Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/5/2026

Waves were better this morning - but also more crowded.

Seeing Stu riding the AFS Silk 850 yesterday, I brought mine out today

And I tried out the K2Parts Mako Pro Medium rear stabilizer

Today was carving day - the Silk 850 delivered in spades!!!!

With the steeper faces and cleaner conditions, multiple hard carving turns felt so good...

And it was actually getting crowded with people who were riding the wave I was on (I don't like the possibility of getting into a collision so I prefer to ride solo).

23 rides - 

I had left already, but Kalani was hanging out and this crew took over the beach!

Happy Easter!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:25/S:9

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 4/4/2026

Dawn patrolled this morning with the Foil Drive.

There were some waves coming through.

The most noteworthy things was the temperature - it was really cold.

Enduro 900/HA38 on No.34

Full house today - Alex, Ben, Kalani, Noel, Roland, Stu, Eddy, Andrew and Mark (and maybe a few others that I didn't see).

Nice conditions - light offshore wind, but it was pretty darn cold.

Periodically a good set would roll through - steep walls where fun top to bottom runs could be had.

22 rides - not too shabby.

There is another Kona low pressure system headed towards Hawaii... next week from late Tuesday through Saturday we will see impacts (rain and southerly winds).

Gotta get it while the going is good...

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:24/S:9

Parawing Session - 4/3/2026

Grinding concrete floors at work... needed to rinse all that dust off

Wind was just parawingable -

Nice high tide - waves if you were patient.

Same equipment as last session, but bolted on the AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 (from the lesson learned last session)

Stu, Prayot, Kalani, Eddy, Robby, Roland, Duke and Derek were all out at some point.

The wind was more up and down than I thought...

If I wasn't so stubborn, I think I would have had a blast with the North Nova Pro 5.0

But instead I had a 50-50 session - half up, half down.  I could have gotten up pumping the wing - but instead I chose to train in lighter wind.

I did get a few double loop jibes in.  And I did get field stripped a few times.

In between those extremes I did a few normal jibes.

I did get to ride a few waves - but Robby and Eddy got the good ones.

I could sense the wind backing off so I figured I'd try and catch a few waves on the way in.

I got up on two - but the parawing pouch was full of water and my weight was not distributed properly.  But I did get up so it counts!

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 4/1/2026

There were winds blowing on the outside - more of an offshore wind.

Tide was nice and high.

Minimal waves

Big stuff - except the foil... I should have used the Enduro 1300 - but I bolted on the Enduro 1100

For generating power, I brought the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7

The first half of the session was really fun.  I did not attempt to tack today - the big PT Hybrid needs a specific technique to get it moving.

The second half, I got dropped by a wave and the wind wasn't strong enough to get me moving. I drifted a long ways trying to get back up on foil.  I eventually was able to get up on foil, but I'd wreck and have to wait for another gust.

Eventually I got back to the launch.

Turns out Norm cut his ankle early on (gonna need stitches), Prayot and I got washed downwind, and even Roland had a hard time getting up on foil.

The Triple Seven PT Hybrid 5.7 needs a hard bank to get it to initiate a turn - I'm gonna have to practice this more.  The Hybrid 4.3 turns way easier.

Lots of on top of the water time just waiting for a gust.  Almost all the falls were from me messing up a jibe.

I think I'm gonna take a break tomorrow and clean the garage.  I definitely need a break...

PF:4/W:2/PW:30/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 3/31/2026

Today was a bit stronger wind than yesterday, but smaller waves.

Nice high tide again - definitely made launching and landing way easier.

Two monk seals were basking away today.

Parawings are so easy to carry - and that leads to swapping.  I initially took the Maliko 5.1 out, was a tad bit overpowered then went in to swap out to the Maliko 4.0

And something else new - I used the Silk 1050/Silk 142

This graph usually goes before the speed graphs, but since I went out twice, I'll put it here.  If I had thought it through, I would have packed both and swapped out when the wind dictated.

I took the Maliko 5.1 out first

I waited a bit, but when the wind and the swell were aligned more side off, I started throwing tacks.  I got in at least three riding out of, and a few more that I got hung up on.  Heelside tacking feels way more like you are about to crash the parawing nose first compared to an inflatable wing.  I'm getting more accustomed to this now so it should start to feel less critical.

