Kinda Dawn Patrol - 4/15/2023

I had to take Noe to Punahou this morning so she could take the ACT test.  After, I figured I'd get a quick session in.  I was hopeful that the waves would be chect high - but they were closer to waist.

Not the best conditions for this board.

I did manage to get a handful of waves, but this board was built to be used on waves with lots more energy.  Hard to call this one an anointment (same thing happened to the Hypto Krypto), so I write this one up as a test.

I can tell this is going to be a great board - it'll just need some size.

W:34/F:21/S:25

Evening Session - 1/3/2023

La dropped me off at the beach this afternoon - I got some surf and she and Noe went on to get some shopping done.  I didn't take any pictures at the beach, but the wind was pretty much offshore, the tide was low, and the waves were really clean and thigh to belly high (and every now and then a chest high set).

I caught a bunch, but had to pick them off from the crowd - the further inside I was, the better my chances at picking it up.  My last wave was a long one, and I was turning all over the place.  Making lemonade from lemons!!!

I think I'm going to swap the NVS Aipa Da Hook quads out for either the Grennan quads or the Webber Transformer twins plus trailer (probably this set).

W:0/F:0/S:4

Evening Session - 1/2/2023

I wanted to make up for a low wave count this morning, so I took the Sweet Potato out to WPB this afternoon.  It was a really low tide, light wind and a waist (to chest high if you waited) high swell pushing through.

I caught plenty of waves, and the longer I was out, the better my rides got.  My last ride I did multiple turns and rode it most of the way back to the beach.  I was catching most of the waves I would have caught on the TJ Everyday.  This board will help extend the life of the Everyday by taking some of the pressure to ride it when the waves are smaller and gutless.

I really like the feel of these fins.  If I have a wave face to work with, turning seems to actually generate board speed.  This set felt way better than the Machado Quads - more drive, speed and release at the same time.

I'm going to ride this board with these NVS Aipa Da Hook fins for a few more sessions - then I think I'm going to try out another set of fins I got for Christmas - the Webber Transformers.  And then the Wayne Rich Nightmare Keels, without and then with a nubster trailer.  It is going to be a fun year experimenting with the Sweet Potato and different fins!!!

W:0/F:0/S:3

Dawn Patrol - 1/2/2023

Dawn patrolled Pyramid Rock with Jimmy today.  Oddly enough, it was windy - 

The swell was funny - nothing, then medium sized waves, and cleanup sets - all surging in and dumping.  Marlon got three on his Seaside.  I got one on the Sweet Potato (and in that one ride, I could already tell the NVS Aipa Da Hook Quads are magic).  I rode that one wave in and grabbed the Hypto Krypto since the waves had a ton of energy.

Since I had the Hypto Krypto out, the waves of course started to pull back (actually I think the tide was peaking).  But after a considerable wait, I finally did get one - this is another magic board and fin combo.  

Despite the challenging conditions, it was still really fun catching up with Jimmy!

W:0/F:0/S:2

Evening Session - 12/30/2022

I hit the beach pretty late in the day - the sun was already pushing some nice color out by the time I was in the lineup.  The waves were pretty consistent and were about waist high.  The tide was pretty low and there was some wind (but nowhere near enough to wing)

I took the Firewire Sweet Potato out with the Machado Quads.  This board paddles really easily and picks up waves like a much longer board.  With these fins, I could do a bottom turn, but I was wanting for more drive to move down the wave and keep some speed up.

I caught plenty of waves in a short time frame.  This is a really fun board!!!  This board has been properly anointed.  For my weight, this is a much better board for me than either the Mashup or the Seaside.

Nice sunset!

I went ahead and switched out the Machado Quads for the Aipa Da Hook quad set.

These are going to be really interesting to test!!!

W:128/F:100/S:46