Garage Works - 11/28/2023

Spent the afternoon running errands and getting the truck maintained.  When I got back home, I pulled the old GoFoils off the wall to get them cleaned up.  I might have a buyer that could use these (totally brand new to foiling).

The big Maliko 200.

The 32.5" mast I used for windsurf foiling and wing foiling.  The flat tail adapter came off this one without too much grief.

The Iwa 170 on the 27.5" mast.  The flat tail adapter had to be cut apart to get off the rear fuselage.

Still in great shape!

This is the stuff I'm going to probably sell.  It wasn't too long ago that this stuff was coveted.  Now most people have it stuffed in their garages collecting dust.  I actually learned a lot using these two foils.  If I do sell them, it will be a little sad seeing them go - but I'd rather they go to someone who will use them, instead of seeing them sit in my garage gathering dust.

After that exercise, I went ahead and got the boxes epoxied into place on No.33

With the milder temperatures, the slow took a while to harden this evening.  I am definitely behind on the production of this board...

I may grab some fast hardener and resin tomorrow, and try to get the bottom laminated (and also the carbon patch over the new boxes on No.30)

Dawn Patrol - 11/23/2023

Marlon asked to foil today on the dawn patrol.  The waves were on the smaller side, but nice clean conditions.

I set Marlon up with the Iwa today.  He said the Kai wasn't giving him enough lift.

He paddled out to Coves (I thought he was going to join me and the regular crew over at Cabins).  He said he wasn't getting up on foil initially so he moved the mast forward (he's pretty much got it at this point if he can to that conclusion on his own).

I took out what I probably used the last time I went prone foiling (without the Foil Drive).  I know I usually suck after switching back and forth from one discipline to another (in this case shortboarding to prone foiling) - but I sucked today.  The crew (Dean, Andrew, Rick and Matt) were asking about why I wasn't on the Foil Drive - I said because Marlon was foiling and I thought I'd be closer to him if I stayed regular prone.  Well - this session was definitely a reinforcement of if you want to be good at something you need to practice it.

I ended up catching three good ones, so at least I know it was the adjustment back. 

Matt was out - he was on the ART Pro 1201 (and gliding around like it was nothing).

I won't be able to go tomorrow morning because I have to work.  We'll see what the conditions are like (as I may want to just get No.33 laminated).

W:115/F:102/S:56

Evening "Foiling" Session - 6/29/2021

I got home from work and asked Marlon if he had time to get an afternoon session in - he said he was finishing up his math studies and had a few minutes on another assignment, but that after he could go.  I told him to take his time because I wanted to put stickers on the 4'8" and also needed to get it setup with the foil.  He asked if today would be a good day to learn to foil - and I figured it was so I setup up the 5'2" for him.  The tide was super full.  The waves were around belly to chest high,  The wind was up - not enough for winging, but enough to churn up the surface.

I put him on the Iwa - since he was able to handle it last time we were on Prayot's boat.  I put the HS1532CS front foil on and got the foiling wingnuts on - I figured I could get the adjustment of this front foil down faster if I could change the position without getting out of the water.

Marlon did well for his first time.  He was falling properly (away from the foil), catching waves and popping up.  When he was up and riding, he would get over powered.  I reminded him to put a lot of front foot pressure since that foil was thick.  

I caught a bunch and after every other wave, I made an adjustment to get the position dialed in.  The waves were funny today - duck diving, you'd feel a secondary drop/push as the wave rolled over.  This same effect made riding really challenging today.  I guessed that the shims needed to go back on since that was what made the HS1250 sing, but I took them off towards the end of the session - there was just way too many waves where I was fighting the board on takeoff.  I had to put too much rear foot pressure to get the nose up - rear foot pressure means the front wasn't generating enough lift - but with the forward adjustments I had already made, I wondered if it was the shims.

