Late August Gorge Trip - Day Two

This was the beginning of Day Two.

Wind was still up from the previous day, but it was forecasted to drop off.

Dennis and Kevin checking the conditions -

I took out the same setup from yesterday as the wind was still up.  And again the BRM S3 3.4 was perfectly powered.

Headed downwind a bit more than yesterday afternoon - but honestly the waves were best up towards the campsite.

I didn't stash the parawing much this session - the waves were too short and only in the couple of spots today that it didn't make sense to take it down.

Dennis mid-tack.

The wind got really strong so I went in for a break.  The launch-landing spot was so easy (not as easy as Hickam - but pretty close).

After snacks, I headed back out but switched to the Silk 1050/152.

I got up and had some rides, but the wind started to fall off so I went in - twice - to size up the parawing.  But in both cases (4.2 then the 5.3), it was too little too late.

We broke down camp and prepared to head off west in the morning.

Pretty incredible that the wind can be nuking in the morning, then glassy a few hours later.

The camp site was really nice - clean bath house, no bugs, nice quiet location - made me really miss the Trail Manor.

PF:11/W:3/PW:97/FD:61/S:25

Late August Gorge Trip - Day One

La and I took a trip up to the PNW.  First stop was dropping me off at the eastern part of the Gorge.  Nick was camping with some other friends from San Diego - and he said crashing was not a problem!

Driving through the Gorge was pretty cool - lots of beautiful scenery and the wind on the water looked nuclear!

And the water was not that cold (at this time of year).

We pulled up to the campsite, offloaded my stuff and I was assembling the parawinging stuff.

AFS Silk 850/USurf 135/Standard fuselage on the Cedrus Evolution Surf mast all bolted on to No.34

I had the BRM Maliko 2.9 and S3 3.4 in th3 pouch.

This has been on my bucket list for quite some time - and having Nick as a guide made the learning curve go quick.  With current opposing wind in a narrow channel, there were some things to work out.

The front half was really cool - after getting my bearings, I followed the other guys downwind.  Waist high swell in a river headed up current.  Normally you'd want to go upwind to develop your margin of safety (and not have to walk back) - here the current will take you back upwind if you have issues getting up on foil.

Riding swell in a river with the parawing put away is definitely a different experience - especially with uber nuking winds at your back driving everything.

The back half of this first session was super challenging - the wind was shifting and trying to get up in short period chop is not the easiest thing.  But I eventually made it back to the launch.

The swell bumps were not evenly distributed across the river - on this run the rides were better on the Washington side 

Admittedly I spent most of this session trying to get back to the launch - the winds were really strong and towards the Rufus side they were shifting.  I broke out the Maliko 2.9 but even that was a little too big.  I left the Flysurfer POW V1 1.7 and 2.5 back home (not thinking I would need them due to the declining wind forecast).  But the real issue was the shifting direction and not the parawing size.

This time of year it stays light until around 2030 - so after resting, catching up and waiting for the wind to settle, we went back out for a second session.  I took the same gear and used the BRM S3 3.4

With the wind more consistent, this was a much better session.  I still got some retracted parawing rides in, but the swell wasn't as ride focused.  In fact I didn't see the need to go far downwind and was happy just doing the run in front of Maryhill.

The S3 3.4 was perfect as was the Silk 850/USurf 135

The wind was up all night - no glass off.

What a Saturday!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:95/FD:61/S:25

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 8/21/2026

Dawn patrol with Stu at Hickam.  Phil was also there - Bill came when we were finished (he did a first session at Bunkers).

Pretty much zero wind, glassy conditions.

Waves were small at Firsts -

Same gear as yesterday - except I used the second can with the blue props (which worked out way better for these shoulder and lower waves)

Stu was trying out his new Silk V2 750 - it looked like it was getting him up faster than the other foils he has been using.

I headed out low and slow - only burned 5% on the way out.

