Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 5/24/2025

Dawn Patrolled Hickam this morning (since the tide was a super low -0.3' - WP would have been a really long paddle)

I brought Kalani on - and Ryan, Bill and Jesse were already out.

I took the current favored setup.  I let Kalani use No.39 as he's been struggling with the 4'8" Majek that he got from Marvin.

There were some sets that came through periodically that made it worth the trip over.

I love the Enduro 900/HA40 on waves like today - viscerally responsive when approaching a section, but plenty of glide to get you across a flat section.  If the waves are steeper and reeling, the Silk is the better choice

I had my fill of cranked over top turns and bottom turns that I leaned deep into - SO MUCH FUN!!!!  Going right was a little challenging as the wind was actually up.

17 rides - 

Only one battery today - I really came to pick up Bill's Amos Trench board - he's on travel and he wanted me to try the board.

W:42/FD:73/PW:6/S:4

Evening FD DW WP-PV Session - 5/23/2025

The wind was blowing similar to yesterday - but it definitely had more holes/lulls.  With a solid high tide, launching/landing would be nice and easy.

The waves were where the biggest disparity from the forecast lay - 

Surfline said it would be twice as big as yesterday - but it was a touch smaller (if you ask me).

That was all fine - Norm and I were going to do a downwind run anyways.

No.40, AFS 80cm UHM mast, Enduro 900/HA40

Kalani was also on FD.  Zach, Prayot and Roland were on wing.

It was pretty fun catching waves all the way down from WP over to PV.

The area before Campgrounds was pretty jumbled (and hard to catch any waves).

And from Campgrounds on to PV, the waves were fat so you had to get out in front of them if you were going to catch it - especially in the strong winds. 

I'll call this 15 rides - I know I got left behind on some of them.  If I got out in front, I could ride the waves for a long ways.

The waves were way easier to catch at WP.

I think Bill is going to let me try the Amos Trench board, and I'm going to let Kalani try out No.39, and I might be helping Mark tune in his new Foil Drive - Hickam run in the morning (it's also a -0.3' tide...)

W:42/FD:72/PW:6/S:4

Wing Foiling Session - 5/22/2025

The wind was blowing at the house when I got home.  Based on that, and the forecasted rise in wave size - I figured it would be a great day for winging!

At the beach, the wind did not seem as strong as the moving trees suggested.  This was largely due to the north wind component.  You could see the white caps outside - just means a long paddle to the wind line.

Roland was already there and almost set up when I arrived.

I had great expectations from the waves - so on went the Silk 850/HA40 - did not disappoint!

It was a really fun session - the wind was there when you needed it, and from a direction that made riding while luffing super easy.

You can see the north in the wind from the tracks below

The iwindsurf wind graphs were not available - below is the best I could do for archival data.

Mostly up on foil today!

Norm and Stu eventually came out - they were doing downwinders to PV.  Norm was on his Foil Drive (and again with the north wind, he had some really decent conditions).

Tacks abound today! Mahalo to Roland for taking pictures

W:42/FD:71/PW:6/S:4

Evening DW Parawing Session - 5/21/2025

Decent winds today, relatively smaller waves - another day of good conditions for parawing training.

And to get more time on foil, Norm and I did a downwinder from WP to PV.

The start was kinda slow for me - hard to line up good wind with relatively smooth water for easy takeoff.  But eventually I got up and today ended up being long runs up on foil.

And out past Campgrounds, the wind was steadier and I was able to get the longest runs I've had so far with a parawing.  Jibes and stance switches throughout.

No.34 was easier to ride in the stronger winds - but I think in the lighter stuff the Dragonfly took off faster.

No.34 was easier to takeoff goofy foot (but it was not easy)

By the end of this session, I was actually getting up on foil pretty quickly.

I can see using a harness in the future (as this starts to become second nature).  My arms feel pretty stretched out.

But it was all worth it - 

I am going to need to get better at taking off goofy foot - maybe some sessions at Kailua...

