Dawn Patrol - 9/12/2021

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol on Sunday.  The swell was supposed to be even bigger than it was on Saturday - which it was.  But there was texture on the water and a weird chop.  The tide was really high, so I wasn't worried about grounding.  I caught a bunch of waves, but was having a hard time staying on them.  First off, I ended up adjusting the mast position.

Ended up being here (which is weird because it was further up than the HS1050 - which by the way is very similar).

I did get some fun rides - I don't want to paint the picture that this session sucked - but it definitely was challenging.  This weekend on the water... some days you win, some days you pay taxes.

Dawn Patrol - 8/29/2021

Marlon and I were on the dawn patrol again this morning.  The surf was bigger - chest high+ on the sets.  There was no wind to speak of and the tide was rising to a high of 1.6'.  Marlon brought out his longboard again - I changed things up again.  I brought the 4'6" and started out with the CF1200 on the 72cm mast and chopped 300 rear stabilizer.  I cannot say how good the combo is - on good waves, this thing absolutely rips!!!  I caught a bunch and then headed in to switch this setup out.

There is a lot of hype out on the High Aspect foils so I decided to break out the HA925.  I rigged it the way the guys on the internet said to - 85cm mast, small drag free rear stabilizer.  That said - they also said this foil does not like turbulent water (and it doesn't), and that it has a high stall speed (and it does).  It is going to get some getting used to to find the cadence and feel for this foil.  I did catch several on it - it is really fast.  It is also really unstable.  Next go I'll use the 72cm mast and the 232 rear stabilizer.

When I got home, I discovered that the HA925 was stuck on the fuselage.  I spent the next few hours getting both this foil and the GoFoil GL210 unstuck from their respective masts.  It felt good to get the 210 unstuck - now I can use the NL160 and PNL185 on that mast to experiment with those foils on the wing.

Evening Session - 8/19/2021

There was some wind today - but I decided to go prone foil instead.  First since I didn't want to drive back to Hickam (with the bigger surf, WPB would be harder to launch from), and second I was waking up from a long nap and I know the wind tends to die back later in the day.  I did want to mix it up a bit again - the surf did lower a notch, and I switched out the HS1050 to the CF1200.

I caught my first wave today and did a nose dive.  I set the mast more forward and that corrected the issue for the rest of the session.  I caught several more larger waves, but I also wiped out a bunch more than normal.  The waves were close together and taking off on a narrower board means landing on a much smaller sweet spot.  And getting my footing while trying to get in front of a shifting foam ball while just off the sweet spot leads straight to a wipe.  Still fun out there, but not the smoothest session.  On my third wave, I pumped back out (again with the CF1200).  When riding a standing wave that has an open end (todays were mostly open to the left), this foil is so awesome - carves top to bottom and going super fast - pure bliss!!!

The balance point was pretty much where the HS1050 was (the HS1050 is just forward of my mark, and the CF1200 is just behind it).  When you line up these two foils, they have a similar outline - the real differences are the thickness and the tips.  I think I actually like surfing with the CF1200 a lot more than the HS1050.  I'll still use both - but I think I'll try the HS1050 while winging in strong winds next.  There are too many front foils in this chest + high surf group (HS1250, HS1050, CF1200, GL140, NL160 - with the GL140 being my favorite closely followed by the CF1200).

Evening Session - 6/21/2021

Marlon and I hit WPB for an evening session.  I brought out the 4'8" with the same setup as yesterday (CF1200/Chopped 300).  Here I am double checking to see if the foil is in the right position.

The water had a little chop in it, but it wasn't bad enough to throw me off.  The waves were smaller than yesterday and the tide was dropping (so the lips weren't pitching today).  My first ride I taco'ed (and was lucky I didn't hit).  On my second wave I fell again and grazed my hip.  The sweet spot on this 4'8" is much smaller than on the wide 4'10" - so I'll attribute the falls to getting used to everything.  I did notice on my long rides, the board had a nose down orientation.  Going to have to shim the chopped 300 rear stabilizer to get the nose to level out.  My next several waves were much longer and I was able to maneuver between open face, dropping sections and incoming white water to crank some hard turns on.

I only saw Marlon on one wave today - nothing like yesterday - but I take what I'm given with joy and thankfulness.  

I did remember to look at my feet to note their positioning.  I'll wait one more session before placing the traction pad for the rear foot.

Fun day!

The Anointing of Number 21 - the 4'8" Prone Foil Board

Dawn Patrol third day in a row.  After much debate, Marlon brought his longboard and I brought the new 4'8".

The swell was pretty the same as yesterday.  I had left the HS1250 on from yesterday's foil modification, but after looking at the surf I opted to put the CF1200 on.  I used the finger-balance method to get the mast position close.  I took the screw driver to the beach in case I needed to make adjustments.

I saw Marlon takeoff on a good wave - he stalled at the top and buried his nose.  I thought he was going to eat it for sure, but he got the nose up and started dropping.  Then he did it again - buried the nose and recovered.  

This board is pretty light - but has enough weight that I can still catch waves.  I rode three - taking the last one in to the beach.  I could feel I was pushing more with my back foot so I adjusted the mast forward a 1/4" and it was perfect.  I caught three more - and these confirmed the mast position.

A few of the waves were long - and I got some really fun turns in.

