Dawn Patrol - 12/10/2023

Dawn patrol this morning - almost as good as yesterday.

Waves were slightly smaller, but more consistent.  And the wind was a little stronger than yesterday (but not enough to really mess with the surf).

Lance from Kailua came over.  He brought his big SUP.

Marlon brought the Submoon again.

I brought the same gear as yesterday.

Lots more people in the water today, so I would peel off the wave sooner than normal.  

The breaching issues I was having yesterday... all cured.  I was able to crank some super hard turns today without losing it.  Probably one of my better days on the Foil Drive.

22 waves in 1.5 hours (7 waves per half hour - so 1 every 5 minutes - ridiculous!!!!)

W:117/F:107/S:58

Dawn Patrol - 12/9/2023

Dawn patrol this morning was really good!

Surfline was calling a small southern hemisphere swell at 52 kJ (swell energy).  The tide was pretty low and dropping.  Very little wind so really good conditions for Foil Driving!!! 

I setup the Spitfire 960/375P today.  Marlon brought out the Firewire Submoon.

I got the battery down to 50% after 2 hours.

The surf was really good at dawn and stayed that way for about an hour.  After that it got a little bit lully.  A couple of sets rolled through that were head high.

The Spitfire caught me off guard a few times - it would break the surface and down I'd go.  The Advance Crazy Short fuselage makes this setup pitch sensitive (and more lively/fun).

I got to recycle plenty of times this morning - doubles, triples and even a quad.

Turning was bliss!

24 waves in 2 hours!!!!

Hopefully this swell sticks around for tomorrow's dawn patrol!

W:117/F:106/S:58

Dawn Patrol - 12/3/2023

Dawn patrol today - same stuff as yesterday, with slightly better waves.

And the crowd was thinner.

Better rides - lots of cranking turns!!!

Dennis was out - and Dean also (he went to Rest Camp yesterday).

Pretty cool chart - you can clearing see the riding zone, the waiting zone, and the transit zone.

You can also see how wide a radius my return trips were started out at.  I actually did pump back out a lot today.  So much so that I got to analyze my stance - I am totally a back foot foiler (or I need to push the foil slightly forward).

Conservative count of 30 waves total - that's pretty much one every 4 minutes.  Made possible by the fine folks at Foil Drive.

I need the Foil Drive Max...

W:116/F:105/S:56

Dawn Patrol - 12/2/2023

The clouds cleared this morning - Marlon and I got up to dawn patrol.

It was small.  Not flat, but small.  And it was intermittent.  But there were waves.  Marlon passed -

I had the Foil Drive so I went ahead and paddled out.  Small waves setup (HPS980/400P, 80cm Aluminum mast, No.18).

With the high tide, I got 18 waves in.

These Foil Drive session recordings are pretty interesting.

I did manage to get a few double dips.

It is good to know that even with small waves, I can get stoked (with the Foil Drive helping out).

W:116/F:104/S:56

Dawn Patrol - 11/25/2023

Dawn patrolled this morning.

Light trades starting to fill back in - but not too strong.  Lowish High tide dropping.  Waves in the waist range, with chest high sets.

I used the HPS980 setup since the waves were on the smaller side.  The paddle out was uneventful, and with the Foil Drive I was able to get out with 98% battery left.

Even with the HPS980, I was able to crank some pretty hard turns.  I got just over 2 hours out of the battery.  This foil set really allows me to get off the throttle faster when trying to catch waves - that goes a long way towards extending the session duration.

Lots of other foilers out - Dean, Andrew, Rick, Scott, Justin, Charles and Kamaka.  I tried to go the other direction when I was closer to them - so they could have a chance at riding also.  I did get several double dips in.

Looks like I got 32 waves in 2 hours - that's ridiculous (and only on the FD Assist+ - I can't imagine what the wave count will be with the FD Max).

I was using the 1.5mm long sleeve top - it's pretty chilly first thing in the morning now.

Another fun session!

W:115/F:103/S:56

Dawn Patrol - 11/18/2023

Dawn patrol this morning was a Foil Drive prone session at Firsts.

There were sets coming through Firsts, so I set up the Spitfire 960 combo.

Jesse and Harris were using the tow boogies that Jesse built.  The new one has a crap ton of power and Jesse used it to give me a tow out to the start of the channel.  Nearly yanked my arm off and it was towing both of us out.

The swell was really good when the sets were pushing through - well overhead!  My first wave, as I was standing up the bottom dropped out!

It's pretty cool to see the set waves all focusing on one takeoff point.

I called it a session when I got ambushed by about 25 OC-1 paddlers

Today was the second day I felt the Foil Drive Assist Plus was actually underpowered.  Jesse was killing it with the whip ins and low speed.  And in between waves, getting back out to the line up was slow (in order to preserve voltage).  I think I should be surfing more to avoid looking at the Gen 2 Max...

W:114/F:101/S:54

Dawn Patrol - 11/12/2023

Instead of winging again, this morning's dawn patrol was something new for me - a session at Kahana Bay.  And using the Foil Drive to prone foil this break.

