Parawing Session - 2/9/2026

I got home from work and immediately headed out to the beach

The wind was nuking this afternoon - but it was way up and down.

Two Monk Seals chilling today (and I could totally understand - the water was pretty cold).

Tide was low (had to paddle pretty far out to avoid bottom strikes).

And with the wind, there was decent surf pushing through.

Roland was my wingman today -

I downsized to the AFS Enduro 1100/HA40

And I packed three parawings into the dry bag - the Maliko 2.9, the Ka'a 3.6 and the Maliko 4.0

I started with the Ka'a 3.6 - and was surprisingly up and running almost immediately.  This had me thinking maybe I should have this foil bolted on more.  Previous sessions with this foil usually ended up with me paddling back -

You could see the gusts flowing down from the airport area.  When a knock down gust looked like it was headed over, I stopped, backed whatever wing I had up and swapped to the Maliko 2.9

This PW needs wind - but it definitely handled the high 30s (low 40s???)

And I also pulled out the Maliko 4.0

From the wind graph - the wind was definitely all over the place.  Bringing 3 parawings (why not - they fit nicely in the drybag) is likely what I'll do in the future if the wind is forecasted to be this wild.

I did retract the parawing to ride prone a few times, one of which ran for quite some distance.

I did have to fight my way back to the launch point - but I didn't have to perform an epic paddle to get back - it was all on parawing!

We definitely don't get wind like this except for a few times a year!

PF:1/PW:10/FD:14/S:7

Garage Works - 2/8/2026

Worked on a couple of repair orders today.

This is Kalani's new to him KT Super K2.

It needs windows for the Foil Drive and a ding repair on the tail.

I drilled out the forward windows and got the fill placed.

And these are the footstrap inserts epoxied into the divynicell reinforcement blocks.

Roland is always jumping his boards - I have to install these to withstand a lot of abuse.

Next up on this is to rout out the slots on the board and open up the delaminated spots (which are pretty close to the spots where the inserts will go).

Then I'll added carbon and fiberglass where needed and get the blocks installed. 

Then I'll place reinforcement patches and a cap sheet.

Then I'll install a vent plug.

I think he said he's used this for Foil Drive before so it doesn't need windows.  I'll double check before giving it back to him.

Parawing Session - 2/8/2026

The wind was up this morning.  Way up, then way down - hard to pick which size parawing.

This guy was still chilling on the beach (there were 3 on the beach on Friday afternoon).

The waves were small and the tide was at a medium depth.

No.34 with the 80cm UHM mast and the Enduro 1300/HA43

I don't think this graph is entirely correct - seemed way stronger

Based on what was blowing when I pulled up, I initially put up the Flysurfer POW 5.0

But got quickly overpowered in a pretty epic gust.

After the gust pulled through, I considered staying out on the POW 5.0 - but figured since I brought other PWs, might as well try something else.

Kalani was there and he put up his Triple 7 PT Skin 7.3 - he went in at the same time to size down.

Lots of north in the wind.

Pretty short stint out - so I'm not counting this as a separate session.

I debated which wing to bring out - and decided to pack two.  I packed the Maliko 5.1 and the Maliko 4.0.  I used a dry bag that I got from Marlon and I could have packed the Maliko 2.9 in there also.

I squished the excess air out and the bag was pretty streamlined.

The only downside was I couldn't stash the wing I was using completely away.

I started out with the Maliko 5.1 - and was fine until one of those nuking gusts ripped through.

I switched to the Maliko 4.0 and that stayed up the rest of the session.

That was the swap out at 20 minutes in.

The 4.0 was so nice to fly -

There were a few waves where I was able to retract the PW and ride - but the waves were pretty small outside of those few instances.

Towards the end there was another knock down gust and I figured I should call it quits before I got hurt.

EPIC session!!!!

PF:1/PW:9/FD:14/S:7

Garage Works - 2/7/2026

And I did spend a little time in the garage.

These are the footstrap insert reinforcement blocks for the modification that Roland is asking for (place footstraps in the Appletree prone board)

I routed out the slots from the d-cell blocks

And I prepared the inserts by wiping them down with acetone.

I'll epoxy these together tomorrow.

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 2/7/2026

Dawn patrol this morning -

The tide was the same as yesterday evening.

The wind was a little stronger than yesterday, but aimed offshore.

And the waves were slightly bigger, but spaced out more.

Same setup as yesterday - but I swapped out the Mako Carve 130 for the HA38 rear stabilizer.  That Mako tail is wild!!!!  The HA38 calmed things down a bit and had just enough support to pump back out short distances.

I also swapped out the wing screw nuts for the regular nuts - the positioning from yesterday seemed pretty good.  The Silk 850 feels "looser" than the Enduro 900 (which seems to have more "drive" and "projection")

The waves were actually smaller for the most part.  And the wind would actually blow you back a bit when taking off.

The turns on the Silk 850 are so good -

29 rides -

These were shorter rides for the most part - just the way the waves and the tide were interacting.

I'm glad I have the Silks in the quiver now!

Tomorrow may be a parawing dawn patrol...

PF:1/PW:8/FD:14/S:7

Evening Foil Drive Session - 2/6/2026

I had wanted to catch three waves to make sure the Silk 1050 was positioned as well as it could be - but after that second wave, I didn't want to have to wait a long time to ride that third wave.

I headed in and swapped out the prone foiling gear for the Foil Drive setup.

Silk 850 on deck - along with the Mako Carve 130 rear stabilizer.

It actually didn't take too long to do the swap. 

I paddled out and rode three waves, then made the determination that I needed the foil pushed forward.

After the adjustment, the system was flawless - and the turns/carves on this setup were nothing short of visceral!!!