This was where the mast ended up.  Doesn't leave much room for the HA1125 - but we'll see.  This session got rid of the skunk for me - Kalani and Tim both said they still had the single wave session skunk on them.  I didn't catch any bombs today, but from the results this is definitely going to be a great board!

Number 21 has been properly anointed!!! 

Dawn Patrol - 5/15/2021

Marlon and I pulled a dawn patrol - this is the biggest south swell so far this year.  We went early to beat the crowds and get ahead of the wind.  Marlon brought his longboard and after he started paddling out I didn't even see him.  I changed it up today - wide 4'10" with the CF1200 and chopped 300 tail.

The swell was overhead to head and a half high.  While we were out there was some wind, but it wasn't wing-able and it did put a little chop on the water.

I had some awesome rides today - paddle, make the drop, set the line, go fast, bank hard off a section to go back the other way, go fast and repeat.  I got a 600'+ ride and hit 18.2mph on the CF1200 - what a great foil!!!

I had contemplated bringing out the Go Foil GL140 - but zero regrets on the board/foil choice today!

Mid Day Session - 12/26/2020

I pulled another mid day run today.  Marlon had to work, so I grabbed a haircut, and hit Hawaiian Watersports.  Then I got home and figured I'd get a foil session in.  It was blowing like stink - Kalani was out winging but was getting beat up (so he said - it looked like he was riding under control to me).  La wanted to run some errands so I figured a quick foil session (instead of breaking out the wing) was in order.

I kept the CF1200 on thinking I could get a few more runs on it before this swell backs off (I did bring the HS1550 and should have put it on - the waves were still there, but it had backed off a couple of notches).  I did get several rides in but it wasn't yesterday by a long shot.

There's the HS1550 in the truck bed.  When I got home I did swap it out and repositioned the mast.  

Mid Day Session - Christmas Day

Marlon and I surfed mid day yesterday - we stayed at home to open presents in the morning.  It was worth the wait - offshore winds, overhead waves, and a sparsely crowded break - we couldn't have asked for more!!!

The CF1200/300 combo was working perfectly again - so much fun taking big drops on this foil and carving back and forth on 500 foot long rides.... 

Marlon was picking off wave after wave and he said the same thing - "Wow - best Christmas present ever!!!!"

Words can't describe how much fun this session was!

Dawn Patrol - 12/24/2020

The SSW swell was bigger this morning, but the tide was high and that was causing it to get soft on the outside.  Still, when it broke it was really fun - head+ high takeoffs, leaned over bottom turns and super long, super smooth rides.

Marlon brought out his shortboard.  I brought the same setup as yesterday - with the extra energy in the ocean, everything was that much better.  I didn't bring my Garmin watch this morning so I don't have stats, but I'd venture to say I had some really fast and extremely long rides today.

Happy Birthday to Noe!!!

Evening Session - 12/23/2020

Marlon and I hit WPB again for an evening session. An out of season 2.4' 18 sec SSW swell was hitting.  The tide was really low at 0.2' - but the swell was breaking on the outside.  And there was no wind so the shape and form were really nice and glassy.

With the swell up (2.4' at 18 secs from the SSW), I switched out the front foils - from the HS1550 to the CF1200.  After the first couple of waves, I paddled in and reset the mast further forward.  After that, the CF1200 came alive!!!  This foil lifted me pretty easily and was super maneuverable.  It reminded me of the GL140 - but as with the rest of the Armstrong stuff, it was much smoother.  

I caught several really long waves - one was nearly 600' and I hit 18.1 mph.

Today was a super fun day!!!  With the foil, I love WPB/Campgrounds more with every session (especially if there is no crowd).

Evening Session - 6/28/2020

Yesterday I spent some time reconfiguring gear.  I've been noticing the skinny 4'10" is super buoyant and coupled with the Armstrong foil, this setup just wants to float away on its own.  The wide 4'10" is relatively heavy and the Go Foils are not the lightest - not that weight has ever bothered me, but I figured if I switched the skinny and wide boards with which foils I have historically been using with them, I can get closer performance as the weights get closer to each other.  Here you can see the flip flop.

I went to PTs in the late afternoon.  Originally I had the wide 4'10" setup with the Armstrong CF1200 - thinking the swell would be hitting.  I got to the parking area and I could hear the surf breaking.  The wind was up and onshore and the tide was rising - probably around 1.0' while I was out.  The big surprise was the surf was not that big.  I paddled out anyways, but the first couple of waves I caught, I could not get the CF1200 to lift.  I did get a ride - I could feel how maneuverable the foil could be, but I had to pump a lot to keep it moving.  I even felt my left hip pull a bit (ouch).  I paddled in and swapped out the front wing to the HS1550.  In theory, I should have pushed the mast forward to get more lift out of the wing, but with limited time, I knew the HS1550 would lift where the mast was bolted down.  I was able to ride like normal after the wing change.  The flatter HS1550 is faster than the CF1600 and I could pump it back out to the break pretty easily.  With the setup I had on at this point, I felt like I still dolphin-ed periodically - this tells me that I need to push the foil up a notch so I can just glide with minimal pumping.

I'm wondering if I had the CF1600 on, would everything have just clicked from the get go (and if I wouldn't have pulled my left hamstring).