Evening Session - 12/3/2024

The waves were still up this evening - 

Marlon was out on his Firewire Seaside.

And to continue the fin optimization, I choose the Glenn Pang Twins

These fins felt more nimble for their size compared to the Black birds from yesterday 

They still had drive (to dig in a good first bottom turn), and they have more release than the Black Birds.  But I could feel my right knee more today than other days - so I think that is preventing me from getting that turn I've been looking for.

Since I started later today, I only got a handful of waves, but they were all really good and lined up.  I got in a ton of good turns - just not the one I saw on Youtube.

Tomorrow I'm going to try out the T1s - with less overall area and more rake, I may be getting closer.

W:145/PW:2/FD:87/F:5/S:27

Dawn Patrol - 3/3/2024

The wind forecast has been so up and down (two or three days out the forecast is for really strong winds - when the next day rolls around, the forecast is downgraded and the nuking winds get pushed further out).  Kalani suggested Foil Drive this morning... don't need to twist my arm.

The winds were on the lighter side and blowing from the N-NNE - so clean at WPB.  The swell was not as big as the past two days, but it was still nice sized.

Marlon and Kaylani both brought shortboards.  Marlon said he caught four really fun waves and he loves the Rasta Keels he got for Christmas - lots of drive and he can generate a lot of speed with them.

I tweaked the Max position and the mast position early this morning (mast a little bit back from yesterday, Max as far forward as it would go and keep the mast where I wanted it).  Other than that I wanted to keep everything else the same so I could get the feeling of the weight distribution and the foils reaction with this setup.  I even avoided the temptation the run the three blade prop.

Really good session this morning!!!  The Max is the BOMB!!!

This session solidified my decision the sell the prone specific foils - I do not see myself doing that aspect of this sport anymore - why would anyone when you have the FD Max?

I got similar battery endurance to yesterday's session, and I didn't bother paddling outside of what was absolutely required (through the shallow area to get out and back in).  So that said, I'm likely to get 1.5 hour sessions out of the Max battery.

Looks like the takeoff spot was concentrated again.  You don't notice this while you are out there.  I got several really long rides -

18 waves in an hour and 15 minutes.  That is a wave every 4.2 minutes - there is no way a conventional prone foiler can get anywhere near that number of waves.  I actually chose not to pump back out a few times because my right quad had lactic acid build up from riding too long.  That tells me there is a little more refining to do to get the weight distribution lined up better (so pumping isn't so taxing).

Thanks to Marlon for taking drone footage this morning!!!

W:23/FD:15/F:4/S:8

North Shore Outting

Noe had a sleep over up at Pupukea yesterday.  We went to pick her up and since we were going to be up on the North Shore...

When I checked the forecast, they were calling for head high and under.  Marlon and I brought our smaller wave boards.  Kaylani brought her new shortboard.

La dropped us off at Ehukai Beach Park (really Sunset Elementary) and off we went!!!  

It was super crowded - I bypassed Ehukai and paddled out at Gas Chambers (least crowded spot - but still crowded).

It had been a while since I've been in well overhead waves up there - yes, the waves were breaking well overhead.  I actually setup the Hydronaut last night - but opted for the Great White Twin...

If I had the paddling power and entry rocker of the Hydronaut, I probably would have gotten some sweet rides.

Kaylani caught a nice one.

I finally caught one and rode it to the inside - the time had come to get picked up.

Crowded surf spots... that probably the biggest reason I use the Foil Drive and the wing - it was still nice getting wet up there! 

W:4/F:7/S:2

Evening Session - 10/30/2023

Pulled an evening session after work yesterday.  The waves had size, but it was all jumbled and even a bit hard to catch.  You'd sit in the lineup thinking you were in the right spot, but the wave you were lined up for would get fat and not even carry.

Marlon caught a nice one from the outside.

I had a few where I got some turns in but not much distance.

Still a fun session.

I could have used more paddling power (maybe the Seaside and Beyond).  I'm skipping Tuesday since we will be going to our annual "Don't Support Diabetes" campaign.

