Dawn Patrol - 12/26/2022

Marlon and I dawn patrolled on Monday.  I was hoping for some residual surf similar in size to Christmas Day (evening), but even if it was there the super high tide drowned it out.  It was still ridable, and in fact it was pretty fun - but it wasn't the same as the evening before.

Marlon brought his longboard, but opted to pilot his drone.  Funny story - his girlfriend's family saw him sitting on the other side of the fence and went over to chat with him.  I was wondering why the drone wasn't out for a while.

I brought out the Kujira 1095 mounted on the direct bolt Stringy fuselage, one of my thinned out rear stabilizers and had it on the 75cm Project Cedrus mast.  I had a blast catching several waves.  It was funny that the 178 rear stabilizer can pump, but with my rear stabilizer I have to work it.  I did get several doubles - but it got crowded.  I called it when newbie longboarders were moving into the foiling spot and were complaining about wavestormers pushing them out...

W:127/F:100/S:44

Evening Session - 10/5/2022

Evening session - surf came down, tide was dropping and the wind was gone.  I decided to take a different approach today - I used the 4'6" prone foil board and bolted on the GoFoil GL180.

Just like all the other times I switch foils/boards/masts/fuselages/etc - it took a couple of waves to get my bearings.  And seeing as how I changed up pretty much everything, it took a couple of more waves to really get adjusted.

This board is noticeably lower in volume than the 4'8" I usually use.  Next time I setup the dunk tank I'll measure the volume of it, but for now I'm guessing this is in the 34 liter range.  Taking off on this board also challenged my muscle memory - it is narrower and shorter than my normal ride and when I got to my feet, they were not automatically falling in the sweet spots.

Then there was adjusting to the lift characteristics of the GL180.  In its day (which was probably only 18 months ago), this was one of the most progressive front foils available for surfing/downwinding/winging.  I could still get 2 for 1s (I actually got a lot of these today), but I could feel the thickness of both the front foil and the rear stabilizer.  Compared to the Axis ARTs, I had to work a lot harder to get the same runs. 

 

I used my gauge to get the mast positioned.  It was pretty close - I didn't move it, but I think it could have gone forward a 1/4".

Roland was out - and he made sure to do a flip right in front of me.  Tomorrow I'm probably going to skip beach time and work on the two boards sitting on the rack.

W:96/F:83/S:28

Evening Session - 6/5/2022

After knocking out a bunch of errands, Marlon and I hit the beach for a late afternoon session.  Marlon brought his longboard, but opted out since there was a pretty solid sea breeze.  Instead he flew his drone.  I bolted on the 1440 again, but changed out the 17" rear stabilizer for the 14.875" one.

I caught a bunch of really fun waves.  Turning was definitely snappier with the narrower span stabilizer.  

This one was me picking up a second wave after pumping back out (look for the trail)

And this one is me pumping back out.  The 1440 does make this act a whole lot easier.  There was a new south swell pushing through, so plenty of energy to go around (and the crowd dispersed accordingly).

Erik was out again getting more time with the prone setup.

Eddy was out SUP foiling his wing board.  I was talking to him afterwards and he broke his boxes (front and back) - and just like that I took on another repair job. 

W:44/F:58/S:17

Evening Session - 5/13/2022

I had been keeping an eye on the wind all day.  There was a period earlier in the day that I thought would lead to a winging session this evening... but nope, the wind did not materialize like yesterday.  There was some wind, and it might have been doable with the RS 6.1m and the Kujira 1440 - but sometimes you have to listen to your gut.

My gut said go prone foil.

I used the 4'8" with the 68cm Project Cedrus mast, the Axis ART 999, Progressive 400 rear stabilizer on the Crazy Short Black Fuselage.

Fun rides!  This is a good setup - but still needs some energy on takeoff.  I pretty much got 2 for 1s on each wave.  Roland and Scott were out also.

Eli and Derek ended up going out on their big wings - and like always, they made it look easy.  The wind is forecasted to drop off - and the waves will be small until next Wednesday.  Time to glass #24!!!

W:40/F:44/S:14

Evening Session -1/14/2022

After work session!  Fun sized waves coming in on the westerly wrap.  I brought out the skinny 4'10" because I wanted to get a clear idea of where my feet are landing - with that info I can add the stick on footstrap inserts and try winging with this board.

I brought the GL140 and GL180 to use on the 27.5" Go Foil mast - perfect low tide combo.  I ended up using the GL180 - was the right call - my first wave was a 3 for 1.  The rides were really fun today.  I forgot how much fun it is to ride this board.  It catches waves super easy and really doesn't weigh much.

Marlon brought his longboard, but I didn't see him riding any.  He disappears pretty quickly on that board.

The new count:

W - 1; F - 3; S - 4

Dawn Patrol - 1/1/2022

Dawn patrolled this first day of 2022.  I finished the Takuma mast modifications (added epoxy yesterday while working on the NWFB and sanded this morning) - so I rigged up the 75cm with the 1210.

Winds were straight onshore.  The tide was supposed to be a dropping high at 1.6', but oddly enough I hit bottom twice.  There were waves pulling through - but I think it was pretty much wind swell.  I caught several really fun ones - two for ones and even a triple dip mixed in there.  Besides the two bottom groundings, I also had the foil come back at me on a wipeout and it bite me in the head and back (next post).

I forgot about the nose down attitude this setup produced.  I couldn't ride with reckless abandon because of that - I meant to add a shim under the front of the base plate.  Next time. 

The weather changed pretty quickly - good, bad, super windy, and really choppy.  Challenging conditions for sure, but glad to have gotten a session in to open 2022.

Dawn Patrol - 12/26/2021

Dawn Patrolled again this morning - chilly for Hawaii...

Waves were breaking a little better - tide was a little lower than yesterday and there was supposed ot be a swell showing up.

I brought the same setup as yesterday - 4'8" prone foil board, 75cm (79cm) Project Cedrus mast with the Kujira 1210 and one of my bottom mount rear stabilizers.

I stayed out for an hour and caught five decent waves today - shaking off some of the rust from not prone foiling for so long.  A couple of the waves were double dips.

I don't believe the top speed on the watch - probably was while I was getting thrown by one of the waves I failed to catch.  I did notice that paddling out, my rig seemed to have a hair more drag on it.  Not sure if it is the fact that the mast I am currently using (because I'm modifying the Takuma aluminum masts) is longer, or if it is because it is thicker.  Going to have to do some more experimenting to find out what the answer is.

Good session!!!

Evening Session - 3/15/2020

We double dipped today!!!  Second session I brought out the 5'6" foilboard and the Maliko 200 on the short mast.  The tide was somewhere between 0.9' to 1.2' - deep enough that I didn't really have to worry about grounding.  The wind was coming from the SE and you could see squalls riding the visible horizon.

Marlon was trying tricks again.  I definitely had the correct equipment out - this setup was perfect from the get go.  I caught ten in an hour and a half - long rides with minimal pumping, just gliding along and when a section showed or I got close to the beach, I'd crank a carving turn and dismount.  Too much fun!!!

I also got a couple of pump returns as a bonus - I could have taken the first return wave for a 2 for 1, but I just took the ride back out.  One of the squalls finally caught us and we called it!  Really fun session that proved the right gear makes all the difference.