Aborted Dawn Patrol - 1/8/2022

Tried to dawn patrol today, but the wave energy had dwindled to the point that there was only one real takeoff point.  When it gets like this, surfing can get pretty frustrating.

I did stick around and talked story for a bit waiting for the sunrise.  Molokai was sticking out really prominently.

I opted out this morning (only because I brought the foil - if I had brought the Viking....).

Evening Session - 1/7/2022

After work session yesterday.  Marlon and I both brought out the longboards.  Waves were on the small side, and the tide was low (so no foiling for me).

Marlon came in pretty quick and started taking pictures with the Mini 2.  After a bit, I swapped with him.

Because the high tide is predominantly in the mornings during the winter, I've been surfing more than I've been foiling... hmmm.... how did that happen????  J/K - I love surfing (nearly) as much as I love foiling.

Noe's Jam - 29er

Noe practicing hard on a double handed boat - the 29'er.

This whole weekend she'll be sailing the 29'er.  Go Noe!!!!

Garage Works - 1/6/2022

I actually only stayed out surfing long enough to catch five good waves - I had my fill and headed back home.  I actually wanted to get this board repair done.  I broke out the sander yet again, and got the fill coat sanded down.  In doing so, I found a couple more air pockets along the tracks.  I opened those up so I could fill them with epoxy and aerosil.  Here's the third fill (usually is the last coat).  I'll sand tomorrow and get through the grits, and then spray acrylic on to the board.  Then I just have to wait for wind (none on the horizon for now).

I actually mixed a batch of epoxy (0.7 ounces), mixed the aerosil in and filled in the EPS bead voids on the 4'8" Wing Foiling Board - then with a little mixture left, added black pigment and fill the voids on this repair.  This should be done by tomorrow (finally).

Handling this board again, I noticed the weight is up forward.  That is a good thing since this board was made to ride waves - the added weight up front helps with the drop.  It has been a long time since I've ridden this board, I kinda forgot that trait.

Evening Session - 1/6/2022

 The surf was giant sized today up on the North Shore.  Sometimes the surf will wrap into the South Shore when the conditions are right.  Well something was different because there were waves - waist high on the sets, and they felt like they were bending in.

The tide was low - so I opted for the longboard.  I've said this before, but my favorite thing to do when the waves are small is to control my speed by hand dragging.

Roland was out - and he was the only person on a foil (TOO SHALLOW WITH THE LOW TIDE).  I think mixing it up is a good thing - reminds you how much fun surfing a longboard really is (though it isn't as fun as a good session on a foil).

Garage Works - 1/5/2022

I grinded out the box openings, sanded down the small bumps, opened up all the voids, then prepared carbon patches to fill the big void, added epoxy to the carbon patches and as a fill coat.

Tomorrow is sanding through the grits, cleaning out the boxes of epoxy that found its way into them, and spraying clear coat.  Then this board is ready to get back in the water!!!

Track Boxes in on the NWFB

I had some time yesterday evening - so I got the boxes set and capped them with a layer of carbon.

I actually placed another carbon layer around the boxes before capping the whole thing.

Finally getting close - just need to open the boxes, sand everything flat, place a sealing coat, then sand one more time through the multiple grits - then IT'LL BE DONE!!!!

Taking Measurements and La to the Beach

Through a long chain of acquaintances, I was able to get my hands on this board (custom Jimmy Lewis wing foiling board specifically made for Derek Hamasaki - the Master).  Of course, I templated it.

And since I was going to the beach to meet up with Roland to get the board back to him, La asked to come with.  How often does that happen???...

Nice time at WPB!

Evening Session and Droning - 1/3/2022

Marlon and I hit WPB for the afternoon session after I got home from work.  The tide was pretty low, so I brought out the TJ Everyday.  Marlon brought his trusty longboard.  Wind was mostly onshore - Roland was at the launch point, but contemplating what to do; he ended up just hanging on the beach while Marlon and I swapped surfing-drone piloting.

Not bad considering it is the beginning of winter.  Thigh high on the sets and plenty of waves for everyone.

My turn to surf, and Marlon at the sticks.

And vice versa - Marlon was stoked because he doesn't have many pictures of him surfing from the drone.  And I actually had a lot of fun trying to take pictures and video of him.  This isn't easy trying to pilot and compose at the same time all while making sure nothing bad happens to the drone.

Talkin story, flying drones, surfing waves - just plain awesome!

Dawn Patrol - 1/2/2022

Smaller waves today, but with no wind the rides were way better - longer, faster, cleaner, and when pumping for a twofer, I wasn't getting blown back.