W:41/FD:71/PW:6/S:4

Evening Parawing Session - 5/20/2025

There was a lighter wind this afternoon when I got to the beach.  Norm was out on a bigger wing and Roland was launching with his 4.0

The waves were not too big - so the conditions were good for parawinging.

I wanted to try the Dragonfly and see what a difference positive volume makes.  Also kept with the training wheels (AFS Enduro 1300/HA43 on a shorter mast).

Each time I go out now, I feel like things are getting a little easier.  This is totally an effort to develop muscle memory and understand how the parawings power up.

To me at this point, these feel a lot closer to kitesurfing than it does winging. 

I made some good runs on regular stance and even made almost all my jibes.  But I did have a hard time keeping the parawing filled and pressurized going toeside.  And hard as I tried, I could not get up on foil on my goofy stance 

On my last run, the wind came up to the point where the Ka'a 4.8 was getting overpowered.  It would have been ok if I could turn downwind and bleed off the pressure - but I did not have a ride over at PV.  I went ahead and packed away the PW and paddled in (yes - from way outside).  At least through this whole learning curve I am staying in surfing shape. 

Looks like I was up on foil 8 times during this session

Same count using the distance metric.

It really is invigorating to go through a difficult learning curve again!

W:41/FD:71/PW:5/S:4

Evening Foil Drive Session - 5/19/2025

The forecasted wind didn't really show up this afternoon - so the FD crew came out for a last session before the wind comes back with a vengeance (for the next 10 days it's supposed to blow at or close to nuking).

Norm and Marvin were both out on their Code foils today.

I setup the same equipment I've been using lately. 

There were two squalls that pushed through - made for challenging conditions.  But when the sections jacked up from shoaling, it was so great to wrench turns at the peaks!!!

Roland, Zach and Duke were out winging -

14 rides on both metrics.

I did get a double dip around 44 minutes

And after I broke down my gear, I went to watch Marlon catch a few rides on prone.

Tons of fun!!!

W:41/FD:71/PW:4/S:4

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 5/18/2025

I went back to Hickam this morning - first to get Bill his boards and stuff, second to Foil Drive at Firsts

There was more wind than yesterday - and all my gear was in good working order today.

Same gear as normal.  I went out first on the regular Max Power battery

I headed out low and slow.  I was at 92% when I got to the break.

I had the break all to myself for 40 minutes before Jesse and Bill arrived.  There were some head high sets coming through and the tide was low enough to make the waves stand up a bit before breaking - perfect conditions for hooking turns before the breaking section!!!

SO MUCH FUN!!!

12 rides by both counting methods

Then I went in to swap batteries - here's the stats on the HO battery

Since this was my second run and I didn't have all day, I figured I would try out efoiling to the break.  The wind was to my back so that helped.  I got to the break and hooked into a small wave - after I wiped out I checked the battery consumption - 95%.  This definitely was quicker and more efficient - I might have to look into this more (and set up the 20cm cable)

Tons of great runs with banked turns and carves galore!

14 rides by both methods.

I think after today I'm going to list the bigger F One foils and stabilizers for sale... the Enduro 900 replaced all of them -

W:41/FD:70/PW:4/S:4

Garage Works - 5/17/2025

This is the board Bill got to me today - cracks in the top of the rails - both sides

I grinded the cracked epoxy out and prepared it for a fill with strips of carbon

And I prepped the patches for the trench board

Got them placed and then headed out to run errands

I sanded the Portal and then sprayed some clear coat on and that one was done.

For the Cruzer, I sanded, placed a fill coat, allowed it to harden, then came in and sanded the excess off.

Not the best job I've done, but with the repair so close to the deck pads it was the best I could do (without damaging the pads).

I loaded those two boards in the truck so I can return them to Bill tomorrow - and then I had a big empty space in the garage...

Now I can work on No.41 again.  Since I had Bill's trench board (Amos Cruzer), I took some measurements from it and then marked up the cuts I'll need to make to get my version of a trench board put together.

Probably four extra steps needed to get the trench in place.

Here we go!