Stupid asshole SUP guys would drop in... jealous fakas -

So - to stop that from happening, I would just head right for them so they knew I was stopping them from dropping in.  I hate it when I have to do things like that - but it's better than getting hurt because someone doesn't know what the other person is going to do.

Besides that, the waves were good fun!

The USS Inouye came back into port - and delivered some decent wake to surf!  I knew it was their wake because the direction was different.

16 rides - but spread out more (1:43)

Off to the Columbia River!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:93/FD:61/S:25

Garage Works - 8/20(21)/2026

I've been putting clear coat on No.44 so the wear layer is built up.

This was post session yesterday.

I did notice a couple of spots on the bottom deck that showed deformation from sitting on the rack.  I sanded those down and got more clear coat on today (Friday).

I also got the deck pad on.  I may need to put augment pieces up front - but I'll wait until after I get this out for it's first session to determine if that is necessary.

So while I'm away for this next week - No.44 will get all settled and will have time in the garage to harden up.  I still need to open up the tracks - but that can wait until I get back (from the Gorge!!!)

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/20/2026

It was small yesterday afternoon - which made the session an exercise in efficient foiling.

Kalani was already out when I got to the parking lot.

Same setup as the recent runs -

The battery on my watch was running low (as my charging cable has not been cooperative) and I think this set of weird data was from the low battery.

Ignoring those straight lines, the session was more like this -

I would probably not even paddled out if I didn't have the foil drive.

But with it, the session was salvaged and I got several really fun waves - with banked turns and rebounds.

Roland and Prayot came out, Scott was out with another prone foiler, and Ben was setting up when I was leaving.

16 rides in an hour!

PF:11/W:3/PW:93/FD:60/S:25

Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/19/2026

La said she wanted to go to the beach today - primarily because her friend and her daughters would be there (and I'm not even second fiddle here...)

I said sure I'd go and brought the Foil Drive with No.43

AFS Enduro 900/Mako Carve 130 on the UHM Skinny 75cm mast

The waves were on the small side.  But if you waited a bit, some decent ones would pull through.

I made sure not to take every wave so not to piss off the surfers.

Robby had come and gone before I headed out.  Roland eventually came out - and after I got in Derek and Ben went out.

I focused on using the cupped wave face as a turning agent and shwacking the tops.  Super fun!

18 rides in an hour!!!!

Fun session!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:93/FD:59/S:25

Garage Works - 8/18/2026

The wind seemed to be up and down - so I opted to work in the garage this afternoon.

I got the sanding done on No.44 - from 40 all the way to 400

Bottom deck

Top deck

I found a tiny weak spot (under the blue tape).  I'll drops some epoxy in it tonight so tomorrow I can spray clear coat.

I also worked on the mast repair for Stu (now Norm).

I'll sand this and get it over to Norm before the weekend.

Evening Session - 8/17/2026

The winds are not too steady - although there are periods where it would tempt you out to parawing, I felt it was a trap.

I figured it would a good day to test out these new canards - the FM canards from True Ames.

They are half the size of the standard canards - so they should produce a looser feeling over the standards.  But there's only one way to find out.

I caught five waves in the hour I was out.

As you would expect, the bottom turns feel like they have a bit more grip - but the over rotated top turn felt further away.  I think I like this board more as a straight twin. 

I think I want to try this with the Hi Pro Twins next.

Which should be fine as the wind isn't supposed to be up for a while.

PF:11/W:3/PW:93/FD:58/S:25

Garage Works - 8/16/2026 - Mast Repair

And since I was working with epoxy, I figured I should try and get this mast fixed for Stu (who traded it to Norm).

The goal was the fill the gap in the front side of the mast foot (so it has a tighter fit on the front side).

Mold release on my fuselage -

And tape to keep the epoxy fill off the fuselage.

Here is the mast with the epoxy hardening.

And the fill in place.

Now I just have to trim the excess off and fair the top side in - hydrodynamics!