I did use the mast base shim and it seemed to correct the nose down attitude.  I didn't feel like I was going to hit the water and my rides were more natural (less thinking).  Now I'm wondering if another shim will make it better or worse... next time.

I caught a bunch - less wipeouts today and way more hard carving turns.  I did hit bottom once... so much for the high tide prediction.  

Garage Works - 1/1/2022

It rained hard the whole day.  I didn't have a chance to park the truck out on the street to get the garage cleared until late.  When I did, I measured, setup the template and cut out the slots for the boxes.

Perfect!  I pushed these up a little further than the previous set since I installed - should be better for the smaller front foils.

Next up is taping, adding more carbon, epoxying the tracks in, epoxying on the carbon cover sheet, curing, grinding out the box slots, fill coating, and final sanding.  Yeah - easy....

Foil Bites

I couldn't tell while in the water if I actually got cut open or not when the foil came back at me.

It got me twice.  Well - I got to add to my collection of foil scars.

Dawn Patrol - 1/1/2022

Dawn patrolled this first day of 2022.  I finished the Takuma mast modifications (added epoxy yesterday while working on the NWFB and sanded this morning) - so I rigged up the 75cm with the 1210.

Winds were straight onshore.  The tide was supposed to be a dropping high at 1.6', but oddly enough I hit bottom twice.  There were waves pulling through - but I think it was pretty much wind swell.  I caught several really fun ones - two for ones and even a triple dip mixed in there.  Besides the two bottom groundings, I also had the foil come back at me on a wipeout and it bite me in the head and back (next post).

I forgot about the nose down attitude this setup produced.  I couldn't ride with reckless abandon because of that - I meant to add a shim under the front of the base plate.  Next time. 

The weather changed pretty quickly - good, bad, super windy, and really choppy.  Challenging conditions for sure, but glad to have gotten a session in to open 2022.

Garage Works - 12/31/2021

Marlon and I tried to get a dawn patrol in yesterday - but the gate was locked at WPB.  We even looked at Campgrounds but it didn't look like it was worth it.  So we headed back home - I made omelettes and coffee for breakfast, then I got started on a project I had been stalling on for a very long time - fixing the Narrow Wing Foiling Board.  I had toyed around with the idea of drilling a hole under the cracked boxes (front of both of them) and placing epoxy to shore up the damage - but I figured that wasn't guaranteed and it would add weight.  At this point I committed to the removal. 

Before I started on the NWFB, I cut out the slots for the new 4'8" Wing Foiling Board - these were pretty easy to do.  My only concern is relative position on the board.  The trends have been boxes moving forward - but with the flat tail and the shorter overall length, I'm not quite sure if these needed to go more forward.  I took this placement from the Go Foil website - over the boards I've made, that never steered me wrong.

Back to the long neglected repair (see - even now I'm trying to avoid this).  First step was measuring and placing landmarks for the new box placement.

Then came the really tricky part - demolition.  If something is going to get ugly, it is in this step.  I was able to cut around the boxes and loosen them up.  Thankful that I didn't have to route through the broken boxes.  I also had to remove the stickers in the tail area.

Fitting the HDF box.  Had to take the edges on the block down so I could fit it in with a carbon sheet around it.  Also took the top down so it would sit flush with the deck.

Carbon sheet cut, trimmed and ready for laminating.

And the block in place with epoxy and peel ply to take up the excess epoxy.

This was the hard part.  The rest should go fast.

Size Comparisons

I had this set of equipment in the truck this past week at work.  I had inflation issues with the OR A 5.0 the second to last time I took it out so I wanted to pressure test it.  On the RSWX 4.2, I had read on a forum post where one guy was seeing the stitching on his 5.2 pulling through the X-ply - so I wanted to pump it up to inspect mine.

I actually have not done a size comparison between these two before this.  Looking at where the difference is, this strip is 0.4 m2.

I also had these front foils in the truck - on load from Jeff to test the top end speeds.  Axis ART 799, 899 and 999 from top to bottom.  The ART 999 is everything the Armstrong HA1125 wasn't - easy riding, predictable lift, rolls with ease, no dolphining on takeoff, and no sudden death dropouts when you hit the stall speed (which is lower on the ART also).  The ART 899 was a faster version of the 999 - but the time I had it out there was fluky wind so I had ups and downs.  The ART 799 for someone my weight is a nuking wind racer.

These two are my favorites of the three.

And this is another comparison picture I have managed not to take... Go Foil PNL185 and the Axis ART 999.  You can see from the size difference that the PNL185 works better in lower energy conditions and the ART 999 in higher (although I have yet to try it in the surf prone foiling... might be a different story there).