Garage Works - 5/20/2024

I passed on an evening session today to get No.36 over the finish line.

I sanded the last fill coat down and got the leash plug and vent leveled out.

Then I went through the whole sanding regime 40-60-120-180-220-and 320 wet sanding.

I opened up the mast track slots and faired them in.

Then I sprayed clear coat - a can and a half.

This thing is sick!!!

I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

I lined up the deck pads - going to use the Creatures of Leisure pads.  And I cut some filler strips also so I can spread out the factory pieces.

The wind is forecasted to come back to trade flow sometime this week - I'll get the deck pad on, drill a hole and install the vent, and get the leash loop on - anointment coming soon! 

It feels good to get this one done!

Garage Works - 5/19/2024

I've actually been doing work in the garage, but not documenting it.  I got the Spitfire 840 all patched up and I've been sanding No.36 a little bit a t a time.

Moving forward, I decided to start the repairs on the Cabrinha H800.  I used the glazing putty to fill the deeper scratches.  Here I am sanding them down. 

Then I used the solid paint pen to get the gaps as close to the surrounding areas.  It took a few iterations, but it's better than 95% now.  I also put a Donaldson trailing edge on the foil.

I didn't sand beyond 320 because I had errands to run - but I got through the hard part.

And talking about hard parts - I got through the rough sanding on No.36 today.

Here's the bottom deck - 

And the top deck.

After dinner, I drilled in the holes for the plugs and got them epoxied in.

I used the extra epoxy to put one more thin fill coat on the board and close up a few known issue spots (unruly innegra, some shallow fish eyes, and a couple of holes near a foot strap insert).

Tomorrow I'll sand this fill coat and the vent and leash plugs.  I'll also open up the mast tracks.  If I have it in me, I'll also try to get through the other sanding grits (80-120-180-220-320-400).  That shouldn't take too long - but there is also some surf out there still...

Garage Works - 5/16/2024

It was onshore winds again today from the Kona Low (located about 600 miles north of the island chain).  It was also raining pretty steadily - so I really didn't feel like going to the beach.

Instead, I sucked it up and set out to move the bar forward on the garage projects.

I sanded the caps on Marvin's boards and sprayed clear coat - those were done.

Then I started what I dread on the builds - sanding.

Here I'm sanding the top deck.

Here's the bottom deck.

There were a bunch of low spots.

I taped the top deck off and mixed up 9 ounces of Pro-Link epoxy to use as the second fill coat.

Tomorrow I'll get a second fill coat on the top deck.

Marvin came over to pick up his boards and we talked about Foil Drive board design.  He looked at No.36 and thought to was a prone board.  At 22" wide, this one can pull triple duty - wing, Foil Drive and prone. 

Garage Works - 1/29/2024

I got through the sanding regime on No.34 this evening.

I had a picture of the top deck also, but blogspot isn't liking it (keeps turning it on its side).

This board's primary duty will be as a wing board.  It may look like a shrunk down down wind foil board - and that's because it is.  I'm anticipating this board to move fast when powering up, which in turn will get the foil to lift way sooner.  

Secondarily it will be a Foil Drive Max board - in an effort to extend an already long battery life.  

I may also try to prone foil this board - at which point it may become a quiver killer, but for now I'll just focus on winging first. 

Dimensions below.  I'll get the wear coat (acrylic clear coat) on tomorrow - and maybe even cutout the deck pad and get it stuck on.

Now we just need some wind -

Garage Works - 12/8/2023

I actually got some sanding done on the project boards in the garage before I headed out to surf.

I got the top deck sanded through the rough removal only on No.33

After I get done with the dawn patrol tomorrow (planning on using the Foil Drive), I'll sand the rest of this.

And I got all the sanding done on No.30 (40-80-120-180-220-320).  I'll spray clear coat on this one tomorrow and I can call this one done.

Garage Works - 10/24/2023

I got Prayot's board sanded and sprayed yesterday.

Came out pretty good.  With the divynicell blocks, the back of the board has more weight (compared to the polyurethane blocks), but they are way stronger.

And here it is sprayed.

Nice and shiny

Using the peel ply definitely made this repair easier (less sanding).

With these two repairs done, it's time to start carving out No.33

Garage Works - 10/5/2023

I was going to sand down the laps on Marlon's board - but I got asked to stop/cease/desist so that he could do it.

So I shifted to finishing the other boards in the garage.  This is Tim's board - the ding on the left is the new one.

And this is Harris's board -

Two hairline cracks and a chipped rail

This Flying Dutchman was built really well.

Got the garage cleared just in time for a mast track replacement...