I took those off (and got hit by a few waves in the process - thank goodness I didn't lose any hardware) - and the board came to life!!!  I got a double dip early on, but after I took the shims off, I got a triple dip!!!  I still felt a little rear foot pressure - made one more forward adjustment and then I felt the board-foil was perfectly balanced.

Too much fun getting board-foils dialed in.  Makes me feel like I actually know what I'm doing with regards to trimming and adjusting to maximize performance and efficiency!!!

Foiling Lessons

Out of the blue, Marlon asked if I could teach him to foil this summer.  I told him it would be way easier to tow him behind a boat and have him get the feel for the foil and how to control it.  Then I remembered I have a friend with a boat.  Then I remembered that friend only has the boat for another couple of weekends...  Well - we got out today.

And Noe came along for the lessons as well - she wants to Wing Foil, while Marlon wants to prone surf foil.  

Our special guest was La!

Both Marlon and Noe got up on foil!  Mission success!  There were a few falls (and a couple where people with less constitution would have said "this is dangerous and I'm done with it") - but they kept going and they got it done!

Initially I had Marlon on the M200.  When Noe got on, the foil would lift her immediately so I switched out the M200 for the Iwa.  Both she and Marlon did better on the Iwa.

This was the setup - one kid in the water - observer and driver.  When the kid fell I yelled "stop" and they picked up the tow rope again.  This saved the kids months of effort.

After the foiling lessons, we hit the outside so Prayot could shoot fish.

Great day on the boat!!!

Fitting an Iwa onto a Go Foil Mast

This is another foil project I got asked to do.  The Iwa front wing would not fit onto the Go Foil mast.  I had to drill out the front cavity of the female spigot and clear out a bunch of weird material (looked like powdered metal).  After the ferrule was cleared, I poured some milled fiber/epoxy to take up the void and water proof the interior of the ferrule. 

All done!

Tuesday Evening Session - 3/10/2020

Marlon and I hit the beach for an evening session.  Initially I had the 5'2" setup with the Iwa on the 24.5" mast + 3" adaptor.

As we drove up to the parking lot, it looked small - and after going down and checking on it, I decided to swap out the Iwa and Kai tail for the Maliko 200.

The swell was about waist high on the sets, but predominantly thigh high.  There was barely any wind and the tide was good and high at 1.5' (which is why I brought the foil instead of the Viking).  This was my first foil session in a while - really since I got the Viking.  I paddled for a wave and ejected because of bad foot placement, but after that I pretty much had long rides.  I was at Fenceline for a while because the crowd at Sand Lots was really dense.  After riding a several all the way back to the beach, I went ahead and paddled over to Fenceline.  I had to bypass a few because they were too steep for the Maliko.  I did catch a bunch and I got the feeling for this foil again - by the last few waves, I was cranking hard turns (fun G-Forces!!!).  Morale of this story - don't be shy about bringing the extra wings to the beach.

Marlon caught a bunch on his longboard so all was right with the universe.

Dawn Patrol - 2/22/2020

Marlon and I hit it early today - we were out in the water well before the sun came out.  The swell was a little bigger than I thought it was going to be - solid waist high.  The tide was a lowering high at 1.4' and there was zero wind.

I had expected it to be knee high so I had brought the 5'6" and the Maliko 200.  I took this out for a bit since it was already setup, despite the less than optimal (for this setup) conditions.  First wave confirmed it - waves were too big.  I was still able to control the foil and got some fun rides, but I was surfing less and wrestling with the lift more.  After several waves, I rode one in and headed back to the van.  I had brought the Iwa and the Kai tail and swapped them in and adjusted the mast forward.  I paddled back out and all was right in the universe.  Takeoffs were easy with no fear of breaching from too much lift; long rides with minimal pumping; torquey turns to go from section to section - what more can you ask for.


Marlon was catching everything, but got cold after I had paddled back out.  He was back on the beach and took these pictures.

Totally fun session!!!  Will hit it again tomorrow morning!!!

