Scratch Removal

Last night, after watching the first two races of the Prada Cup seeding rounds and checking out the foil designs, I figured I should at least clean up the reef kisses I got on my Armstrong HS1850 and Uni 300 foils.  I started with a magic eraser to pull out and residual coral/rock.

Then I went through 320-500-1000-1500 grits.

Honestly I should have done this way earlier.  I think the surface is pretty much new (again) and I totally feel like a huge weight came off my shoulders (as in obsessive-compulsive-disorder tension). 

Better than new!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 12/18/2020

The forecast called for nuking winds today - and for once it was not wrong.  Gusts to 35 and steady winds up past 20.  I got to use the Ensis 5.2 on the water for the first time.  There was a lot of buffeting in the wind - but other than that and a few times the gusts got really strong, this wing felt controllable the whole session.  I launched around 11:30 and came back in around 2:30.  Same everything as last time (Armstrong HS1850/Uni 300/60cm/85cm) - just moved the mast forward to counter the slightly heavier than required back foot pressure (I think I can still get it slightly more forward - but it is comfortable where it is).

I mainly practiced jibes today.  And I was able to nail nearly all of them on the outside, even riding toe side for long stretches (and a few times even jibing back to the outbound runs).  When I did switch on the outside, I would ride back in towards the launch and jibe inside.  I made 50% of these, but today really felt good on these transitions.  A few more sessions and these will feel like second nature and I'll start driving straight for the waves.

I did hit bottom way passed the left most shallows buoy.  I didn't notice I had sailed that far up.  Minimal damage - but I'll still try to clean it up.  This was a spectacular day on the water, and I felt I really opened up a lot more skills today!

Evening Session - 12/16/2020

Pulled an evening session yesterday.  Brought the same equipment out as the past few sessions.

The conditions were less of everything from the day before - smaller waves, less wind (Eli was out with his Ensis 6.0 and he was up and down), lower tide.

My first few waves were lack luster, but I got into the groove the second half.  The front foil felt really good under foot, and I was cranking the rear stabilizer through back to back opposing roundhouse cutbacks.  I have taken to aligning the board and foil to parallel the wave face as a preparation for switching direction - I've been able to go faster through the transitions and with the faster speeds, I'll get much longer runs - like mentioned yesterday from two cabins back over to the MWR shack.

To top it all off, I got to see the green flash also!

The wind is forecasted to come up over the next few days - time to breakout the wings!!!

Evening Session - 12/15/2020

Repeat of yesterday - but the crowd was less of a factor today.  Got longer rides, more bounce back turns, takeoffs direct onto foil, just more of everything!  I had several waves starting on one side of two cabins and got all the way over to middles - then the next wave I'd ride back to the other side - totally awesome!  I did hit bottom once after paddling back out from one that I rode almost to the beach, then started pumping back out.  

Marlon was riding next to all the cute girls.  He did get some fun ones (waves, not girls).

Evening Session - 12/14/20

Evening session with Marlon.  I brought the low tide - small wave setup (new code word for the skinny 4'10", GL180/No.9 Rear Stab/27.5" mast).  And no surprise - Marlon brought his longboard.  I saw him riding several - he was competing in the densely packed middle break.  

I paddled out further west and picked up a bunch of fun, long gliding rides.  I had the setup dialed in and felt some great pressure coming off the foil.  I also didn't feel bogged down and draggy like the last session on this gear.  With the firm pressure feedback, I also found myself riding higher with way more of the mast up out of the water.  So much fun!!!!

Dawn Patrol - 12/13/20

Hit the dawn patrol with Lance, Jimmy and Marlon.  It was supposed to be just overhead, so I brought the Dually.  Jimmy brought his Astro Pop.  Lance brought his 8'6" SUP.  And Marlon brought his longboard.  We paddled out at Chun's.

Well - it wasn't just overhead.  The swell that was supposed to show later in the afternoon arrived 30 minutes after we paddled out.  I saw Lance catch one that ended up being 2.5X overhead (would have made an incredible picture, but I didn't have a camera).

