Garage Works - 7/1/2025

I went ahead and repaired the crack in No.41 yesterday evening.

You can just see the crack here -

Not sure why I added this picture - kinda the same thing as the first.

And this is the peel ply over the 2 ounce patch placed on with epoxy.

I already pulled the peel ply this morning, sanded the repair and sprayed replacement clear coat.  I'll post more pictures of the completed repair shortly (since the wind is in that "in between" level - I figured I should rest up today after yesterday - that way when the wind comes up tomorrow, I'm better prepared - I'm not doing anything else... might as well oogle over the board and stick some more stickers on). 

Garage Works - 6/19/2025

And I got some time in the garage today.

I drilled in two signal windows on the top deck of No.41.  I also sanded these down later (but don't have a picture of that).

Then I sanded down the nose repair on Rick's board.  I went ahead and placed a pigmented fill coat on and sanded that down as well.

All done.

I need to get a fill coat on the top deck of No.41

Lots of fill-sand-fill-sand in the near future.

Garage Works - 6/18/2025

I haven't found a good way to dry the parawings yet.

Still looking...

And I got the nose patches on Rick's board repair.

I should be able to apply a pigmented fill coat tomorrow, and this board can go back to Rick on Friday.

I didn't take a picture, but I also placed a partial fill coat on the bottom deck towards the nose on No.41.  Tomorrow I'll be able to sand a little and apply the lables/decals.

Garage Works - 6/2/2025

I spent an hour in the garage after dinner.

I removed all the peel ply and tape from the 6 patch applications I had set yesterday.

I also got the big ding on Stu's board all patched up.  Two layers of 4.8 ounce carbon.

To prevent any gas build up, I went ahead and dropped these weights on top to keep the carbon where I had put it.

Tomorrow I'll sand everything, then place a pigmented fill coat over the parts that need it.  I'll let that harden and sand everything flush on Wednesday.

Then it'll be on to the hard parts of No.41

I also got in a 15cm cable today for the Foil Drive Max.  I swapped out the 20cm cable I had been using, and got the motor pod all situated.

Garage Works - 6/1/2025

Got some project work done today.

I had watched a video from Greg at BRM on how to redo the bar on the original Maliko parawings.

And here is my 4.0 all redone.  Now we just need some wind to see if this configuration makes a difference.  Either way, it is neat to be able to make adjustments!!!

And I sanded all the filled spots on Stu's wing board.  Then I got the ones on the top deck all patched up.

I still need to get the big ding refilled (there are voids) and patched with carbon.

Then I cleared all the tape and peel ply from the side cuts of No.41

I also sanded the track deck and went ahead and got another fill coat on.

No.41 is starting to come together... slow and steady wins the race - and there are a lot of details to get right on this one.

Garage Works - 5/31/2025

And after I got back from the beach, I got the urge to get the projects in the garage forwarded a bit.

First up was placing fill on the dings on Stu's big wing board.

After that work, I tweaked in the shape on No.41 - at the nose and around the track box.  Then I mixed more epoxy to fill the track perimeter, and saturate the first layer of carbon.

Then I mixed more epoxy to get the two carbon layers saturated.

Here's the board while I was getting the carbon situated.

And here it is post epoxy placement.

I make sure to hang around while the epoxy is initially hardening.  I want to make sure to flatten any large air bubbles that usually form if I glass during the day.

I'll place the fill coat over this work later today.  I can't push forward until the tracks are open.

Garage Works - Stu's Board - 5/26/2025

This is Stu's board (which used to be Norm's board).

It flew out of the back of his truck and has some good dings.

I sanded the dinged areas this evening to prepare them for either fills (deep dings) or patches (shallow hits)

I'll start placing epoxy on this tomorrow.

Garage Works - 11/23/2024

I started the repairs on Roland's boards this afternoon.

First up was the foil board.

I used the carbide wheel and grinded out the area he had circled with a marker to show where the leak was emerging.

The clear filled circle was the original repair I did where the leak was originally coming from.  After grinding around the track box, these holes were exposed and the slits right by the top of the track.

Here is the entirety of the area I dug out.

I placed some straight epoxy on the dug out area to let it run into the holes (and finally plug them).

