The Anointment of No.43 - 1/30/2026

Marlon and I got in an evening session at WP

Virtually no wind.  Low tide (so more paddling).

And the west swell was wrapping in -

Head high on the sets

But the highlight of the day was getting No.43 out for the first time!!!

I took the mast placement from No.41 and it was perfect!  The painters tape marks are where the mast ended up being bolted down.

Marlon did a double session - first on the Evo and finishing up on the longboard.

Dennis, Roland, Duke and Prayot were also out at Foil Drive Country 

No.43 performed flawlessly - and the conditions were ridiculously nice - I couldn't have asked for a better first session.

I did look down at my feet frequently to get the placement identified.  This is for later when I want to put foot straps in place (for when I prone foil with this board)

21 rides in just over an hour

More west wrap in store for tomorrow!

PW:5/FD:10/S:7

Garage Works - 1/29/2026

I got the detail work done this afternoon.

I drilled out the foot strap insert holes (pilot, bigger, biggest).

Then after some deliberating, I got the deck pads on with the holes punched for the foot strap screws. 

I also got the leash plug cleaned out and got the vent installed.

This came out really nice!

I'll let the deck pads sit for at least 24 hours -

I also lined up No.41 (Trench Board) to transfer the AFS Enduro 900 position - this is as good a starting place as any.

Feels good to have this one finished!

Beach Time - 1/29/2026

There was wind blowing at the house this afternoon.  Then Norm asked if I wanted some fish (he went fishing yesterday) - so off to the beach I went.

I brought parawinging big stuff - but the wind was light.

Norm and Stu brought Foil Drives - and Norm just go this Slick Pod.

Looks to be really low drag.

Stu has been using the Evo HA 1100 he got from Prayot.

To feel like I didn't get skunked, I did some ground handling with the big POW

The red arrow is pointing to a humpback whale that was breaching pretty steadily.

I actually needed a rest day so this was good.

Evening Session - 1/28/2026

This was yesterday's session.

Monk seal chilling on the beach.

The waves were forecasted to be bigger (swell peaking) - but that was far from what was present.

Low tide still and marginal wind.

Marlon brought his longboard - he had no issues catching.

I brought the Sweet Potato with the Futures Alpha Vector 3/2 quad fins.

This setup made catching waves easier (than the Machadocado), but the wave shape made it so the rides were generally shorter, and I wasn't able to get many turns out of it.

I still had some good turns and nice rides - plus the great exercise and just being able to be out in the ocean.

PW:5/FD:9/S:7

Garage Works - 1/28/2026

I got the last of the real work done on No.43 this afternoon.

Sanded the plugs and the two spot repairs.

Opened the tracks.  Filed the cuts to smooth them out.

Washed the residual dust off of it and now I'm letting it get settled (cool down, dry out completely).

I'm gonna go surf to get my exercise in - when I get back I may try and spray the clear coat on.

The dimensions are 5'0" x 19 3/4" x 3 5/8"

Feels good to be closing in fast towards the finish line!!!

Garage Works - 1/27/2026 - Part 2

I went back in to the garage and I got the plugs installed.

Drill pilot, drill hole, fit plugs, tape hole, fill with epoxy, hold in place, remove excess, let harden.

These plugs only need about 0.36 and 0.14 ounces of resin.

I also filled the two spots that were low (and open because of an air bubble).

So tomorrow I'll sand these plugs and fills, open the tracks and spray the clear coat.

Evening Session - 1/27/2026

Marlon and I caught the evening surf (I needed to wash off all the sanding dust).

Tide was really low.  Light onshores (that weren't really altering the surf).

And the waves were chest high on the sets (but the sets were rather infrequent).

Marlon brought out the Evo - and he caught some good waves with it.  He was mostly on the Middles break.

I brought out the Cado again, this time with the Pivot version of the Taylor Knox NVS fins.

I think I surfed this board better with the rake version - but it really was difficult catching meaningful waves today - longboarders... and closeouts

I did catch some fun ones, but besides turns to get into a better position and running a few walls, the waves weren't presenting much opportunity today.

Roland was out on Foil Drive.

I think I'll use the Boogie fish next session - or the Sweet Potato with the Alpha Vector 3/2 quad set.

PW:5/FD:9/S:6

Garage Works - 1/27/2026

I got through the main sanding this afternoon.

I still have a couple of air bubble spots to fill (then sand again - it never ends...), but generally the sanding is done.

Bottom deck port side -

Bottom deck starboard side

Top deck port side

Top deck starboard side

And the projected deck pad locations - I'm gonna sit on this for a bit before committing.