Dawn Patrol - 2/17/2020

I had to drop Marlon off at the airport this morning - he'll be on Kauai for a day and a half.  Since I was already up, I did a few errands and then hit the beach on a dawn patrol.  It was windy.  Pretty windy.  And the waves were piling up (too close together) - but they were waist to chest high ;)  And the tide was rising to an all time high of 0.6' (yes, that is low).

I brought out the 4'10" with the Iwa.  I caught several - and most were really long.  I hit bottom a couple of times (damn low tide and foiling...) - just paddling out.  I'm going to have to do some repairs soon (because I'm anal like that).

Another fun session!  Oh - and I got home before La woke up (it's our 19th Anniversary)!

Friday Evening Session - 2/14/2020

Marlon got a break from being grounded - so I brought him out to the beach.  The Easterly Trades were up - enough to put a bunch of texture on the water.  The tide was rising again - was out from 0.5' to 1.0'.  And the swell was between thigh to waist high.

Marlon was out pretty quick and everytime I looked over, he was up and riding.  I brought out the 4'10" and the Iwa.  I initially set it where I had the Armstrong CF1600.  It worked, but it didn't feel like the lift was smooth or automatic.  I caught three waves (which were long and fun - maneuvering around the unbroken portions of the waves to just glide along) and went in to change the foil position.

I pulled the foil forward a bit and paddled back out.  The adjustment made a ton of difference and the lift was better behaved and gliding was automatic.  One more day riding this foil position to make sure this is an optimum point.

I caught four more and it was time to call it a session.  Tomorrow there is supposed to be a bump up in the wave height...

Foiling Friday Evening Session - 2/7/2020

I went for an evening session yesterday just to wash the week off.  It was small, crowded and a low tide.  The wind was from the North so it cold (but clean - did I mention it was small...).  I brought out the same rig I've been using lately - 5'2" Foilboard and the Iwa on the 24.5"+3" Mast.  Despite the shallowness of the tide, I didn't hit the bottom this session.

I did catch three, but the wave energy would back down and I'd have to pump through the flats to catch the reform - I'm not complaining because I wouldn't have been able to do that on a longboard.  I'll take what I can get - winter on the south shore...

Dawn Patrol - 2/2/2020

Marlon and I hit the beach again this morning.

The size came down a notch, but it was cleaner than yesterday.  The tide was lower at 1.0'.  We stayed out for a couple of hours and we really didn't have to wait for waves.

Marlon was working on his helicopter takeoffs - he nailed three!

All trimmed up and running at a good clip along a breaking wall - this is foiling bliss!

These blurry pictures don't capture the speed that foiling occurs at - way faster than surfboards because there is way less friction to overcome.  

I was happy to just catch waves and ride them all the way back to the beach (not all the way - just to where the water was still deep enough to not ground the foil).  I had my fill of waves after a couple of hours - we had it best early on when the crowd was less of a factor - dawn patrols rule!

Dawn Patrol - 2/1/2020

Some days are definitely better than others - this one was awesome from the get go.  Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol - there was some wind so the surface had a texture to it - minor, not super chop or anything like that.  The tide was around 1.2' on the morning high tide.  And lastly the swell... ah yes - the swell - just a hair bigger than yesterday but when we first got out it was pretty darn good.

With the lower tide, I brought out the 5'2" and the Iwa (on the 24.5" + 3" mast).  Now for the good part - Marlon and I took off on the same wave and while I was cruising on the foil, he was pulling a helicopter.  The shortly after that, Marlon was watching while I took off on an unbroken peaking wave and dropped along the breaking section - the foil was almost pegged (wings just under the surface), and I was standing straight up in perfect trim and the wave was still taller than I was!  Too bad we didn't have the Go Pros out...

I had a bunch of long rides on running walls, and Marlon had some really cool takeoffs - but then the waves kinda shutdown.  Take it when you can get it (and it is February - the south shore is supposed to be flat yet were getting epic rides!)!!!  Oh and to make a good day better, this gal was running around ;)