Garage Works - 6/15/2023

I was a little tired from work today, and the wind seemed up and down so I figured I would rest a bit this afternoon.

After resting, I also figured I should get some sanding done to get this repair completed.  As soon as I started sanding around the boxes, I saw a few more spots that needed some fill - so I already was committed to another fill coat.  Knowing this was not the final round, I went ahead and sanded everything down to 400 grit.

I used 0.028 ounces of epoxy and got a thin layer to plug up the pinholes.

It has already hardened - but I'll wait until tomorrow afternoon to sand so the excess comes off clean and not gummy.  After sanding I'll spray on the clear coat and let the board rest/settle for the next prone foiling session.

Garage Works - 6/14/2023

When I got back home, I got the fill coat from yesterday sanded down.  Unfortunately there were some low spots, so on went another fill coat.

I used 0.7 ounces for this thin fill coat.

This means more sanding tomorrow - but it should be the final sanding.  And if possible, I may spray the first few layers of clear coat.

Garage Works - 6/12/2023

I got the repair area sanding down

Sitckers, fill coat and sanding... lots of sanding...

And I got my Stringy adpater for the Triton X-1 to mount on the Project Cedrus masts.

Nice fit!

The front screw is a 40mm, and the back screw is a 35mm

Now I'm obligated to use this again tomorrow...

Garage Works - 5/24/2023

I sanded the fill coat from the other day (I think yesterday???) - but then had to fill two more pinholes.

Then I sanded some more, and sprayed clear coat on.

Now this repair is done.

Just in time because Jimmy is going to bring his downwind SUP over tomorrow.  That repair is just deck lamination - so that should go fast.  After that I'm going to redo the track on No.31 and add a little spray paint to it.  I'll also help Marlon paint and glass his longboard.  Then after all that, I'm going to start on No.32 (a Foil Drive specific prone board, that can also double duty as a wing board).

Garage Works - 5/11/2023

Before heading out to catch a few waves, I sanded down the fill coat on the mast track repair, and then I sanded the areas on the rail that needed patching.

After that, I went ahead and added some epoxy to seal up the small paddle strike dings.

These have already hardened and the board could go in the water now.  But - I have to make it look nice - that is tomorrow's work load.

More sanding on all the spots with epoxy, then adding some black posca along the carbon edges, then spraying clear coat - then DONE!!!

Garage Works - 4/28/2023

I got home from work and was super tired (long week at work).  I took a short nap, then remembered I wanted to get No.30 finished up so I can try it out this weekend.

I ran it through the normal sanding regime - 40-80-120-180-220-400(ws).

Here's the finished product pre clear coat.

I'm happy with how this one came out!

I also sanded No.31 - but I could see a few pinholes that I need to fill around the vent plug and towards  the tail of the top deck.

I did go ahead and spray clear coat on the bottom and sides.  I'll get the small amount of epoxy on the deck tonight, then I'll do the final sanding tomorrow.

Then I went ahead and got No.30 all decked out.  Here it is with the deckpads installed, the leash cords on (and it is kinda setup to function as a handle... I'll have to dial this in more), and the vent plug in place.

Tomorrow before lunch there should be some light wind to go and test this out for winging out at Hickam.  I'm still debating if I want to bring this out on the dawn patrol and try to prone foil it... the tide is low at 0' and there are waves - might be a better longboarding day...

Garage Works - 4/26/2023

I got home and broke out the sander.  I got the excess epoxy sanded off from around the plugs I installed on No.30.

There were some pin holes from air bubbles that got entrained in the plug fills.  I filled those and will sand those flat tomorrow.

I also sanded the excess fill coat off No.31

It didn't go as fast as I thought it would - but I did get it done.  I also drilled out the holes for the vent and leash plug.  Before I headed out to the beach, I got the leash plug installed (that gave plenty of time for the epoxy to harden while the board was vertical).

Post foiling session I got the vent plug installed and I placed some epoxy on a few low spots I found while sanding the top deck.

Tomorrow I will go through the sanding regime, label the boards, maybe place a few paint accent marks, then spray clear coat.  If I can get that far, these boards will be ready to take to the ocean this weekend!!!

Garage Works - 4/25/2023

This work was actually from yesterday - I got the final fill coat on the bottom deck of No.31

The epoxy hardened nicely.  I'll sand this tomorrow.

This is what I worked on today - sanding the excess fill off of No.30

I was also able to drill the holes for the plugs and got two leash cups and one vent epoxied in.

This sanding job came out nice - 

Here is a picture of the plugs all set in.

I'll go through the final sanding on this one tomorrow