I have to get the leash plug and the vent installed still (I may go to the garage now and do that tonight).  Then route open the tracks.  Sanding the track slots and the small air bubble fills would be next.  Then spraying the clear coat on and placing the deck pads and opening the insert holes.

I should be able to get this in the water by the upcoming weekend.

Foil Drive Session - 1/26/2026

Better wave energy this afternoon - front runners of an in bound swell started to show.

Super low tide (longer paddle out)

Slight onshore breeze (thermal - but not enough to wing/parawing)

Best looking peaks were in front of the cabins.

Same setup as usual.  And I used the Max battery (weekday session).

There was ample energy in the waves to unleash the Enduro 900!!!

Super hard carving turns - so much fun!!!!

Lots of curves means tons of fun!!!

17 rides - about as good as it gets!

Tomorrow the swell should be bigger - planning on surfing the Machadocado....

PW:5/FD:9/S:5

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 1/25/2026

Yesterday morning I had to get Kalani's board back to him, so I opted to Foil Drive.

The waves were tiny -

I put together the standard equipment that I've been using for Foil Drive-ing.  But I should have setup the Enduro 1100/HA40 - that how weak the waves were.

This did not take too long to set up.

I didn't bring my watch so no statistics - but that's okay.

Dennis, Kalani, Noel, Ben, Carlo, Carlo's girlfriend (who is way better at Foil Drive-ing than he is), and Roland were all out.

Derek and Regan both looked then decided to go do something else (that's how small it was).

Because of the lulls between rideable waves, I got cold before the battery got run down.

PW:5/FD:8/S:5

Garage Works 3 of 3 - 1/24/2026

Last garage works post for today.

Kalani dropped off his board after his Foil Drive session at WP.  Marlon and I were just getting back from Hapa Surf Shop when he got to the house.

This is the airline vent that the KT board has. 

With the board this dark, sunlight generates a lot of air expansion potential - that's actually how I found the small pinhole leak I fixed when Kalani had me install signal windows.

Here's the retrofit vent kit I got from Fiberglass Hawaii.  With this version, if you are careful, you really don't have to sand the area around the vent.

Here's to vent plug cut out of the board.

Just in case (and since I was going to be away getting lunch) - I placed the fan on the board.

After sanding No.43, I checked the hole to make sure there was no moisture in the foam.  Then I mixed up enough epoxy and aerosil to fill the hole and get squeezed out (making sure there was enough epoxy mix inside the hole).

I cleaned up the edge around the vent plug lip - to make sure this is properly sealed.  I used a mixing stick and used the same technique stick welders use to get an even bead across the work.

I'll drill out the vent hole tomorrow morning, get the vent screwed in, then the board goes back to Kalani.

24 hour turnaround!

Garage Works 2 of 3 - 1/24/2026

Marlon had been looking at getting a new board - and I suggested he get a consignment Firewire Evo that I saw on Facebook Marketplace.

I told him to check out some reviews online and see if this board would fill the niche.  When the advertised price suddenly dropped - he said it definitely met the criteria.

We went this morning just as the shop opened up.

The board was pretty much flawless - so here it is!

And he qued up the Future T1 twin plus trailer set that he got for his birthday.

I went because I wanted to grab a Creatures of Leisure leash I saw on their website - the integrated loop - rail saver.  Marlon also got one and some stickers - always a fun time hitting surf shops with this guy!!!

Garage Works 1 of 3 - 1/24/2026

I skipped out on the dawn patrol to get further ahead on No.43 (and to go with Marlon to Hapa Surf Shop - that's the next post)

I started this morning by sanding the board top and bottom

Then I redid the fill coat on the bottom deck to get a more opaque look.  Don't skimp on the pigment and the small jars pretty much do a single board.

This is where Marlon and I left.  And when we got back, La and I headed out to hit the bookstore and get lunch.

So in the afternoon, I skipped out on an afternoon session to sand yet again.

Top deck - 

Bottom deck

I cleaned the spots where I was going to place the labels, got them on and let them sit for a little bit.  This is when I got to installing a vent on Kalani's board (upcoming post)

Here is No.43 with the decals and the last epoxy fill coat.

Transom decals 

Standard starboard bottom deck label

Standard port side bottom deck label for foil boards 

This build is coming along nicely.

Tomorrow I'll get an epoxy fill coat on the top deck early in the morning.

Once that is hardened, I'll sand the whole board through the sanding grit regime.

I'll target opening the tracks and dressing the slot edges.

I should be able to get the vent and leash plugs installed also.

That'll leave the 2K clear coat for Monday, and deck pad installation for Tuesday.

I'll let everything sit and get settled/cured/hardened for a few days - that has No.43 getting anointed anytime from Friday on (conditions dependent).