Evening Session - 5/12/2025

Marlon and I got a pass to go to the beach on Mother's Day.  We didn't question it and went (while La and Noe went to a Castle High School Band concert).

There was some onshore wind chopping up the surface - but it wasn't too bad.  The tide was rising so no issues with grounding.  And lastly there were waves - it didn't look so good from the beach, but they were actually fun.

Marvin asked that I test out the board to see what my thoughts were.  I figured the waves would be smaller so I brought the Spitfire 960.  Marlon brough his longboard and caught some fun ones.  Kaylani brought her longboard - but Marlon said she said the waves weren't so good for her.

There were some good ones out there still.

The good news is the windows I installed worked great.

The bad news is the board has some issues:

1.  The bottom shape was "sticky" to me - for a lot of the waves I motored for, I would have a hard time leaving the waters surface.  Kinda like when I was using the velcro straps instead of the electrical tape to wrap the cable.  That said, I am wondering if the universal fit mast adapter I slapped on was making the difference...

2.  On several waves, I'd actually pop up and get the mast to rise, but the motor wouldn't stop and I'd motor to the point of wiping.  I told this to Marvin and he said he was experiencing the same thing.  He equated this to the transmission "dead zone".  I had never experienced this on my boards so it caught me off guard.

3.  The tail end had a slight rocker to it - I ended up shimming the back end of the Foil Drive.

On a positive note, using this board felt more like surfing than using a foil board - I had one wave where I went right and the face got steep - I crouched down and started positioning to drag a hand - then I remembered I was on a foil...

But for most of the waves I had, I was contending with the three issues above.  I felt more like a crash test dummy than a test pilot.

When I was able to compensate for the board's quirks, the rides were really fun.

Here's the back window and the shim under the Foil Drive unit.

I think I could have used a tad bit more front foot pressure, but with the Spitfire 960 all the way up here in the boxes already, not much adjustment to be had.

With the lower volume, the battery was consumed faster - I had to stay on the throttle longer (and at times I didn't even catch the wave).  With that, I'm guessing No.33 must be around 55 liters.

Just like the waves - I was all over the place.

Not all these were genuine rides - failed attempts and getting stuck on top were about a third of these.  No matter - I went in to this session with a testing mind set anyways.

I dropped the board off at Marvin's house and gave him the feedback.  And then he asked if he could get the windows installed on these two boards also.  No good deed goes unpunished!!!

I think I may skip tomorrow so I can get the top deck laminated on No.36, and also get the window installation started on these two. 

W:58/FD:34/F:4/S:9

Garage Works - 5/12/2024

I've been working on this board for a couple of days - and I got it completed this morning.

This was the fiberglass cap going on top of the epoxy/milled fibers fill.  I don't like to leave fills uncapped because flexing and even some impacts can open them up.

And here's the same repair all sanded.

The nose job all sanded also.

And here is the finished product - signal window for the rear

And signal window for the nose.

IF I'm lucky, I may get to take this out and test it this afternoon (as I have met above minimum Mother's Day efforts already).

Garage Works - 5/10/2024

This is one of Marvin's boards.  This JS Industries Black Eagle was having issues with connectivity.  SO now it's in the garage undergoing the window installation.

I asked Paul where he had his windows installed - up front and in the back to the left.

He also said it just had to be big enough to expose the foam.

Here's the top deck hole already cut out.

And here is the bottom deck signal window hole cut out.

And to prep this for placing epoxy first thing in the morning when I wake up, I went ahead and sanded the surrounding area.  I'll put a fiberglass cap on top of a bed of epoxy/milled fibers with black pigment.  That way it'll never leak.

I'll likely get to test this on Sunday evening (at least that's the target).