W:104/F:99/S:53

Evening Session - 10/18/2023

Late afternoon session with Marlon yesterday.  There was some wind blowing around - so the waves weren't as clean as Tuesday.  The waves were bigger than Tuesday - but not as well formed.

Marlon and I both caught some fun ones.

I absolutely love the Pigfish!

W:103/F:95/S:49

Evening Session - 10/17/2023

I got home from work a little bit later than normal.  When I got home, I grabbed Marlon and we headed out to the beach.  He brought his Seaside and I brought the Pigfish.

The last time I used this board, I had in the Hess Noriega Keel and the Machado Quads - I figured that would be a good starting point.

The waves were around head high on the sets and with no wind - and they were staying open for the most part.  I caught several and rode for long periods, pulling turns galore and trying to get covered up.

Roland deliberately dropped in on me once - saying he was "sharing" the wave.

The Pigfish performed flawlessly!!!!

W:103/F:95/S:48

Evening Session - 9/5/2023

Today the biggest swell of the summer hit - 4'-6'

Marlon and I hit it with shortboards - he took his Seaside....

And I took out the Hydronaut

I put in the Billy Kemper quads - good flow on these fins (but on a few waves I was actually looking for more drive).

I caught some mackers today - felt really good to catch waves on a surfboard that rarely comes out (and this year has been mostly on the small side for surf on glassy days).

Marlon and Kaylani also got their share of waves.

W:90/F:84/S:34

Evening Session - 7/12/2023

Marlon and I got in a late afternoon shortboarding session.

The waves had some size to them, but the wind from earlier in the day did the usual - chopped the surface up into some challenging conditions.

Marlon brought his Seaside and had a blast.  He actually went in early and then broke out his drone.

I brought the Hypto Krypto with the Grennan fins.  I'm thinking that a more upright fin would have been more appropriate for the size waves today.  The raked Grennans felt slower.

My first wave was the best of the lot - long ride where I had to maneuver to stay in the pocket.  Surfing a shortboard actually felt funny... the board wasn't pushing back and if I hit a flat section, it didn't want to pump (because it isn't a hydrofoil).

I caught several more but would either get mowed over by the white wash, or the wave would go over a deep spot and fizzle out.  Foiling has definitely impacted my surfing.

Tomorrow the swell is supposed to come down - if I go, I'll likely bring the Sweet Potato.

W:66/F:63/S:29

Dawn Patrol - 3/5/2023

Marlon and I had high expectations for this morning's dawn patrol - the forecasts were calling for a smoothed out version of yesterday (which was chest to head high occasionally).

We got half of that forecast.  It was definitely smother, but the size pretty much dropped in half.

With the tide supposed to be high, I had the Kujira 980 front foil setup.  Learning from yesterday, I did bring a second front foil to prevent going out on the wrong equipment.  I put the Kujira 1095 on the fuselage, adjusted the mast and headed out.

I caught a couple of handfuls of waves.  This setup delivered!!!  Triples, big carving turns, speed runs - it does it all!

Mondays are pretty busy for the family - so the next outing will likely be winging the developing west winds on Tuesday.

W:25/F:14/S:13

Dawn Patrol - 1/2/2023

Dawn patrolled Pyramid Rock with Jimmy today.  Oddly enough, it was windy - 

The swell was funny - nothing, then medium sized waves, and cleanup sets - all surging in and dumping.  Marlon got three on his Seaside.  I got one on the Sweet Potato (and in that one ride, I could already tell the NVS Aipa Da Hook Quads are magic).  I rode that one wave in and grabbed the Hypto Krypto since the waves had a ton of energy.

Since I had the Hypto Krypto out, the waves of course started to pull back (actually I think the tide was peaking).  But after a considerable wait, I finally did get one - this is another magic board and fin combo.  

Despite the challenging conditions, it was still really fun catching up with Jimmy!

W:0/F:0/S:2

Evening Session - 10/14/2022

I have an opportunity to demo the F One Eagle 1090 foil (Big Mahalos Jeff)!  First session was this afternoon's post work surf.  Marlon brought his Seaside (freshly repaired by me), and I brought the 4'8" prone board to bolt the Eagle on to.

