Garage Works - 9/10/2025

I skipped out on beach time today and I spent that time forwarding the two projects I have in the garage.

Dialing in the shape of No.42 was the big one.

Here's the banana board with the details all chased down.

And from the port side.

I'm still toying around with the idea of using a divynicell deck sheet to reduce some additional weight and increase the board deck skin strength.

If I work on the board tomorrow, it'll be cutting out the block slot on the bottom deck and possibly the top deck d-cell sheet.

I also worked on the mast repair Felipe asked if I could do.  I didn't take a picture, but the progress is slow and steady (to prevent any issues)

Garage Works - 9/7/2025

I got more work done on No.42

Mast track aligned and marked up.

I'll probably route out the slot tomorrow.

And I refined the rocker and the tail volume some more.

It seems more balanced now (but still rearward biased).

And after a lot of wet sanding and 3 fills, I got the Silk 850 back to top hydrodynamic shape.

I could actually put a couple more fills and sand some more... but this is good enough for now.

Garage Works - 9/6/2025

I spent some time dialing in the rough shaping of No.42

Here's the result of today's effort - 

Port side looking at tail forward to the nose

Side on view

Port side nose looking back towards the tail

Starboard side nose looking back

And more starboard side nose.

I'll sleep on the shape as is for a day.  I already think I need to trim some foam from the tail (bottom rails) and clean up the top deck near the tail.  Then I'll fine tune the shape by sanding and install the mast track block.

Garage Works - 8/31/2025

I got Marlon's foil board repair completed this afternoon.

Sanded to 400, no spray to keep with the distressed look.

And then I headed deep into the garage to start the rocker cuts on No.42

Electric planer and shop vac -

I've been studying some of the leading DW SUP foiling boards and I am trying to take the design points from those to make this parawing specific board.

The desired characteristics are the same - a board that returns energy directed forward when you pump the board/foil.  It also has to have sufficient volume to convert that energy efficiently in less wind (this is Oahu, not Maui).

This last photo is oriented with the bottom deck pointed upwards, nose to the left.

I'll use the surform and dragonskin next.

Garage Works - 8/27/2025

I sanded the last epoxy/carbon add to bulk up the rake on the tip.

Better now than when I got it!!!

The tip is more solid (that is one of the criticisms I have of AFS front foils - the wing tips are fragile...)

It's already been out on the water!!!

Garage Works - 8/25/2025

Monday is rest day - but that doesn't mean stuff slows down.

I got the tracks cleaned up on Marlon's foil board.

And I got the carbon applied.  I'll let this harden for a couple of days then route open the slots.

And I got the chipped wing tip filled in on the Enduro 900.

Same thing - I'll let this harden up a bit, then sand/file down to shape, then foil and fine sand.

And then I took No.34 and the KT Dragonfly and got some ratios defined for the mast track placement on No.42

Ratios!!!

If the wind doesn't come up tomorrow, I'll likely be rough shaping No.42

Garage Works - 8/23/2025

I did spend some time in the garage today.

First up was getting Marlon's foil board repairs forwarded.  I got the track block glued in place.  Tomorrow will see trimming of the glue and carbon installation.

Then I shifted over to No.42

I got the template cut out of the blank I glued up.

And I emptied the shop vac and cleaned up the garage floor.

I did that other stuff because I wanted to think about the nose rocker on this board and how I'm going to shape the bottom.  Sometimes it's good to think about other things so you can clear your mind before commit to cut foam.

Garage Works - 8/17/2025

In between the morning skunk and the afternoon session, I did some work on two projects in the garage.

First up was Marlon's prone foil board repair.

The tracks were leaking from the around the back of the boxes.

This board has a substantial wood stringer, so there was a lot of routing in lifts to not over stress the router.

The block fits nicely, but the port side has some overage (nothing that brown gorilla glue can't handle).

And I planed off the excess gorilla glue on the blank for No.42.

And I traced the template that I made to pull characteristics from the latest downwind boards - notably the tail of the board.

This is probably going to be one of my biggest experiments -

Garage Works - 8/14/2025

Got some cool stuff in the mail yesterday.

This 61 liter Patagonia bag - holds all my single skin parawings.

Pretty efficient!

And I got around to gluing up the blank for No.42

And speaking of No.42, I've been doing a bunch of internet scanning to get the shape refined in my head - and the Frank DW board keeps plowing its way to the front.

I haven't done a pin tail board - I think ever.  And this one will be thicker - like around 5.5" at the thickest spot (where the foil tracks are).  The nose rocker will be shallow but extends further back than what I normally produce.  And I think I'm going to flip the board some the precut nose rocker is now the tail, including the higher spot becoming part of the tail (higher than the rest of the deck).

Experimenting is what keeps this fun and interesting!

Garage Works - 8/11/2025

I've been contemplating what to build next - 

I've been thinking about a board in between No.34 and the KT Dragonfly.

The offcuts from Norm's FD board (and Prayot's blank) are 6" thick.

Gluing these two together will yield a blank that I can get this template onto -

This one will lean more towards displacement (vice planing)

I'll get it glued up this week, and I'll be mowing foam this weekend.

Garage Works - 8/9/2025

These projects were completed yesterday.

This first one is Prayot's PPC M1 wing repair.  The strut bladder gave way.  These higher pressure, exotic material wings need to have thicker bladders - any high stitch or small piece of debris can be a seed for a bladder blow out.

I patch three spots and also armored them with extra layers of Tear Aid.

This is Marlon's Dominator Pro all patched up.  He took it out to Hau Bush this morning and got some good rides.

And this is Mark's wing board now converted to support Foil Drive.  I put windows on the top deck -

And the bottom deck.

And fixed a few dings that looked like they were water infiltration points.

All done!

Next up are Duke's paddle and Marlon's prone foil board.

Garage Works - 8/8/2025

And this evening I sanded the fill on the ding on Marlon's new board.  Then I colored in the rails.  And finally I placed the 2 ounce cap sheet.

He can use this tomorrow during the big swell - then after I'll sand it and fair every thing in.  But come morning - everything should be water tight and rideable.

And I also sanded the fill on the ding on Mark's board.  And while I had epoxy mixed and available, I placed a small patch over the sanded ding.

I'll do a light sanding on the windows and the ding repair tomorrow, spray some clear coat and this should be good to go.

Garage Works - 8/6/2025

There are a couple of boards in the garage for repairs.

This is Marlon's brand new Firewire Dominator Pro.  First time out and he duck dives right into a shallow spot at Kewalo's

Easy fix - but it'll take a couple of days.  Here I've already sanded the break down and filled it with milled fibers.

I'll sand, color the rail, and place a fiberglass patch over this area (there are some light superficial scratches at the nose).

And this is Mark's board that Maile is using for a Foil Drive board.

I got asked to put signal windows in place.

And there was a rail ding (that I feel compelled to fix). 

Here is the bottom deck window.

And the top deck window.

I should be done with both of these by Friday.

Garage Works - 7/12/2025

Long story, but I got my BRM Maliko (v1) 5.1 back -

And I went ahead and got it fitted to the Carbon-EVA bar - feels so good in hand!

But I also set it up for the 2-1 purchase retract.

Easy enough to get it put together -

And after swapping out the small ring I originally bought for one of the rings I salvaged from the windsurfing sails La cut apart, it worked flawlessly.

But without the benefit of steady winds to test the balance of the bridle lines, I wasn't able to get the level of control I wanted from this setup.

I got it changed back to direct connection to the bar.

I'll work on getting the bridle lines balanced and getting a better understanding of how the B line settings work.  

And also getting a harness line setup (I'm picking up a new chest harness that I think may work better for parawinging).