Evening Foil Drive Session - 9/11/2025

Today the trades started back up - but I had a full Foil Drive battery that I needed to discharge to storage levels so I left the parawinging gear at home.

And as luck would have it the wind stayed up at wingable levels to despite the forecasts.  Because of that the waves were a little textured.

Taking a que from the last session, I bolted on the Enduro 900/HA40 to be able to glide through flat spots and catch the faster waves that would otherwise not pick me up.

Roland was out also - and he was saying the same thing - "it's wingable", "I need to discharge this battery", "it's choppy"

I really love the Enduro 900 - this foil can do anything!!!

Lots of carves - mainly going right today

16 rides in under an hour

Roland went in earlier than I did.  He felt his prop out of whack again.  And it broke off just before he landed.

I think it is the efoiling around that tears up the hub/bolts.

Tomorrow will be parawinging -

W:56/FD:115/PW:31/S:8

Evening Foil Drive Session - 9/9/2025

Fol Drive session with Roland, Norm and Stu (Duke prone foiled later).

The wind from Hurricane Kiko was influencing the local weather - swirling wind.

Head high surf on the sets - but pretty full tide.

Same setup as Sunday - but I switched out the HA40 rear stabilizer to the Silk 142.

I didn't scratch the Silk 850 today - I did enough of that on Sunday.  I could still put another coat or two over the badly scratched areas - but for now the repair work is fine.

The tide kept the waves from breaking more consistently on the outside.  But inside - they stood up pretty vertical (super fun to carve up).

I had to do a quick partial charge on my HO battery - so I didn't have the entire battery available.  And I also thought the boost wasn't adjusted for maximum output (from switching between the regular Max battery).  And the last excuse I'll put out there is the Silk 850 vs the Enduro 900 - the Silk picks up steeper waves better, but flatter waves slower.

Went right mostly today to avoid the surfers at Fenceline.

13 rides - and the 142 stabilizer opened up the Silk 850 even more... 

I'm going to have to move the mast back a notch if I'm going to stick with the Silk rear stabilizer (it has more down force than the HA40).

Fun session!!!

W:56/FD:114/PW:31/S:8

Evening Session - 9/7/2025

And to wash off the Garage Works (foam dust), I went back for a surf session this evening.

Surf was STACKED!!!  Overhead on the set waves and the consistency was really good.

I opted to take the J Splee Surfboards Hammah Fish.

I caught three incredible waves - head to just overhead waves that had tremendous push and didn't closeout!

Today is probably one of the best riding days I've had a in a long time!

If the swell holds into tomorrow, I may use the Firewire Revo Max -

W:56/FD:113/PW:31/S:8

Evening Surf Session - 9/2/2025

Thermals kicked in around 1pm and stuck around until 4:30pm.  The direction was pretty much onshore - the one direction that really doesn't work well for windsports.  Mix that in with surfers in the lineup and that's a recipe for a lot of stink eye.

Instead of heading out right away, I helped La with some things around the house, while I waited for the wind to drop off.

And I actually didn't feel like Foil Drive-ing (and setting up the system). 

I opted to surf!

And I figured it would be a good day to get a real feel for the Tappy Quads.

I caught a couple of handful of waves - three pretty good ones and the rest were shorter two maneuver rides.

These fins were sublime - they worked, but didn't really standout and scream at you.  There held when they needed to, and released when you wanted them to.  But that's pretty much anything Japanese right?  They perform and do what they are supposed to without being flashy or dramatic.

These are a good fun alternative to the myriad of twin fin sets I've been using.  I think the next fin setup I use will be the Tappy Twins with and without the Tappy Trailer. 

It's really good to mix things up every now and then.

W:56/FD:111/PW:29/S:7

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/29/2025

Monk seal hanging out again.

Wind would gust into the rideable range - but the lulls were mostly what was present - TRAP!

The waves did get bigger than Thursday, but with the wind it had some chop on it.

Same as the previous day.

Honestly I think I could have winged - but I didn't want to have to deal with getting the wing through the surf zone.

I was able to get waves at Fenceline and over at the Cabins.  Roland came out 40 minutes into my regular Max battery duration.

18 rides

Super fun session!

W:56/FD:108/PW:29/S:6

Evening Surf Session - 8/14/2025

Noe left today to go back to school... and La left to take her.  I took them to the airport and traffic back towards home was not terrible (because it could have been).

I got home with just enough daylight left to get some paddling around in.

I brought the Sweet Potato out again, but this time placed the Tappy Quads onboard.

Truthfully the surf was too small to really get a feel for these (or any other) fins.  I did catch a handful, and even got a few turns in - but realistically the surf was too small for this board.

I miss Noe and La already (and wind and good surf too - but these not as much as them)

W:55/FD:103/PW:19/S:6

Evening Surf Session - 8/12/2025

The wind was blowing around while I was driving home - and I was kinda hoping to get in a PW session.

