Conditions were cleaner this morning - but the waves were smaller and less frequent.

Same equipment

Much better results compared to yesterday - I decided to stay closer in and pick waves on whether they were already standing up or not.  This definitely yielded more rides with better quality.  I probably pissed off a lot of the surfers just sitting around - but we all make our choices on how we ride waves...

Similar picture to yesterday - lots of circular tracks from all the hard carving going on.

I am totally convinced that I am a rear footed surfer-foiler.  Maintaining balance going through all these turns and carves has been falling on my back foot.  I know because I have been paying attention diring these past two sessions, and I can also feel the build up in my right knee.

Next time I take this setup out, I will try moving the mast forward a notch to see if I can get more pressure over to my front foot. 

22 rides - with a couple of double dips in there somewhere

Looks like the wind will start to come back on Tuesday (so time to parawing again).  I'll likely take a rest day tomorrow (or maybe try surfing the Gherkin???)

PF:11/W:3/PW:107/FD:65/S:25

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 9/12/2026

Dawn patrolled this morning - smaller waves, no wind and a decent high (rising) tide

Foil crew -

Decided to mix things up a bit today - originally was going to take the Ghekin out, but knowing the wave energy was dropping off, I didn't want to have to fight on the inside to get waves and switched over to No.41, the AFS Enduro 900/Mako Carve 130 bolted on to the 80cm UHM mast.  Blue props - better in less energetic conditions.

Getting up to speed, this setup felt less sticky (less drag with the trench cover taped on).

With the glassy conditions, after an hour and a half I actually came in with 50% battery - when the tide peaked, the waves got tiny - I figured I got my share.

From the GPS track, you can see the carving I was able to do this morning - so much fun!!!

14 long rides - 

Will likely do the same thing tomorrow morning (wave energy will drop off a little more)

PF:11/W:3/PW:107/FD:64/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/11/2026

We are in between storms and the wind and surf are also somewhere in-between...

On the drive home the wind looked like it would be good for a parawinging session.

At the beach, it did look like the wind line was a bit further out, but it was there.

Nice higher tide and mellow waves -

Made for a good day to try out the new BRM L1 6.5m!

Paired it with the AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 on No.44

I probably should have taken out No.42 instead of No.44 - not really the board's issue, just shitty wind.

In fact, this inaugural run of the L1 6.5m was originally headed for stinky skunk.

But, the wind did gust up a few times and I salvaged the run

But despite getting up, it kinda felt like I was really just bobbing around.

When the wind did pick up, pumping the L1 felt more like using a paddle to power up.  There was a rhythmic pumping which was pretty different than how the S3 powers up (more the wing developing pressure and pulling you up onto foil).

Obviously being the first time out, there is a lot to learn - and this is going to be fun!

I'm going to be paying a lot of attention to the wind range of this particular parawing.

And all through the session, I never felt overpowered.  I'd say this was a great start!

Waves and wind are going to be small and light for the next several days...

PF:11/W:3/PW:107/FD:63/S:25

Foil Drive Session - 9/9/2026

I finally got a session in - Hurricane Lowell closed the beaches (I really didn't want to go out in that anyways), and I did need some rest days.  But today was a lot cleaner than the past several days.

There was even a pretty high tide -

The Silk 850/Usurf 135 bolted on again.

I did ground the foil (only slightly) on the way out from the beach.  It is already filled and sanded as I write this.

On the outside, the waves were a little on the soft side.

Duke was out on his SUP foil.  Roland and Ben were out on Foil Drives.

I would catch swell on the outside and ride it to just before it was standup tall and set up for a closeout.  This is the sharp/abrupt ends to the lines.

19 rides in an hour and a quarter - not too shabby.

The trades are supposed to slow return - that's good as I just ordered a BRM L1 6.5m parawing.... should fill the low end of my quiver!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:106/FD:63/S:25

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 9/6/2026

Hurricane Lowell is starting to make it's turn to the north.  I figured it would be a good day to get a Foil Drive session in (before the surf gets unruly).

Dawn patrol saw a pretty low tide (0.3'), super light wind and head high swell on the sets.

No.43 with the AFS UHM 80cm mast, Silk 850/Usurf 135

I did want to start experimenting with the motor pod located further down the mast - this is the result with the next slightly longer motor cable.