All of the foils seem to be variations on a theme now.  Looking closely at this I see - a Slingshot Phantasm 926 shape (flats, down slope, flat to the tip), a Lift 170 profile (sweep from the nose back), the Kujira 1095 all straightened out, and even a little bit of the ART 999.

In fact I overlaid the 999 over it to start the process of figuring out where to position the mast in the tracks.  Looks like the fuselage is similar in length to an Ultrashort Axis Black fuselage.

Using the wingscrews, adjusting the foil position is really quick and reliable.  I ended up moving this a lot more forward.

So how did this foil perform?  Its biggest attribute is the glide - when I had gotten through the familiarization phase (i.e., eating it on the first few waves trying to find the balance point while not getting hit by the foil), this foil showed its stuff and I felt like I was just extracting energy from the wave.  I know I wasn't pumping much, if at all.

I did feel like the mast had a wobble to it (that I'm not really accustomed to - the Project Cedrus Masts I normally use are rock solid), and that had me having to balance more once I got to my feet - but once I settled into my line, this was so smooth.

I could turn this foil without much drama, and it liked the carves.

I'm going to try it again tomorrow and then swap it out for the Kujira 1095 to see what the differences are.  Stay tuned!!!

W:96/F:86/S:32

Dawn Patrol - 9/25/2022

Dawn patrol again this morning.  Got to the beach even earlier than normal - needed to bring the Greedy Beaver to the beach so I could sell it to Tim (even though he just got that Pyzel Ghost).  After the session, he said he loved the board (phew).

Marlon surfed for a bit, then went in to swim out and use his new water housing/camera.

I paddled the Seaside and Beyond - and was astounded yet again!!!  I was catching waves on the outside and gouging top to bottom turns.

After the sun started getting higher in the sky, I rode a few waves in and started surfing the inside.  The waves were smaller on the inside, but the Seaside and Beyond worked just as well.  The range on this board is really good.

So as much as I didn't want to sell the Greedy Beaver and the Sunday (and I'm still trying to sell the Toots Asymmetric) - those three boards had too much overlap among themselves, and none were as easy to ride as the Seaside and Beyond.

This has been a really great run of surf, and a great introduction to what is lining up to be an incredible surfboard!

W:94/F:80/S:25

Dawn Patrol - 9/24/2022

Dawn patrol this morning.  Marlon brought the Seaside, and I brought the Seaside and Beyond.  Swell was chest to just overhead on the sets.  There was minimal wind.  The tide was low and dropping - this was the reason for me bringing the surfboard; I didn't want to deal with scraping bottom with the foil.

I was super glad I did bring the S&B!

I surfed in front of the MWR Shack and I picked off several head high waves.  Marlon was in the same spot and we even rode a couple together (or maybe he dropped in on me and I was just a nice guy).

I had a few waves that rivaled distance rode while on a foil.  And the faces were nice a steep so I was able to stick to the face and huck some big turns.  I really like this board a lot - I never felt this connected to the Firewire Sunday (which sold already so I could get this), the Firewire Greedy Beaver (which I am close to selling), or the Toots Asymmetric (which I think I could still get used to, but would still rather sell so I can just focus with the Viking, the Everyday and the Seaside and Beyond).

I didn't see Tim out - but while packing up I did see him carrying his new Pyzel Ghost.  This was produced pretty quickly - I think he placed the order in just last month.  Nice shape, good volume - looks like a wave killer (if the waves have some energy in them).

The forecasts call for the current swell to stick around for a few days.  With little wind in the forecast, I think I'll be surfing the S&B some more!

W:94/F:80/S:24

Evening Session - 9/21/2022

Evening session with Marlon and Roland.  There was a new longer period swell hitting - so time to break out the shorter boards.  Marlon brought out his trusty Firewire Seaside; I anointed the Firewire Seaside and Beyond...

