Foil Drive Session - 7/21/2026

Wind was supposed to be down and surf was supposed to be up - but it was opposite.

Same gear as yesterday

Waves were breaking steeper yesterday -

The chop seemed to be a little more/bigger today

But when the right wave came through - it was still good fun!

Sixteen rides with a few missed waves

I think the wind is supposed to come back tomorrow -

PF:9/W:3/PW:81/FD:55/S:20

Evening Foil Drive Session - 7/2/2026

Had debated parawinging, but decided to take a nap.  Woke up then assessed the wind - it was up and down and side offshore.  Figured I should use the Foil Drive.   

I was also thinking the waves would be bigger today than yesterday - so I brought the Silk 850/USurf 135

Norm was already out when I got to the parking lot.  Roland was just about to launch.  And Kalani had finished a 12 mile parawing session.

This was a quick session.

The waves were pretty fun - chest high.  They weren't as punchy as yesterday.

Got 12 rides in 38 minutes

The wind is forecasted to blow, but lately the reality is it isn't nearly as strong as what is predicted.  Gonna need to keep the Foil Drive batteries charged and the parawings close hold.

PF:8/W:3/PW:67/FD:53/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/20/2026

Dawn patrolled WP this morning.  I didn't bother going to the shoreline to look it over - I just assumed it was going to be wonky and head high.

I was wrong - it was nice and clean outside.  And there were several energetic sets still coming through (it was better earlier).

Kalani, Noel, Dennis, Paul and Jill were all out on Foil Drive.  Prayot was out testing the Manta 700 something F4 on DW SUP foil.  Norm and Stu were out at PVs on FD.  And the Lift eFoil dude was out also.

I totally forgot MWR was holding an All Military surf contest - that squeezed the non-contest out in front of the cabins...  Good thing I was way outside.  

I wanted to confirm I had the AFS Silk 850/Usurf 135 in the right spot.

The surf was really good - I had some really long rides where I could carve hard up and down the entire over head wave.  It was actually pretty ridiculous how good it was -

These red lines were really long rides - 

The Silk 850/Usurf 135 had confidence inspiring grip - I love coming up on a peaking section and hooking a tight turn under it - epic fun!!!

18 rides -

Today was one of the better days I've had in quite some time - low stress, really good waves.

EPIC!

I received one of the two rear stabilizers I recently ordered - the Cabrinha Union 180 monobloc.  I originally ordered this stabilizer to get the Prestige 905 lined up for super easy prone foiling.  But I bolted it on to the Whippit 850 - and I'm gonna see if it gets the Whippit dialed in for me.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:50/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/19/2026

Dawn patrolled at Hickam again.

Was slightly smaller than yesterday - but there was less warble.

Tide was around +0.6' so no issues.

I swapped out to the AFS Silk 850/USurf 135 - this session reconfirmed this is the hardest turning/carving foil out there!!!!

I'm calling today's sessions to be two separate ones.

First session was at Seconds.

I had the foil lined up on the S850 marks, but there was a tad bit more back foot pressure than I prefer.

The waves I rode had so many hooking turns as peaks stood up in front of me.  And I'd blast off in front of whitewater sections - SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Eleven rides the first outing.  And check the top speed -

I went in to change out the battery.  I also adjusted the foil forward a notch.

The second session was out at Firsts.

Waves were a notch smaller over here compared to Seconds, but there were more people out at Seconds.

More hooking turns and ducking in front of the breaking waves.

The foil position was perfect!!!  I could drive the foil anywhere I wanted with the utmost confidence -

Eleven waves again -

Super fun session!

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:49/S:20

Foil Drive Session 2 - 6/13/2026

Phil, Elan, Bill and Arvin were all out with Stu and I.

Lots of kayak fishermen also launching this morning.

I swapped batteries and headed back out.

I did not check my remote battery charge level.

When I got out to the channel, I figured I should foil over at Seconds to mix things up.  Plus the crowd that was there earlier had cleared.

