Wing Foiling Session - 1/10/2023

The wind was not supposed to be up today - but it seems as if the VOG layer trapped a lot of heat and it popped the bubble and a thermal flow developed - but from the West...

I could see the wind in the trees all along my way home.  I took a chance and figured the wind would still be up over at WPB.  I went ahead and setup the WWFB/PC85/1210/178 while I was still at home.

When I got to the beach at 4pm, I could see a lot of texture in the water outside the break and it was coming from almost straight west - dream scenario for regular footed individuals.  When I had finally paddled my way to the wind line, The 5.1 I pumped up was enough wing to get going.

I felt wobbly while I was out - I had doubts that I had not tightened the front foil bolts enough for them to seat properly - but I attributed the feeling to my being rusty.  Well - I wasn't rusty.

The wind was a little fluky.  It would start out in channels, then the whole field would open up.  Then the direction would shift - from side off to side and even side on.  All this made for challenging conditions - you never knew if you were going to drop off foil and get stuck.  I actually was drifting down wind for the first few runs.  When the wind picked up I was able to pull upwind and get above the cabins (and not worry about having to land in front of rocks to the east of Fenceline. 

I only stayed out for 45 minutes.  With the twitchiness of the front foil I decided to go in while to going was good.  Brian was out there before me, and he stayed out well after I got out.

You can see the forecasted wind strength - sub 10 mph.

I'm glad I got this session in.  When I got home I removed the old shim material from the fuselage I was using, as well as from the inside of the front foil mounting section.  I fitted on new shim material - this time Gorilla Clear Tape instead of the aluminum duct tape.

I also got ready for tomorrow - wind should be up and I want to see if the F One Eagle 1090 is still singing under wing power.

Fun first wing session of the year!!!

W:1/F:2/S:6

Garage Works - 1/9/2023

I epoxied in the mast track boxes and got the seal/fill coat over the bottom deck.  I drilled through both stringers in two spots to make sure there will be pathways for the air to move between both sides of the blank (I'm only putting in one vent).

I'll have to sand down some spots under the weight I used to keep the boxes from moving around (they will move if you don't keep an eye on them), and also at the nose where I used epoxy/thiksil to rebuild the foam that came off during the shaping process.  The seal coat helps fill the spots where the shaping process gouged chunks of EPS, but also adds a layer of epoxy that will later stop pinholes (where the EPS blank sucks in the epoxy - and this is a whole other topic but you should only apply laminates while the temperature is falling).

After I sand those spots, I'll be ready to laminate the top deck.  I'm still debating the color tint - some type of blue, international orange, or a darker green....  It's funny what ends up being the hard parts of board building.

If I can figure out the deck color, I might have both sides laminated and the rail tape on by this weekend.

Garage Works - 1/8/2023

I got some work done on No.29 this morning.

I had done some calculations to determine the position of the mast tracks - and even after that I made a last minute adjustment (more forward).  Measured multiple times -

before cutting.

Getting the trak slots cut out of a narrow tailed board is not easy - shims, cantilevers and lots of measuring.

But you gotta cut sometime - 

And these came out perfect!  For reference, these are centered to bias the asymmetry (the middle of the stringers was where the templates were centered - I adjusted over to the starboard side by just over a centimeter).

And after that work I rearranged the garage and disposed of a bunch of things that weren't needed (like over 3 garbage bags of stuff).  Finally - before running errands with La, I added a seal/fill coat to the top deck - this is to try and avoid air bubbles in the fabric under the laminates.

When I get home from the grocery run, I'll seal/fill the bottom deck and get the track boxes epoxied in.

This is the view from the top - the Regular Foot Asymmetric Prone Foil board is coming along nicely.

Dawn Patrol - 1/8/2023

I pulled a solo dawn patrol this morning.  I brought Dennis's wave ski to give it back to him.  I also brought the same setup from yesterday - 4'8" prone foil board, 68cm Project Cedrus mast, F One Eagle 1090/DW210. 

The tide was higher than yesterday, no wind and the swell was slightly smaller, but way more consistent.

I focused on finding the right footing to pump back out.  I found instead of moving my front foot back, that if I pulled my back foot forward, the foil pumped easier and with more lift.  I got a bunch more double dips today.  I almost had two triples (but ran out of steam pumping).

I had a weird turn this morning - instead of carving through the top turn, I stayed upright and pivoted.  The back turned super fast (not upright components on the rear stabilizer) - so fast that I wiped out.