Sam, Dennis and Kalani checking out the surf.  Sam actually passed and kept heading up to North Shore.  Kalani set up his Amundson.  Dennis was out first (on his SUP foil).

Paul Cooper and his wife also showed up.  And Paul had the Foil Drive Gen 2 Max and Slim. 

Like usual on the Foil Drive, I caught plenty of waves.  I had the HPS980 bolted on (because from shore it looked to be on the small side) - and it was good for gliding.  But the waves were actually bigger (head high on the sets) and the Spitfire 960 would have been fun.  Cruisy was a good call too - I am actually really sore from winging in high winds for multiple hours...

It was fun getting to know a new spot and mixing it up.  After I went in, Jill (Paul's wife) headed out to wing (since the wind picked up) and Paul was zooming around on the FD Max.

Fun session!!!

W:111/F:100/S:54

Dawn Patrol - 10/29/2023

Dawn patrolled yesterday morning.  This was looking to the SE - the other islands were really visible in the back lit clear sky.

There were waves coming in - pretty lully (but that lets me get out without burning too much battery), but when they were in, it was at least head high.  The tide was pretty high with the full moon - which dampened the waves a bit, but also made a quick paddle out.  Zero wind.

Marlon brought his longboard, but said it was a bit frustrating with the lull in sizeable waves and the weekend crowd. 

Same setup - but I did add a 0.25 degree negative shim to the 375P stabilizer.

The waves were coming in with a faster velocity and weren't standing up as readily (as they would on a lower tide).  I had to stay on the throttle longer to pick up rides.  This is a situation where the smaller hub would have worked better (where I could get to a higher top end speed to catch the wave and not have to use more energy).

The 0.25 degree shim worked well - made for faster/longer rides, easier pumping (since I retained more speed), and more response from the stabilizer (I was turning more today - funny how quickly you lose that feeling if you don't foil everyday - surfing uses different foot pressure applications).

I did lose it a few times - hard falls from high up and going fast - had to take a break after those falls.

I had a few rides where I rode to the inside where the waves were standing up - the walls did pop to at least head high (while I was up on foil) - these runs were back side (which is what I predominately do on weekend sessions to turn away from the large conglomeration of longboarders in the middle break) - if they were front side, I would have been tempted to tuck in....

Slightly lower wave count this session at 23 - largely because of the mid morning slump.  Still had a great series of rides!

W:104/F:99/S:52

Evening Session - 10/27/2023

Marlon and I got in an evening session.  There were still waves, but they were acting a bit funny - pulled back from breaking and fat.  The wind was a seabreeze, but not strong enough to mess with the surf.

Marlon did a bit of everything - in water photography, surfing the Seaside, and drone photography.

I brought the Foil Drive setup with the Spitfire 960.

Noel and Prayot were out.

I didn't want to pull a 3-hour session so I was a little heavy on the throttle.

And with all the surfing I've been doing lately, I wanted to ease back into foiling to get my footing (and not get hurt in the process).

I caught 21 waves (a few were double dips) in less than 2 hours.  This Foil Drive is a game changer - 

I didn't try to crank turns as hard as I could - this is where I was pulling back.  The waves weren't really optimized for that either.

I have errands to run in the morning, so I'll likely be on a midday session tomorrow.  Conditions are likely to be the same... Foil Drive!!! 

W:104/F:98/S:52

Dawn Patrol - 10/22/2023

Waves were a little smaller than yesterday (this is the tail end of the last swell - there is another moving in tomorrow and it will peak on Wednesday).  Tide was on the low side but rising.  Zero wind.

Same setup as yesterday - but moved the mast up a notch (and it felt much better - more balanced foot pressure).

With the smaller waves, the paddle out was pretty nonchalant.

It was hardly breaking on the outside, so I stayed pretty close the pack for the beginning of the session.  I'd pick off a wave and take it left to avoid getting mixed in with the surfers.

Eventually I ended up in front of the cabins.  I picked up and few there and then worked my way back to the first cabin.

Turns today were more carvy, despite having the HPS980.  It was more about the lean and tuck, than the front foil today.

The count is 33 waves in 2 hours - ridiculous number in times before the Foil Drive - now this is the normal.

This session was proof the HPS980 is still relevant (small waves session saver).

W:103/F:97/S:50

Dawn Patrol - 10/21/2023

Dawn patrolled this morning with the Foil Drive.  Used the HPS980/400P setup - 

The swell that we have been riding these past several days looks like it has finally fizzled out.  It was good at first light, but then started to back down through the morning.

It was also pretty chilly at dawn.  I used my long sleeve pull over - was good at the onset, but by the end of the session I was definitely warm.  The cheater vest may be good enough for now.

I came in with the battery at 50% - so I could have been out for over 3 hours - but as the tide came up, the backwash from whatever waves were breaking made it pretty tough to ride.

Pretty common pattern for Foil Drive foiling.

From this count, it looks like 23 waves for the session.  You can definitely see the long lull past the halfway point.

W:103/F:96/S:50