Dawn Patrol - 11/23/2023

Marlon asked to foil today on the dawn patrol.  The waves were on the smaller side, but nice clean conditions.

I set Marlon up with the Iwa today.  He said the Kai wasn't giving him enough lift.

He paddled out to Coves (I thought he was going to join me and the regular crew over at Cabins).  He said he wasn't getting up on foil initially so he moved the mast forward (he's pretty much got it at this point if he can to that conclusion on his own).

I took out what I probably used the last time I went prone foiling (without the Foil Drive).  I know I usually suck after switching back and forth from one discipline to another (in this case shortboarding to prone foiling) - but I sucked today.  The crew (Dean, Andrew, Rick and Matt) were asking about why I wasn't on the Foil Drive - I said because Marlon was foiling and I thought I'd be closer to him if I stayed regular prone.  Well - this session was definitely a reinforcement of if you want to be good at something you need to practice it.

I ended up catching three good ones, so at least I know it was the adjustment back. 

Matt was out - he was on the ART Pro 1201 (and gliding around like it was nothing).

I won't be able to go tomorrow morning because I have to work.  We'll see what the conditions are like (as I may want to just get No.33 laminated).

W:115/F:102/S:56

Dialing in the Prone Foilboard

With the COVID-19 virus making its rounds, I have retreated to the garage and am punching out some boards to enjoy this summer.  Yesterday evening I spent some time cleaning up the rough shaping on the new prone foilboard.  Right now the dimensions on this one are 4'10"x20"x4.25" - will probably shrink just a bit as the blending occurs.

I wanted this to be a narrower version of the 4'10" I made last year (and one that is EPS).  I'll compensate the lost volume from the narrower width in more thickness in the back end.  I'll also play with some d-cell layering and targeted carbon placement (instead of all over).  If the wind is up again tomorrow afternoon, I likely start the fine shaping on this board (and the wind is light, I'll try to get some surf in).

Blanking Out

Getting started on this year's shaping projects.  First up, splitting this big 10'-4" blank in half.  One side will be a narrower, faster paddler - probably a 5'0" - for getting into waves earlier.  Will probably stretch my 4'6" template for this.  Since the back half of the blank is straighter, this will be the paddler.

The other half with the nose rocker profile will be a narrower version of my current 4'10" (on the right side of the picture).  You can also see the 3 polyurethane US Blanks sitting behind me.  One of these will be an asymmetric fish.  Another will be Marlon's to shape - 6'0" standard thruster.  The last one will either be a stubbie twinzer (if Marlon goes slow), or a fish (if he gets to it fast enough).  If we work on the last one together, might make it a stubbie single fin (easier than a fish).

Thursday Foiling - April 18

I went out again this afternoon since La and the kids were at sailing.  I was actually going to go windsurf foiling, but I forgot my tool bag and I didn't have the correct allen key to set the foil in place - I left work and headed home to swap out the gear.  I'm glad I did - the wind seemed to die back a little (the weather forecasts out here just plain suck).

The foil placement was a definite positive - I got up and was balanced without really having to try.  I did get a few waves (even smaller the yesterday if you can believe that) and botched getting my feet planted properly - that is muscle memory carried over from longboard surfing, where walking all over the board was a must.  I still did relatively well in my opinion - just wish the waves were longer.  High tide again and as shown above, miniscule surf again.

Hump Day Foiling! April 17

Yesterday evening I hit the surf, with a foil.  Brought the 5'6" foilboard and used the Slingshot Infinity 76.

I got some decent rides, and the waves were miniscule - which made the rides even better.  The tide was full (moon is almost full), but I still touched bottom with the rear wing.  I found a 'high' spot on the reef apparently.  I had placed the foil just back of center (I put tape on the centerpoint of the foil mount and at a reference point on the foil) and I knew I was not optimizing for lift.  After the session I went ahead and adjusted the foil position (so I wouldn't forget on the next trip out).

I'm getting to the point where I don't even want to go to the beach with anything except the foil.  I'd say I batted just better than 50% this trip.

Break the Fast

It has been quite some time since Marlon and I have been surfing - perhaps 3 weeks...  Well - we went this afternoon and were greeted by tiny surf.

As a distraction, Marlon was checking out the peacock hanging out on the roof of one of the cabanas

We actually debated the merits of going out on a small day - but ultimately we were already there so we paddled out.  I caught three using the 5'6" I recently finished and the M200.  I caught three and stood up on each - but got thrown pretty quick - way too much lift.

The board paddles well.  I just need to add more of the deck grip as the balance point is further back than I thought it would be - 

Nice to get back in the water!!!  I think I'll bring this board and the foil I made tomorrow.