Fun time today! 

W:0/F:2/S:6

Garage Works - 1/7/2023

I worked on trimming both the slot and the block so the block would drop in easily, but still have a close fit to the sides.

After that I took some scrap fabric and got the slot dressed up.  Innegra on the bottom and carbon on the sides with some overlap.

Then I mixed up 5.6 ounce of epoxy - half went to the slot straight and I used a brush to wet out the fabric.  The rest got thickened and I coated the block with the slurry.  I slipped it in and then waited to see where the remainder needed to be added.

Saran wrap went on and got taped down to smooth out the fabric.

I added the weights to make sure the block did not rise up (but it probably won't because of the way the epoxy was spread out - not too thick in any one spot).

I didn't get to spread a slurry across the bottom like I had hoped (but that nap sure was nice).  I'll get that spread in the morning - and perhaps the top deck filled/sealed in the evening tomorrow. 

Dawn Patrol - 1/7/2023

Dawn patrolled this morning.  Air temp was 59F... burrrr.  No wind, nice full moon high tide and a surprisingly fun sized swell pushing in.  Marlon brought his longboard, and I brought the 4'8" with the short Cedrus mast and the F One 1090 Eagle (and DW210 rear stabilizer).

Surprisingly also, I didn't have much of a reset (I haven't been prone foiling in a bit - mostly surfing).  First wave was a good one and this setup was sure footed.

I had a double pretty quickly in the session (didn't get a triple) - I still need to find the sweet spot on this foil for pumping.  The pumping I did do was not tiring - I just need to move faster I think.

About mid-session, I did have a really unexpected takeoff - jacked up wave, super steep - I stuck the takeoff and was rounding over to run the wall, but I hit some turbulence from the previous wave and ate it.  Super nice to have one of those in the middle of winter!

Having spent some time putting a Donaldson trailing edge on the front foil (1090) and the stabilizer, I was listening for any vibrations/whistling.  I didn't hear any this time (unlike the last time I brought this foil out - even at prone foiling speeds I could hear a high-pitched tone).  This is a good sign - but I'm going to have to drive it at winging speeds/loads to see if the sanding worked. 

I was considering shimming the base - but it turns out I didn't need it.

Based on this positioning, I am going to move the mast tracks forward on No.29.  It seems as if I need move adjustability up front and less out the back.  I think an inch and a half forward should be sufficient.

The swell started to back off just after 8am.  I caught a few more and hit the showers around 9.

Fun first prone foiling session of the year!!!  I'm going to keep using the F One Eagle to get it dialed in.

W:0/F:1/S:6

Evening Session -1/6/2023

The waves were forecasted to be belly high this afternoon, on a lower tide.  I want to prone foil, but I don't want to ding any of my front foils.  I figured with some energy in the waves, it would be fun taking the Sweet Potato out again - and this time ride it as a twin with a stabilizer.  But not just any stabilizer - the Webber Transformer stabilizer which is supposed to flex during a turn and return the energy as the turn ends.

The rides I did get that were longer, I sensed my turns seemed to be snappier.  The tail was also looser than with the Da Hook quads.

Definitely fun out in the waves today - but there really wasn't enough energy to really get a feel for these fins.  I'll keep these in the boxes for a bit.

Tomorrow will be a foiling dawn patrol!

W:0/F:0/S:6

Garage Works - 1/6/2023

I got home from work and Marlon was still working on school stuff.  To give him the time he needed to finish, I went straight to routing out the slot for the mast track reinforcement block.

This is the single messiest part of making boards - little pieces of EPS get cut off the blank and are flung everywhere.

After cleaning up the mess, it was time to go surf.  Marlon and Noe both have projects that need epoxy (dinged surfboard and scratched boat hull respectively), so I figured I'd stop at this point (lots of epoxy from this point forward).

Tomorrow is an epoxy day.

Garage Works - 1/5/2023

I sanded No.29 this afternoon.  I used my foam block and 80/120/180 grit screens.

I also marked where the poly block will go.  It is offset by a cm - should not be an issue for routing the finbox slots.

The measurements on this one will come out to around 4'6"x19"x3.5" and sit around 35 to 40 liters

I really like shaping asymmetric boards.

Tomorrow I'll rout out the slot/void for the reinforcement block, epoxy it into place and place a fill/seal coat of epoxy along the bottom deck stringers.  Saturday I'll fill/seal the top deck and rout out the slots for the finboxes.