Not bad for the Silk 1050 -

I did go in and I moved the foil forward a couple of notches and I swapped PWs out to the Maliko 4.0

Unfortunately the wind started to get a bit more up and down.  I was still able to get up, but it involved a lot more pumping.

With the Maliko 4.0, I could tack over easier and jibing was almost automatic.

I got in several more tacks - some good, others where the wind seemed to fade as I was coming back down.

And there was a big lull where I needed just a couple more mph to get up.  I thought I was going to have to paddle back - but I did manage to get up and had enough wind to get back to the launch point.

Always a great session when you don't have to paddle back!!! 

PF:4/W:2/PW:29/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 3/30/2026

The wind was blowing around pretty strong while I was driving home.

When I got to the beach, it was the opposite - it looked pretty light.

Tide was nice and high.

Surf was small, but if you were patient, chest high waves rolled in.

Same board-foil, swapped out the parawing for the BRM Maliko 5.1

The Maliko 5.1 was the perfect PW for this afternoon's wind.

Out the gate - the first turn I did was a heel side tack.  I got it around, but didn't retain enough speed to sail out.

If there was wind flowing through, I tried tacking again and again.  I ended up getting all my attempts around and I sailed out of three of them!!!

Tacking a parawing feels a lot different than tacking an inflatable wing.  The wing "flips" as you get it through the eye of the wind.  A parawing has to be twisted through the eye (pushing a rope...)

I'm now motivated to keep doing this until I can tack at will.

On a couple of waves I had retracted the parawing and rode for quite some distance.  The first of these I redeployed successfully and rode back out.  I got twisted up on the subsequent ones.

Norm and Roland were out on wings.

Today was super fun!!!

PF:4/W:2/PW:28/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 3/29/2026

Much shorter session this morning.  The wind was up around 10:30 - but clouds moved in and messed with the wind (which was already offshore).

Low tide again.

And the swell was pushing fun looking waves through (hmmmm - maybe I brought the wrong equipment???)

Same gear as yesterday - but looking out at the wind on the water, I had contemplated packing the BRM Maliko 5.1 and 4.0

I didn't remember to throw tacks - I was too busy making sure I didn't come off foil (with the lighter, questionable winds).  But jibing seemed to be smoother (repetition) and I'll hop onto some bigger swell.

Stu was out on his 4.2 wing and he paddled out pretty much the same time as I did.  And we both went in as the wind started to peter out (lots of clouds moved in).  

Kalani, Roland and Prayot paddled out a bit later.  They got caught way outside by the clouds (and the lack of wind).

It's good to know the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3 can reach down this low.

I did get some down loop jibes in - 

As I am typing this, the clouds have cleared and the wind is back to strong and dependable.  But I also got home early and got a bunch of honey-do's completed (give and take - so I should be able to get out tomorrow afternoon - and it is supposed to be strong and consistent).

PF:4/W:2/PW:27/FD:23/S:9

Parawing Session - 3/28/2026

The forecast called for the wind to pick up mid-morning - so I delayed my water time until 9:30am

The wind was hard off shore and strong!!!

The tide was really low and if you were patient, there were some good sets rolling through. 

Strong wind setup - Enduro 1100/HA40 (although I think I could have gotten up on the Enduro 900/HA38...), No.34 mounted with the AFS UHM 80cm mast

The engine was the Triple Seven PT Hybrid 4.3

Kalani and I paddled out at the same time.  Prayot came out an hour later and finally Roland put up his wing.  The wind was really strong on the outside - I was a little nervous when Kalani was way outside trying to get lined up to take off.  But like normal - his will power got him back to the "safe" riding zone.

Somewhere in all these tracks I got a tack in early (but wasn't able to foil out of it), and I got a second tack later (and sailed out of that one fully in control and up on foil).  I had another attempt but got field stripped of the board.  I'll be practicing the heel side tack every time I go from now on. 

Ridiculous gusts!!! The hybrid ate them up and I was able to ride through.

Every now and then a good set would come through - I only had one ride where I retracted the PW, rode the wave and then redeployed.  I had a couple of fails also where lines got stuck on things on me (J hook, belt, PW pouch).

On the inside jibes, I had multiple down loop transitions.  And the outside jibes went really well today also.  I'm guessing the transitions were easier because I was using the 4.3 - but I also think muscle memory will apply to the 5.7 as well.

Awesome session today!!!!

PF:4/W:2/PW:26/FD:23/S:9