But after getting home, doing some stuff that needed to be done, and further contemplating the weather conditions, I decided to simplify a bit and go surfing!

The Firewire Sweet Potato is probably my favorite shortboard for surfing White Plains.

And I recently got these fins (when Marlon got his Dominator Pro - he got a 15% discount on all accessories), and figured I should give them a spin.

I caught a couple of handfuls of waves - and some of them I was able to squeeze out some really fun turns.

But these fins did not have 100% of the grip that I was expecting them to have.  Maybe if I use a slightly bigger trailer I can get there???  I got this tiny 2.5" trailer and a Tappy trailer at the same time as the ENs.

I'm also curious that the BMTs, being larger and with more rake felt better - what if I go in a totally different direction - the Tappy Quads...

So many fins and boards - it sucks that surfing foiling always have to compete for my time and attention.  I love both

W:55/FD:103/PW:19/S:5

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/8/2025

Today was the first showing of this big south swell.  It was big -

I setup No.41 with the same setup as I have been using but swapped out the Enduro 900/HA40 for the Silk 650/HA38

I wanted to get the mast position dialed in using this foil on No.41 - and initially I felt I needed a bigger day to do this.

Turns out that needing to be on the throttle longer to lift a smaller foil starts to position you in a more critical takeoff position.  Something I've gotten away from since I started Foil Drive-ing.

But I kept trying to take waves - and after three waves and three adjustments, I think I have found the sweet spot.

It was nearly double overhead on the big sets breaking outside.  The problem was there was too much water moving all over the place.  There was plenty of wind - enough to have gone winging comfortably - and that put a lot of chop on the surface.

That in turn made catching waves harder.

Picking the right wave was everything today.

An issue made even more challenging by using a different foil for the first time on a shorter board - factors that individually make for longer takeoffs.

Despite the challenges, I did manage to catch a few notable waves.  And the Silk 650 is tremendously nimble.  It just needs a lot of energy to move it through the water.

.

I think the perfect conditions for the Silk 650 would be a glassy head to head and a half high day, with a lower tide to get the waves running 

By the data sets, I count 12 waves ridden - with multiple attempts that ended up with the waves leaving me behind, or me pulling out of a bottom dropper. 

I need to spend more time on the Silk 650 to get it past the twitchy stage (me, not the foil).

But tomorrow morning, as this swell peaks, I am going to use the Silk 850/HA40 and No.40 to be able to get up onto a rising wave faster so I have the ability to get onto the section where I want to be (and not where I find myself due to the late takeoff).

W:55/FD:101/PW:19/S:4

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/7/2025

Roland has been talking up Foil Drive-in Pops (when he works in Waikiki or nearby, and doesn't want to plow through traffic, he foils here and he really wanted someone to go out there with him).  I needed to pick La up in Waikiki so BAM!  I hitched a ride to the heart of Waikiki with Roland and we parked in his reserved stall.

 

Same gear that I've been running.  I may switch it up tomorrow (inbound large swell)

The waves were really good.  And after a little weaving through the longboard crowd, you could ride the waves forever -

After about an hour, I saw Roland flip his board over and he started laughing.  He felt some bad vibrations and saw that he lost a prop blade.  I asked if he tightened them before going out - he said he never tightened them ever.

Lots of carving turns - and you can see them in the graph.

12 rides by both data sets.

Fun run today!

W:55/FD:100/PW:19/S:4

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/6/2025

Grabbed an evening session on Foil Drive.

Waves came down quite a bit from yesterday - but they were still fun sized.

Super high tide made for easy entry and exit.

Norm and Stu were out early.  Zach and Naomi were on SUPs.  I kept going and eventually Duke and Roland came out.  When I was leaving Prayot came out.

I love this gear!!!

I went in with over 30% still on the battery.  HO battery and HO motor - huge gains in duration and power.

Takeoff point was pretty much right in front of the first cabin.  Rights and lefts were present - you just had to pick according to the crawlers down the line (they were pretty aggressive today and didn't care if I was up and riding).

21 rides by both counts.

Tomorrow will likely be a Pops session with Roland -

W:55/FD:99/PW:19/S:4

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/5/2025

Waves were up and hitting!!!

High tide and some side off wind (probably parawingable - but I just wanted to Foil Drive).

I picked up Norm and Stu so they could do a downwinder to PV.  I stayed at WPB and Foil Drive-d with Roland.

Whaite water close in - big waves on a high tide -

It is really hard to beat this combo -

I used to normal Max battery and came in with just under 35%

Waves were a little full - so you needed to boost to get on them and to stay on them you needed to pump a little to stay ahead of the inclined face.

That wind actually was strong enough to hold you from going right at times.

16 rides across both data sets.

Fun session!

W:55/FD:98/PW:19/S:4