Garage Works - 5/30/2026

Spent a little time in the garage - it's actually been a little bit...

I started with installing the AFS USurf 135 onto the Silk 850/Standard fuselage setup.  Going to take this out tomorrow to catch some bombs!!!

I took on a few repair jobs - first up is an older strut bladder repair.  I took the bladder out and found I needed to re-glue the valve stem on.

Made marks to make sure everything goes back on correctly

High strength, flexible glue on the bladder

And on the valve foot.  I got these put back together, but I'll go through the full cure before testing it.

And I even placed some epoxy - this is the tracks getting epoxied into place.

I will do some sanding to get the bottom prepared for more carbon fiber.  And I'll likely get the carbon overlays epoxied into place as well.

Evening Foil Drive Session - 4/16/2026

There was "annoying" wind this afternoon - pretty much thermals going straight on shore.

High tide, small swell running were the pluses.

Choppy surface conditions and wind not strong enough to get up on foil were the minuses.

These two were chillaxing this evening -

And having a fully charged battery that I needed to discharge, I opted to experiment today.

I want to start using the AFS Silk 650 on the bigger days - but in order to do that, I need to get it dialed in.

And to get up on foil more efficiently, I need to build board speed - so that meant No.39 (fastest board I've ever made).

I used the wing screws so I could make adjustments and get the 650 dialed in.

I ended up moving the foil back and forth to get the "balanced" feel.

And eventually I remembered the main issue was this is a 650 - and I need speed to keep this foil moving.

For those days where the swell is sustained this foil is going to infinitely rip.  Today I had several waves where it was working and I could tell when I was hitting the stall speed.  For sure I had it way forward (too much lift and I was having trouble keeping the foil down).  I had made adjustments and finally got to the point where it wasn't lifting me with subtle foot pressure.

So forward a couple of notches it went and now everything seems balanced.  I rode several waves and the "nervousness" that this foil always seemed to have when I used it, started to give way to the solid carving that I seem to get consistently from the bigger Silks.

21 rides.  The first half was mostly falling - while trying to get the foil dialed in.

Interestingly the foil settled in behind where I had marked the Silk 850.

Next time I Foil Drive I'll start the Silk 850 back a 1/4" and see if the way I use the foils has changed over time.

The waves look to be getting a tad bit bigger tomorrow.  I think I'll surf the Revo Max... And even better news - there is supposed to be wind on Saturday morning...

PF:5/W:2/PW:31/FD:29/S:12

Garage Works - 4/11/2026

On the way out yesterday, I thought I was in deep enough water - knowing it was low tide (0.1') I even paddled out further than I thought I needed to.

I had checked the water depth, flipped the board over and was even just getting situated.  The longshore current was kicking and I got pulled over to a different spot from where I checked the depth and I was no longer in deep enough water.

The foil stood up twice on the bottom.

It eventually happens to every foil if you are a White Plains foiler.

Yesterday evening I got to work on not just addressing the scratches from that day, but also tuning the foil.

I notice this more with AFS foils - lately there are tiny voids where the carbon and epoxy don't exactly press fully into the mold.  These are nothing major, but since I had to fill minor scratches, I figured I might as well take care of these and tune in the trailing edge.

After a couple of hours of filling and sanding - all done and better than new!

Unfortunately I did not get to use this foil this morning - the swell is starting to back off.