This picture was from early in the session.  That's Jimmy behind Marlon and me behind Jimmy.  This wave was an overhead gem - then almost every wave after was twice its height.  Super steep takeoffs.  Marlon got picked up by one and he got ran through the heavy duty cycle.  His leash broke off and I paddled in to get a hold of his board.  This was his first working over.  We called it after this.  I couldn't have taken off on any of these bombers anyways (might need to shape a 7.0'+...).

On the way back, passing Lani's it actually looked like it was fun sized (just overhead).  Not sure if it was a lull we were looking at, but kept trucking.  Marlon did go out later in the day to WPB to regain his confidence.

Wing Foiling Session - 12/12/2020

Went wing foiling today.  Trades were back!!!  I got to Hickam around 11am - wind would gust to 25 and settle back in around 15 (I think).

I brought all the wings just in case (Duotone Echo 6.0, Ensis 6.0, Ensis 5.2), but with the holes in the wind, I pumped up the Ensis 6.0.  I also bolted on the Armstrong for the first time.  HS1850/300 tail/60 cm fuselage/85 cm mast.  

This setup is sick!!!  The foil was super quiet (as expected) and I was able to get heel to toe side jibes in while still on foil (third time I did it - but it was actually easy with the the Armstrong).  I was getting outbound tacks also - but was touching down and quickly coming back up.  All of that was when the gusts were up - there were times of lulls and then I had a couple of runs where the swell was bucking me off the board - so there were periods of down time also.  I was mostly out at Firsts and way outside of the runway tip so I could get into the wind lines.  It's always kinda spooky out there so I am motivated to either make my tacks, or get back up on the board as quick as I can.  

And having finished fixing this board now from the road rash, this is how I transported it back and forth from the house to the launch.  This isn't going anywhere now.

Evening Session - 12/11/2020

Did another evening session with Marlon.  Same gear as yesterday.  Waves were smaller than yesterday but still fun.  Eli was in the parking lot - he dinged his paddle and was putting some Solarez on it.  Talked wings for a bit (he has Ensis wings also) and got some more dimensions from his SUP/Wing Board (5" thick!!!)

There was some wind - and I kept wondering if I could get up on foil with a 6m wing....  I ended up with five or so long waves before the sun started setting.

Tomorrow Marlon starts at his first job (Surfboard Factory Outlet - lucky kid!!!) - so I am planning on winging - and the forecast is calling for good winds!!!

Evening Session - 12/10/2020

Marlon and I hit WPB again yesterday evening.  I brought the skinny 4'10" with the Go Foil GL180 and the No.9 rear stabilizer on the 24.5"+3" mast.  Marlon brought his longboard.

As you can see, the waves were actually pretty good.

I caught several long ones, but spent some time getting recalibrated (had used the Armstrong HS1550 last).  The crowd was not too bad - never felt like I had to bob and weave.  Kalani was out on the modified HS1550 and he was tearing everything up!  I ended up chatting with him in the parking lot - the Techno foilbox repair is still holding up strong (which is a huge endorsement considering how hard he foils that board).

And the obligatory sunset - never disappoints!!!

Board Repairs - Progress 12/7 & 8

Got the patches on the longboard I'm repairing.

Also put the fill coat on the wing foil nose repair - although I believe this is a previously used picture.

Yesterday I also fixed Gary's Iwa front foil.  Just cleaned it out, placed epoxy into the split area and clamped the split together.

Today I sanded down the patches on the longboard.  I also ground down two cracked spots.  I'll fill them with epoxy so they don't take on water.

Next Time I Go Winging...

I'll be taking the Armstrong HS1850 out for a spin.  I can turn this foil nice and hard when prone foiling - now I'm excited to see what it can deliver powered by a wing!

85cm mast, 60cm fuselage, HS1850 front foil, and Uni300 rear stabilizer - great expectations!