I caught a handful of really great waves - top to bottom, fun drops (trying to get dialed in on my footing - too much foiling), hard leaning bottom turns and then lined up wall riding - SO MUCH FUN - I know I write this all the time, but it's always true!

Marlon and I even got to share some waves towards the end of the session - it really doesn't get much better than this!

W:94/F:79/S:22

Evening Session - 9/16/2022

Evening session with Marlon.  Swell was holding in the shoulder high + range.  The tide was on the low side (so I decided to bring the longboard again - I wanted to see if the fin was truly the difference) and that was causing the lips to almost throw out.  And the wind - there was no wind and the surface was nearly glass.  It was raining on and off which also helped glass the surface.

Marlon had forgot his leash, so he was hovering in the middle break.  He caught a bunch of fun waves.

I brought the same board/fin as yesterday and wanted to repeat the rides.  I repeated the rides!!!  When the waves stood up, riding the board close up to the face and ALMOST getting covered.  Also when lining up for the walls, I could weight the back of the board and this fin setup is really floaty/fun!  

Days like this where waves and equipment compliment each other reminds me of how much fun surfing can be.

W:92/F:78/S:21

Evening Session - 9/13/2022

Today's evening session was almost a carbon copy of yesterday - except that the wind was up (almost wingable - but with ups and downs; it would have been pretty frustrating) causing tons of turbulence; the tide and swell were interacting a bit rougher today (lots of closeouts and pitching lips).

We both brought the same gear - but I changed out the front foil from the 899 to the 999 - more experimenting.

I didn't have any gear issues today.  The 999/375P combo was definitely more nimble, but had a little less glide (and this was not unexpected).  With the ultrashort fuselage, the smaller rear stabilizer located further back has a similar resistance to the 400P on the crazyshort fuselage (roughly a 1" difference).

With all the turbulence in the water, the ART was not in its best conditions.  But I never hit the stall speed and I got plenty of rides out and carves on the rides in.  My honest (personal - as this won't suite everyone) opinion is the ART999 pairs well with the 400P on the ultrashort, while the ART 899 is good with the 375P (I need to try it with the 350P on the crazy short).

I think I'm going to start using the Kujiras again - I feel like I've been ignoring those foils.  I also think I'm going to take a break for a couple of days to give my left elbow a break (I have a bout of golfer's elbow) and to work on the two prone foiling boards on the rack. 

W:92/F:78/S:19

Evening Session - 9/12/2022

Evening session with Marlon.  Waves were up - if you didn't pick the right one, you were going for a ride (pitching lip).  Tide was transitional, but the waves were breaking further out so it really didn't matter.  And there was hardly any wind.

Marlon was catching some good rides (I saw his first few - nice takeoffs and good turns).

This was an experimental session for me - I took the 899 out again with the 375P on the ultrashort fuselage, but I shimmed the front of the rear stabilizer to get the angle to zero.

I paddled into some of the bigger waves and immediately ate it.  Then I paddled for some reforms, and I ate it.  Then I went to the inside and got up, but the change in pitch angle on the stabilizer made the ride really loose.  It was not fun - 

I caught a few on the inside to make sure it wasn't a fluke - it wasn't.  I went in and took the shims off and went back out.  Problem solved - 

Fun session!

W:92/F:77/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 8/11/2022

Marlon and I headed to WPB again.  Marlon caught some good waves on his Seaside, until his leash popped.

Roland and I winged again today.  The wind was a little steadier, but a notch lighter.  The waves were also slightly smaller - but easier to rip on knowing there was little consequence to messing up.  The tide was super high - again really easy launch and landing.

With the wind on the light side, I opted not to jump today.  I should have taken off the rear footstrap - next time.  Today's focus was wave riding - 

Tacking onto a wave is pretty incredible.  The drop is super exciting and the acceleration is instantaneous 

Roland was ripping the inside

The SW2 luffs so well!  It just disappears behind you and you just ride the wave -

I got 13 miles in again (pretty typical for an afternoon WPB session).

When the wind was up it was perfect for the 4.7 - but there were plenty of lulls...

Lots of lulls

W:83/F:67/S:18