Skunked and Garage Works - 1/14/2026

Straight south wind this afternoon.  When it is straight onshore, or straight offshore, it gets hard to gauge the wind strength.

And you also have to pay attention to how close (or far) you are from shore.

There was actually plenty of wind.  I was optimistic and packed the Maliko 4.0 and the Ka'a 4.8.

I bolted on the Enduro 1100/HA40 (there was plenty of wind right???) on to No.40

I could not get up on foil - too choppy, too aggressive a foil (damn me!!!), and wishy-washy wind.  I drifted down from PV and landed at CG.

Oh well - skunks happen.

After that I still actually had some sunlight when I got home.  I went ahead and routed out the insert slots.

And I went ahead and got them glued in.

Tomorrow I'll rout out the slots for the inserts and get them epoxied in.  I'll also placed some fill around the cap block seams (and fill in the blank ding on the starboard nose)

I took the next couple of days off - Nick Yamodis is in town.

I should also try to finish this board...

Evening Session - 1/12/2026

There was a decent north wind blowing - strong enough to parawing/wing, but when I checked out the conditions after work, the wind line was pretty far out (and the tide was getting silly low).  I opted to do some much needed yard work and to check the conditions later.

After mowing the yard, the wind did actually strengthen, and the wind line did get closer to shore - but I didn't have a lot of time.  I grabbed the Sweet Potato (Volcanic - I sold the Helium 2 one yesterday) with the Alpha Vector 3/2 quad set. 

Marlon came with and brought his longboard.  He got several good waves (easier to paddle in board).

I got three - and they were mostly straight runs.  It was nice just to get in the water.

Roland was out on Foil Drive testing out the Vyper 150 for FD.

Hopefully the wind starts to lineup to allow some parawinging -

PW:3/FD:4/S:4

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 1/11/2026

Dawn patrolled on the Foil Drive again this morning.

Same gear as yesterday.

The waves were smaller than yesterday.  But if you patiently waited, some decent waves rolled through on the sets.

There was only really one takeoff spot this morning - out in front of the rental shack.  I was pretty far out so I wasn't competing with any SUPs or longboarders when catching waves.  And as I got closer to the lineups, I hopped out the back and let everybody get their share.

15 rides today.  That's really good considering the conditions.

Foil Drive definitely has it's place in the tool box.  I'm glad to have other tools to make best use of the presented conditions - but thank goodness for the Foil Drive!

PW:3/FD:4/S:3

Garage Works - 1/10/2026

I did some measuring for the footstrap placement today.

The inserts need to be 8" from respective hole to hole in order to have my foot fit through the strap.

Trying to decide where my feet will go and where I want to added flexibility - that is always the hard part.

I spent the second half of the day with La and the kids, and then with just La so I didn't get to the work I wanted to on the board.  I'll get to this over the next few days.

This and I did pick up some more epoxy and a vent yesterday - and I did check on the carbon I already have.  If I get motivation - I can get this finished quickly.

And then I can start working on converting the short board I have into a tow boogie -

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 1/10/2026

Used the Foil Drive on this morning's dawn patrol.

Waist to Chest high waves on the sets.

Medium tide (but still managed to scratch up my feet)

Light offshore wind.

I didn't have much time today - La wanted to do our pictures.

But in doing the standard meet and greets, the battery had been idle for too long and the throttle wasn't registering.  I had to paddle back in and dismantle the system to redo the battery.  That killed a lot of time (I was using the trench board).

Kalani, Dennis, Ben, Andrew, Makana, John, Scott, Derek and Brent were all out on foil, with Roland coming out later.

I was pretty hard on the throttle with the short time line.

The waves were smooth and if you picked the right one, offered some steeper faces.  With the smoother surface, I could more easily dig/lean into my turns.  Marlon said I was turning with the tips breaking the surface.

I'm guessing 13 waves -

PW:3/FD:3/S:3

Garage Works - 1/9/2026

I also used the pictures I took the last time I had the Foil Drive out to get the footing estimated on No.43

I took the positions my feet occupied and transposed them on to No.43

I marked the center of each foot sitting underneath the strap.

Tomorrow I'll do some measuring to locate the insert positions.  I'll rout those out and get the reinforcement blocks glued in.

I'll also fill the voids around the two blocks I placed.

I've been thinking about how this board will be laminated - all carbon with some innegra mesh would be the lightest.  But if I ignore the cloning tactic I had been generating (thinking the registration thing is right around the corner), I could use a pigmented fill coat and get this board a distressed look.  And in that case I would use the basalt I recently ordered.

Still some things to think about...

Evening Session - 1/9/2026

Marlon and I headed out to surf pretty late in the afternoon.

Low tide, almost no wind and waist high surf when the sets came through.

Marlon brought his newer longboard.

I brought the Firewire Sweet Potato (regular Helium 2) today and here are the heelside fins from the Ryan Burch Asymmetric fin sets. 

These fins did not have a lot of drive - or maybe the waves didn't have any tappable energy.  But when I took off, I was not able to get to the pocket.  These being designed as heel side fins, their function may be maneuverability and not drive.

I caught six in an hour - they were still fun (but yesterday was much better).

I may start using the different twin fins sets again with a small trailer.

PW:3/FD:2/S:3

Evening Session - 1/8/2026

I did end up surfing today.