More Board Repairs

After I got back home from the dawn patrol, I figured I'd get started on some of the board repairs that I have in front of me.  I started with reinstalling the portions of the deckpad that I removed to install the footstrap inserts (which I removed last night).  I used rubber cement to make sure the squares wouldn't come off.  Next I figured I should repair the nose (as I saw salt residue last week - which to me meant saltwater was getting in where the repair was made earlier).  I started here by taking off the Flex Seal tape I used so I could go winging this past Friday.  Pain in the butt!!!  After the tape was off - I started trying to remove the adhesive residue.  I'm pretty sure no water got past the tape as there copious amounts of adhesive.  I used Goo Be Gone and a scraper to get most of it off.  Then I switched to acetone to get the surface clean enough to take epoxy.

I used a strip of carbon and fiberglass tape to seal up the suspected leak area (the nose).  I don't think I have to, but I'll place a fill coat on tomorrow and sand on Tuesday.  I should be able to stop working on this board after that.

I also got asked by Dennis if I could fix his girlfriend's board.  She got a couple of bad dings when somebody plowed into her over at Pokai Bay.  I used the Dremel to cut out the broken glass - the big hit looked like all the epoxy got knocked out of it.

Waiting for epoxy and aerosil fill coat.

Tomorrow I'll sand these spots down a little and start adding the fiberglass layers.  I should be able to sand on Tuesday.

Dawn Patrol - 12/6/2020

I pulled a solo dawn patrol today - Marlon wasn't feeling a 100% so he opted to sit this one out.  The wind was super light, the tide was really high (+2.0'), and the swell was just a hair smaller than yesterday - call it thigh high, belly on the sets.

I changed the setup this morning - put the HS1550 and the Uni300 tail back on.  It has been a while since I had this front wing on - and I forgot how much fun it was to surf it.  I was able to pump back out several times, but only managed to get two double dips.  The other thing I found super fun was turning with the 1550 - more carving compared to the HS1850 and HS1250.  I'm going to keep this setup on the wide 4'10" for a while

I stayed out for over two hours - then it got so crowded I couldn't take it anymore.  Weekend surf....

Dawn Patrol - 12/5/2020

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol this morning.  The waves were actually bigger than I was expecting.  I brought out the wide 4'10" with the Armstrong foil since the tide was really high.  I could have used the HS1250, but I used the HS1850 because it was already bolted on.  I did change out the trim fairing out from the 0 degree to the +1.

Marlon said he caught only three waves in the area he normally goes to - he finally came over towards me and then picked up another three in short order - "made up for the previous three".

I caught several waves - I pumped back out on most, but didn't get and double dips (weird).  I wasn't able to sense the difference that the +1 fairing offered compared to the 0.  I think I'll need to do a back to back swap.

I had actually brought the HS1250 and the 50cm fuselage, but didn't bother coming out of the water to make the change.  Fun session (as usual)!

Wing Foiling Session - 12/4/2020

I've been eyeing the forecasts and there has been minimal winds for days - and there will be minimal winds for days to come, but for today - well there was a call for wind and wind there was!!!

I pulled up the the launch at 1500 and went to measure the wind.  My anemometer was reading lows of 10 mph and highs during the gusts just into 20 mph.  I pumped up the 6m Ensis.  Prayott (first time on wing) and Harris were out.  While out winging, the gusts were really apparent - from shlogging to nukin' in the same run.

I had altered two variables (against my better knowledge) - pushed the foil up another 1/4" and then I removed the washer from the rear screw of the rear stabilizer.  The foil setup felt a little faster (less drag from flattening the rear stabilizer), but it also seemed harder to get up on foil (less lift out the back).  Between the two, I'd rather lift out of the water sooner (so the washer is going back in).  One thing I did notice was the higher riding height and the squirtiness of the tail.

The other thing I found out was that I don't like footstraps in this sport.  I went in after the first run and took them off.  They were in the right spot for riding, but that also turns out to be the best spot for standing to pump to takeoff.  All that work to get them on... oh well - at least I know.

The other thing that happened this session was I made a few complete jibes.  It is getting easier.  Still need to work on my exits.  You can actually see the loops where I made the jibes.

I think next time I'm going to set up the Armstrong HS1850, 60cm fuselage, CF300 tail on the 85cm mast.  It's going to be several days before there is enough wind though.  That'll give me time to add a layer of fiberglass to the front of the board (final seal coat), to pull off the footstrap inserts and to reinstall the deck pads.