Evening Session - 1/4/2023

We hit the beach this afternoon after an eye doctor appointment (for La and myself) and a Costco run.  We actually hit the beach so we could take our annual family picture (just a few days late, but thats ok).  Surfing was just an added benefit.

I had heard the surf was coming down, so I brought the Viking.

I caught three really long ones from the outside.  This board is 11 feet of pure magic!  I walk all over the board to trim, turn, and glide.

The surf was definitely down, but still ridable.  I think this is probably the level that it will be at for the next few days.  With no wind in the foreseeable forecast and low tide predominating the afternoons, it looks like this will be a surf dominated first few months of the year.

W:0/F:0/S:5

Evening Session - 1/3/2023

La dropped me off at the beach this afternoon - I got some surf and she and Noe went on to get some shopping done.  I didn't take any pictures at the beach, but the wind was pretty much offshore, the tide was low, and the waves were really clean and thigh to belly high (and every now and then a chest high set).

I caught a bunch, but had to pick them off from the crowd - the further inside I was, the better my chances at picking it up.  My last wave was a long one, and I was turning all over the place.  Making lemonade from lemons!!!

I think I'm going to swap the NVS Aipa Da Hook quads out for either the Grennan quads or the Webber Transformer twins plus trailer (probably this set).

W:0/F:0/S:4

Evening Session - 1/2/2023

I wanted to make up for a low wave count this morning, so I took the Sweet Potato out to WPB this afternoon.  It was a really low tide, light wind and a waist (to chest high if you waited) high swell pushing through.

I caught plenty of waves, and the longer I was out, the better my rides got.  My last ride I did multiple turns and rode it most of the way back to the beach.  I was catching most of the waves I would have caught on the TJ Everyday.  This board will help extend the life of the Everyday by taking some of the pressure to ride it when the waves are smaller and gutless.

I really like the feel of these fins.  If I have a wave face to work with, turning seems to actually generate board speed.  This set felt way better than the Machado Quads - more drive, speed and release at the same time.

I'm going to ride this board with these NVS Aipa Da Hook fins for a few more sessions - then I think I'm going to try out another set of fins I got for Christmas - the Webber Transformers.  And then the Wayne Rich Nightmare Keels, without and then with a nubster trailer.  It is going to be a fun year experimenting with the Sweet Potato and different fins!!!

W:0/F:0/S:3

Dawn Patrol - 1/2/2023

Dawn patrolled Pyramid Rock with Jimmy today.  Oddly enough, it was windy - 

The swell was funny - nothing, then medium sized waves, and cleanup sets - all surging in and dumping.  Marlon got three on his Seaside.  I got one on the Sweet Potato (and in that one ride, I could already tell the NVS Aipa Da Hook Quads are magic).  I rode that one wave in and grabbed the Hypto Krypto since the waves had a ton of energy.

Since I had the Hypto Krypto out, the waves of course started to pull back (actually I think the tide was peaking).  But after a considerable wait, I finally did get one - this is another magic board and fin combo.  

Despite the challenging conditions, it was still really fun catching up with Jimmy!

W:0/F:0/S:2

Garage Works - 1/1/2023

I got a ton done in the garage today.  I started by sanding the repairs on Dennis's wave ski.  I went ahead and got the fill coat on all the repair spots and got the nose fiberglassed.

This is ready to go back to Dennis.

I also filled the pukas on the Kujira 1440, put a Donaldson edge on the ART 999 and 400P, placed harness lines on a windsurfing boom, relocated the booms to clear some space, and then setup the electric planer to rough shape the 4'6" asymmetric prone foil board.  I got through the whole board in about 2 hours - easy when you don't have to get both halves equal.  Tomorrow I'll fine sand and maybe rout out the mast track reinforce box slot.

And I also helped Marlon cut out the arc tail on his new longboard.

Great start to the New Year!!!

Dawn Patrol - 1/1/2023

Special dawn patrol this morning - First Session of 2023!!!

I love this guy!!!

And I love this board - catches anything and when you step back to the tail, it surfs like a much shorter board.  I caught plenty of fun ones - and well before everyone else could.  But as the crowd got thicker, I went over to the cottages and had my own uncrowded waves.

The wind forecast is pretty dismal - but that's ok as long as the surf keeps coming!!!  With a new year comes hope that we can all find peace and our place in the universe - may 2023 be a great year for us all!

W:0/F:0/S:1