I caught two waves (the first one was phenomenal) - and then my remote went dead.

I had just spoke to Bill about this and he said if I needed it, he would tow me in.

Well - I'm glad he offered.

Hopefully my remote is not dead and it just needs a charge.

With the surf getting big tomorrow and Monday, I'll likely surf anyways so I'll get the remote settled out.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:45/S:18

Foil Drive 1st Session - 6/13/2026

With the King Tides this week, dawn patrolling WP meant a long shallow paddle out to wher you could flip the foil over without grounding.  I figured that was enough reason to do the dawn patrol at Hickam.

I swapped the boards this morning - from No.43 to No.40 - I wanted the extra waterline to make getting in and out a bit easier.

And I opted for the AFS Silk 850 v1) and the USurf 135 rear stabilizer

There were waves - but the good ones were separated by a good wait.

The bigger ones were a ton of fun.

Both peaks at Firsts were breaking with the really low tide.  And the inside bowl by the channel was awesome for getting in roundhouse carves.

15 solid rides, with only a couple missed.

There was less drag on this system.  And towards the end of the session I was feeling the boost differential again.

Went in for a battery change.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:44/S:18

Foil Drive Session and J Splee Test Drive - 5/3/2026

Woke up and got the AFS UHM 80cm mast setup with the Zip Pod.

I headed out - but realized I forgot my battery.

Then I saw a text from Prayot that the surf was pumping - so I doubled back and grabbed the AFS Silk 850

Surf was good size and breaking on the outside.

It's hard to see but there were three monk seals swimming by the orange buoy.

It was a pretty low tide...

Had to paddle pretty far out to avoid grounding this foil.

The AFS Silk 850 is such an amazing foil -

I had the blue props on, but trying the catch the swell outside meant running up to a faster speed (which the black props do better).

I didn't miss any waves - but this is one area where I know by trial and error that I should swap out props.

The waves I caught outside awesome - overhead, pitching lip and standing up super tall.

Using the Silk 850 to maneuver around the breaking sections and to carve up and down a running wall - nothing else like it!!!

Eleven rides, and then I called it because I wanted to get to the Hapa Surf Shop/J Splee Surfboards demo day.

I ended up trying three surfboards - Quinn's 6'0" Tanto Twin (this is a phenomenal board - felt way better than the Great White Twin, but maybe on par with the Reveo Max).

Then I tried the Blue Beam (it realistically was too small for me, but the on the waves I caught, this board was super fun).

And I should have tried the Aurora... but went for the Double Chin - which definitely was too small for me.  But again, on the waves I did catch, it turns and keeps wanting to turn/pivot - where the Hammah fish wants to roll and carve more (which lately is more my style).

Super fun talking board design with JC!!!

Totally drained and stoked!!!!

PF:6/W:2/PW:37/FD:34/S:15

Evening Foil Drive Session - 4/28/2026

I'm feeling a lot better.  And looking at the weather forecast, there is likely to be a week of good winds coming up.

I had a fully charged battery that needed to be brought down to storage levels.

When I got to the beach, it was about as flat as you can get without it being completely flat.

If you waited a bit, there were ridable waves.

Nice high tide.

And for once a decently high tide.

Everything the same as last time - I had the FD system already built up.

It took me an hour to get the battery down below 50%

And I had to do a bunch of things I normally wouldn't do - like donuts, a bunch of efoiling and heavy throttle motoring to get it there.

A few of the rides were actually fun - walls and bowls to carve up.

17 or so rides, with a few missed waves or wipes at takeoff.

There were a few periods where the wind did seem strong enough to parawing (for sure wing).  I had thought about going in and getting the BRM Maliko 5.1 and seeing if I could deploy it and use PW pull only.  But then I remembered that wind was not steady and I'd be out longer than I needed to be to get the battery to storage levels.

Something to try another day.

PF:6/W:2/PW:33/FD:33/S:14