The tide was really low - and I just don't like foiling in those conditions (or at least having to paddle out super far).

There was a westerly wind blowing - but it did not mess up the surf.

Firewire Sweet Potato finned with the Alpha Vector 3/2 quad set.  These fins are becoming what I prefer to use with this board when the waves are small.

Marlon got asked by Roland to record some more video, so he came with.

I caught three really nice (albeit small) waves where I got in multiple hard turns and got some distance out of them.  You had to be patient - both in waiting for the sets to come through and in trying to get away from all the kooks.

The waves may get a little bigger tomorrow - may be another surfing day with the tide.  Might try the Sweet Potato again but with the Ryan Burch Asymmetric 

PW:3/FD:2/S:2

Evening Foil Drive Session - 1/7/2026

Marlon and I hit WP this afternoon - both foiling.  Light wind, low tide and when the sets came through, good waves.

There were a ton of kooks out today.

I specifically needed to Foil Drive today so I could take pictures of where I place my feet.  I need this info to set the foot straps on No.43

This was one of the better waves today.

Here is the picture I need - now I can line up where I need to place the divynicell blocks

There was a lot of water moving around and both Roland and I would get randomly ejected.

Marlon got up on foil three times.

13 rides

Fun session even though it was more like getting cracks

If the conditions tomorrow are like today, I may surf -

PW:3/FD:2/S:1

Parawing Session - 1/6/2026

The wind was blowing all day -

I got home and packed up the parawinging gear.  No.34 with the AFS 85cm UHM mast, Enduro 1300/HA43, short fuselage.

Power courtesy of the BRM Maliko (V1) 5.1m

Roland came out (but later).

Wind was largely perfect for the Maliko 5.1 - save a lull that kept me down for a bit. 

The waves were head high on the sets - not sure where they came from but what a gift in the middle of winter.

I had a handful of waves where I doused and rode for a really long time - this is one of the reasons why I parawing.

The Maliko does not have the drift that the Flysurfer has.  When the waves weren't big enough to carry me without the PW, I would ride and keep the PW high, but it pulled more than I would have preferred.

Lots of parallels between the two charts.

Fantastic session!!!!

PW:3/FD:1/S:1

Evening Session - 1/5/2026

I helped La put away the Christmas decorations today after work.  Then I headed to the beach for a late (and quick) surf session.

I wanted to try the Seaside and Beyond with the Machado Quads.

The surf was typical WPB - there was a side on wind and it was pretty overcast.

The waves were thigh to belly high.  If you chose your spot in the lineup well, there were good takeoffs to be had.

My first wave was my best - nice drop, bottom turn and setup for an off the top.  The second one was fun but I didn't have much length on that wave.  And the third was even shorter.  By that time the sun was dropping behind the horizon and light was fading.

I can see the Tappy Quads working well in this board.  And even the heel side Ryan Burch Asymmetric fins would go well on this board.  More experimenting!!! 

PW:2/FD:1/S:1

Garage Works - 1/4/2026

Lots of rain today.  La and Noe and I ran some errands - but when we got home, I got more work done on No.43

Marked up the blank for where the top deck foam block (glued to the top of the reinforcement block for a direct connection) would go.

Then I routed out the reinforcement block slot.

Followed by the top deck block slot.

Here's the blank with the two slots cut in.

Mast Track Block gets glued in first -

Followed by the top deck block.

Picture of the top deck block getting glued in.

Tomorrow (or whenever I get to work on the board again) I'll plane off the excess top deck block foam, do the final fine sanding (to blend in the two blocks), and get the foot strap inserts prepared.

If all goes well, I'll be laminating by this weekend.

Fishing Trip - 1/3/2026

Saturday surf and wind were forecasted to be meh -

I got a text from Norm asking if I wanted to go fishing - twist my arm!!!

And I brought Marlon along.

The trip yielded two smaller mahi and this perfect eating sized striped marlin!!!

The first mahi was a double strike - but the second one came off the hook.

The second strike was a double again - two marlin!!!

The second one came off also - but that was a blessing in disguise (handling two is a handful - handling one is a handful).

The marlin ran twice.

Then the pole it was fighting cracked near the upper 1/4th.

Then after missing it with the gaff twice, the line broke and Norm just had it in his hand.

It took everyone in the boat but we landed the marlin!!!!

Epic day of fishing!!!!

Mahalo Norm for the day of fishing!!!

Parawing Session - 1/2/2026

Strong wind at the Plains today!

Tide was still on the low side - had to paddle out past the breaking waves line to get deep enough to flip the board.

Small waves locally generated by the wind.

Monk seal enjoying the beach -

Same board and foil as yesterday - switched out the parawing to the BRM Maliko 5.1

The wind was really good!  But the swell was not big enough to carry me on foil only (so no retracting the parawing). 

The Maliko 5.1 was slightly overpowered for about half the session.  And it was underpowered for about 10% of the time (lull about the middle of the session).  Perhaps the POW 4.0 and/or the Enduro 1100 would have been better to handle today's conditions

I tried to get some tacks in - but I wasn't able to complete them.  I did get a down loop jibe in.  The Maliko has pretty direct steering (compared to the Flysurfer POW) - I'm not sure why I can't get tacks (again).  I'll have to get to Hickam and practice again.

But it felt good to get a down loop in.

There's that lull -

Days like this have been rare as of late - 

PW:2/FD:1