Next I moved onto prepping Roland's 7'0" surfboard.  This thing has gotten beat up in the back of his van.  I sanded depressions where he had punctures, and lightly sanded the dings that did not break the fiberglass.

There were 20 of these areas.

This was one of the worse ones

Even on the tail

I cut patches of fiberglass and placed epoxy over all the spots I need to repair.

I made two batches - and the end of the second one I mixed in milled fibers and filled the remainder of the dug out area by the track box.

And I also filled the drain hole that I asked him to make (the board was drying at his house since I've been working on No.39 and Harris's repair)

Tomorrow I'll sand these areas, fill where I was short, and place a fiberglass patch over the drain hole area.

On the foil board, I'm also going to fill all of the footstrap insert holes with epoxy.  This is why I don't jump...

Garage Works - 10/13/2024

Yesterday I got to spend a lot of time in the garage.

First up was sanding No.38

And sanding.  And more sanding.  I got the board through 40-80-120-180-220-320 grits.

Then I went ahead and got the vent and leash plugs installed.  I played with some different foot pad configurations - gotta let those settle out (too many variations).

Then I worked on these two - Kalani's new to him Drifter 72 and No.33

After Kalani brought this board home, he found a soft spot.  I filled it with milled fibers/epoxy, placed a small patch over the open ding, then placed this bigger cap patch.  Today I'll sand off the excess, place a fill coat and this one should be good.

This toe bar had come loose on No.33

I used rubber cement and it's as good as new.

It's amazing what happens when you get used to something and then it suddenly isn't there - I use the tactile feedback to know my front foot is at the sweet spot.

Today I'll sand down the plugs on No.38, give it a wash down to get the sanding dust off and spray a wear coat on it.  No.38 is going to be wicked good!!!!

Garage Works - 9/30/2024

The weather was a little funky today, so I opted to stay home from the beach and just get some rest.

After resting for a bit, I felt compelled to get some more work done on No.38

I sanded the laps -

Then I got the first fill coat on.  This is 11.2 ounces of epoxy with white pigment in it.

I'll probably put another fill coat on the bottom, then a couple on the top deck, just to make it a more solid, uniform color.

And I had the intentions of plugging the drain hole I drilled in Roland's Orca board - but it's still weeping water...  sometimes I feel like I'm missing out by not jumping - but then I get these endless repair jobs and I'm good.  Jumping just breaks shit.

Tomorrow I'll get another fill coat on and then probably Foil Drive (new swell coming)

Garage Works - 9/12/2024

And when I got back from winging, I spent a little time finishing these board repairs.  I plugged the leaking footstrap insert holes and capped them with fiberglass.  I should be able to get this back to Roland tomorrow.

Despite letting this board drain, it still feels like there is some water still inside.

And I finished sanding the repair on Rick's prone board.  I think I'll be able to get this board back to Rick on Saturday.

And the major activity today was dialing in the shape for Norm's Foil Drive prone board.  I got this through the coarse shaping.  Tomorrow I'll get the fine sanding done and mark out the track box location.

Garage Works - 9/11/2024

I got to spend some time in the garage this afternoon (both La and Marlon were out).

I got No.38 thinned out to the foil distribution that would yield 70+ liters.

Then I went ahead and got the rails rough shaped.

Here's the top deck -

And here's the bottom deck.

Tomorrow I'll get the shape refined (and possibly through the coarse sanding).

And I formulated a plan to get Roland's board to stop weeping water.  It was still spitting water this afternoon so I put the vacuum on it.  I cleared more water and it is seemingly lighter now.

I cut away the deck pad in a manner that I can reuse the piece I cut away.  

Tomorrow I'll place epoxy in the footstrap insert hole, and cap it with a fiberglass patch.  That should stop any more water from getting in through these two holes.

I'm thinking what happened was the strap screws used in these holes were too long.

I want to get this board back to Roland to make room in the garage (and also get Rick's board back to him).

Garage Works - 8/11/2024

And after I got back from Kailua, I helped Marlon get the longboard through rough sanding and installed the leash plug.

And I got the holes on Ken's board all sealed up.

And after I came back from WPB (next post), I placed carbon patches on Tim's chopped HA1125.

I should be able to clear these projects this week.