I forgot how much fun the Silk 850 is -

Ten rides in under 30 minutes - ridiculous!!!!  Such a stark contrast between prone foiling wave count and the crazy number of rides you can get while Foil Drive-ing

I'm going to take this setup out again first thing in the morning!!!

PF:1/PW:8/FD:13/S:7

Evening Prone Foiling Session - 2/6/2026

I had two rest days in a row - today was a get out and get some foil positions down on No.43 day

The waves were generally small, but they were supposed to pick up a bit and the tide was coming up - so generally a favorable forecast.

These three were basking - we don't usually get three this close in proximity.

No.43 with the AFS 75cm UHM mast (freshly modified), Modular Silk 1050/Silk 142 mounted on the standard Fuselink fuselage. 

With the waves on the small side, prone foiling was even harder than it is normally.  And it didn't help I was trying to be extra cautious with the new foil.

After a long wait and many failed takeoffs, I finally caught one and got up to ride.  The Silk 1050 is amazing!!!  Turns super hard, pumps through flat spots and is uber maneuverable.

On this wave the system felt like it could use more raw lift.  I moved the foil forward and tried again.

The second wave I caught felt way better -

The pressure felt balanced front and back, and the turns were even easier to make.

Both waves were decently long, but with low wave energy, I had zero chance of pumping back out.

Prone foiling is no joke - I'll mix this in more to regain my proficiency.

PF:1/PW:8/FD:12/S:7

Garage Works - 2/5/2026

I ended up taking another rest day (waves weren't supposed to be that good).

But in the interest of getting prepared for the next few days, I knocked out a project I've been wanting to get on for quite some time.  The AFS UHM 75cm Skinny mast had flat (pan head) bolt holes.  I use countersunk bolts - so that was a problem.

If you use countersunk bolts in a flat hole, all the pressure the bolts transfer to the mast are done so in point loads 

I dug through several spots in the garage until I found this - a countersinking drill bit.

Here's how the countersunk bolts sit on an unmodified bolt hole - proud by a long shot.

And here are the bolts in a hole that has been countersunk.

Nice and recessed.

The load is now spread out over a much larger area.

Just in time to setup a prone foiling session...

Garage Works - 2/4/2026

This was work from yesterday (forgot to post).

I sanded the nose and tail of the Cymatic.  All is now good with this board.

I went ahead and put the base coat and top coat of wax on.  And I placed it in the Faro board bag (fits perfectly).

Then I shifted to the next project - placing footstrap inserts and a vent into Roland's Appletree prone foil board (that he wants to use for Foil Drive-ing).

I pulled a deckpad section to see how much it would stretch and see if it could be reused.  It stretched too much so it couldn't be saved - then I proceeded to strip it all.  It'll make for a cleaner board modification.

Roland pointed out the delamination happening on the right.  But after taking up more deck pad, the one on the left became readily apparent.  These spots are pretty close to the footstrap locations, so they should be relatively easy to repair and hide.

I set these up according to how Roland indicated, and sent him a text to confirm.

20 cm is the spacing between respective holes - and he had these set pretty much at that spacing.

Personally I would have placed the back foot set further out towards the starboard rail - but that goes to show you everybody rides foils differently.

I'll route out the slots in reinforcement blocks, epoxy in the inserts, then cut the slots in the board.

I'll cut out the delams, epoxy on carbon patches, and then put on a cover sheet over each of the insert sets (so two side-by-side patches).

Garage Works - 2/3/2026

I got some work done in the garage this evening.

I sanded the repair on the Machadocado and it is back to 100%

Then I sanded all the small dings on the Cymatic.  All but the tail and nose repairs came out fine.

On the nose, I added another seal coat.

And on the tail I added a couple of basalt patches.

I'll likely add a fill coat with white pigment to blend in the tail repair.

Then I got the foot strap insert blocks for Roland's board all measured out.

I'll route out the slots for the inserts.  Then I'll epoxy in the inserts.

It never ends.... which is a good thing!

Parawing Session - 2/3/2026

I had planned on prone foiling today on No.43 to start getting different foil positions set - but Norm texted and said he was going to use his new Triple 7 PT Skin 7.3 parawing.

I figured why not and suggested we do a reverse run from PVs down to WP.  We parked a vehicle at WP and headed over to PVs to launch.  This was the conditions at WP.

Wind was definitely blowing from the WNW-NW

I setup the same equipment as the past couple of days and packed up the Triple 7 PT Skin 5.4

As we paddled out I started wondering where the wind was.  But after paddling out past the shallow points at PVs, the wind line was apparent and actually pretty strong.

At the front end of the session I had to pump the PW and foil a little bit to get up - but it wasn't bad and I didn't come off foil for 40 minutes.

There were some waves breaking on the outside reef.  When I tried to catch and ride those waves, the wind direction and the parawing weren't really getting along. 

The more I use the Triple 7 PT Skin, the easier it is to fly at a higher performance level.  It turns/banks nicely (no more catching lines on the front of the handle; and it rarely stalled on the rolls initiating the turns).  It does fly differently than the BRMs and Flysurfer - I just needed to get more time on it.

It didn't seem this windy throughout the session - and realistically the wind direct probably broke the wind up more where we were riding.  There were a few times I felt slightly overpowered, but again - I'm thinking the wind was not this intense as shown on the graph.  This parawing has a pretty wide range.

Norm initially had a slow start, but eventually was up and riding (whew!!!  No talk about selling everything after the session).  He was even completing jibes consistently.

Coming in to land, I caught a nice wave and rode it all the way to the beach (it was a higher tide so I didn't ground the foil).

This was a super fun session!!!

PW:8/FD:12/S:7