Getting out past the breakers sucked a little - 

And there was a little warble in the water.

Dennis and Noel were out on Foil Drive.  Rick and Makana were out prone.

I did get several good rides - but then that warble turned into me taking off and losing it.  Four times straight.

I turned the board over to see what was wrong - the rear stabilizer was really loose.  Time to go in.

With the rear stabilizer issue, I only got eleven rides - 

I may try to get an evening session in seeing as how this one was cut short.

PF:11/W:3/PW:106/FD:62/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/4/2026

I got off work a little early today and the wind was blowing nicely.  The surf was breaking over the revetment at the end of the runway - so it was a good call to go to Hickam (and not have to paddle out through the whitewater and breaking waves at WPB).

Matt and Harris were also there setting up.

Same gear as the past few sessions - Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 and the BRM S3 4.2m parawing.

So not bothering with going outside into the smash fest, I focused on executing tacks.

You can see the ones I made on the outside turn - and the more I did them the easier it was getting (same discussion as many times before - its just weird how this same move can always seem difficult without practice).  I also made sure to try several tacks on the inside turn.  I got a couple of those as well.

The wind was acting up - a big hole on the outer edge, and lots of commotion on the water with not a lot of push (swirly and gusty).  The 4.2 was the right call even though I could have been on the 3.4 and the 5.3 at times.

It is fun getting the muscle memory down for both tacks! 

PF:11/W:3/PW:106/FD:61/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/2/2026

The surf got big today - and the wind was supposed to be blowing strong (spoiler alert - it wasn't blowing nearly as hard as the forecasts were saying it would).

The waves were close to closing out.  And they were breaking even harder with the lower tide.

I used the same equipment that I have been using over the past few sessions.

But - the conditions were pretty extreme - gusty wind, pitching surf and lots of chop on the surface.

Kalani was headed in as I was paddling out.

I got out, parawinged around, got dropped by the wind a few times, made it back up on foil and decided to head in before the wind dropped.

At this point, Roland was paddling out.

I did catch a couple of waves, but you couldn't ride them for a long time - otherwise I would become one with a pitching lip.

Despite these challenges, this was a fun session!

Nice correlation between these two charts.

I made it back in without too much trouble.  As did Kalani and eventually Roland. 

This may be the last parawing session for a bit.

PF:11/W:3/PW:105/FD:61/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/1/2026

Fun session today - but the winds were lighter than yesterday so there was a bit more waiting to get up on foil.

The waves were pretty close to yesterday.

Tide was lower in the afternoon (and will keep getting lower as the week goes on - this is the first signs that Fall is approaching)

Same gear as yesterday (and I love this stuff!)

Kalani was already out when I pulled up to the parking lot.  He had his 777 PT Hybrid 5.7m up again (but probably warranted with the winds today).

Despite having to wait every now and then for a gust to get up on foil, the rides were really good - I feel like today's rides were longer and had more opportunity to carve top to bottom - SO GOOD!!!!

And I felt like I had more rides and a higher redeploy rate today.

I also got some drop straight in tacks - these are pretty intense...

I rode this up and down madness on the BRM S3 4.2m (riding the gusts).

Stu showed up on wing - and he did a downwinder to PVs.  Roland came out late - and on wing today instead of his parawing (probably needed a small victory today).

The forecast for tomorrow is all over the place - might actually be a good day to go surf (before the crazy wind shows up on Wednesday-Friday)

PF:11/W:3/PW:104/FD:61/S:25

Parawing Session - 8/31/2026

I usually take Mondays and rest - but the conditions were too good to pass up.

Head high surf, stronger - mostly steady easterlies.

Decent high tide so no scratch-em conditions.

I opted to use the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 Union Rear Stabilizer/78cm Apex mast.

With the whitecaps - the BRM S3 4.2 provided the power

This was another session where over 80% of the rides back out yielded a rideable wave at the end of the run.  And a lot of those waves were really long rides -

And I got in multiple tacks onto peaking waves - I don't know why I lost my tack for a while... I'll just have to keep doing them to make sure I don't lose them again.

Most of the inbound runs were prone foiling runs with the parawing retracted and in hand.

This latest run of wind and surf has been phenomenal!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:103/FD:61/S:25