Dawn Patrol - 15 December

I went on a dawn patrol again this morning - this time of year you have to take advantage of the morning high tides when you can.  Prior to this weekend, the big high of the day was occurring in the very early morning.

Marlon came along - his big debate was whether to wear his thermal top or not.  He opted not.  I saw him catching several, but the swell was not as big today as it was yesterday - and his rides were on the shorter side.  Thigh to waist high on the sets.

My first three waves were really fun, long rides.  I breached on one - steep takeoff.  I also had a few bad takeoffs - front foot too far forward or my back foot off center.  At about 7:15, the crowd showed up, including a bunch of foilers - the two SUP foilers, Dennis, Kalani and another.  I had a few more long rides - including one where I was pumping back out - not straight out but 45 degrees up - and I almost had a 2 for 1.  Marlon said he was going in - I tried catching one more but got caught in the "one last wave" slump.  Dennis told me that the screws on the foil should be tightened down hard enough to stop any flex - then the foil becomes way more predictable.  I bought some 1" PVC pipe to make a low board rack - after that I'll disassemble the foil and reassemble it and lock down all the screws.

To round it all out, there was another monk seal on the beach.

Dawn Patrol on the High Tide - 14 December

I've waited for some time for this - super high tides occurring in the daylight hours!  Today the high hit about an hour before dawn at 2.4' - high enough to paddle the foil straight off the beach.

The wind was up first thing - made the waves bumpy and the water choppy.  The swell was waist high on the sets (can't complain about that in December!!!).

After the first 30 minutes or so, the wind died back and it actually became really fun.  My first two waves were eye opening as to how quickly you can lose your bearings on the foil if you do other things (like trying to teach yourself to be a goofy foot longboarder).  I had my front foot too far forward when I took off on the first waves and the board dug.  On the second, I wasn't aligned dead center and off I went.  Over the rest of the session I breached twice and sunk the nose a few more times.  On the brighter side, I had several long rides and a bunch of steeper takeoffs.  I think I could have used the HS1550 and not made a few of the mistakes.  The current was doing something funny - paddling the board around did not feel like normal - felt like I was tipping over a bit from a side shore current.

The crowd was pretty thin for the entire session.  A couple of regular foilers were out and I saw a couple of others that I don't normally see.  

The sun finally broke through the clouds and the wind started to pick back up so I decided to call it - I had gotten my fill and it felt really good to get back on the foil.  

Last Steps Before Glassing

I worked on the 4'6" yesterday and today.  Yesterday I faired in the slots for the track mount reinforcement blocks, cut out the carbon patches for the bottom of the slots, and dropped them in with epoxy (4.4 oz per box - probably only 3.0 oz stayed in place after squeeze out).

Today I sanded down the excess reinforcement block and sloppy epoxy work.  Then I measured out the track alignment and re-sanded the board at 180 and 400.  I also ran the block plane over the stringer one last time.  Tomorrow I'll route out the track slots and start glassing.  I'm still debating about what the glass schedule will be -

1.  Carbon patch at the tracks, then carbon strips up the stringers.
2.  Carbon everywhere top and bottom (just like the 4'10")
3.  Partial carbon along the back half of the board top and bottom (not forward of where my front foot would rest - not needed there).

If I go with 1 or 3, I can use printed labels.  Hmmmm - decisions, decisions, decisions.

Evening Session (Yesterday) - 10 December

Marlon and I went longboarding yesterday evening - the tide was too low for my liking to bring out the foil.  Here's Marlon on a couple of different waves.

Since I had the longboard, I figured I'd continue to work on my goofy foot skills.

The waves were about thigh high and the wind was minimal.  With the waves as small as they were, the takeoff spots got condensed and there were more party waves than not.

I started by riding regular and then switching.  Then I started just taking off goofy.  Since I just started doing this, it still feels awkward.  With smaller waves it's not an issue, but bigger could be an issue.  Lucky for me it's winter and the waves should be on the smaller side - time to learn something new!

Cutting and Routing

Got home in the late afternoon yesterday and jumped on moving the 4'6" forward.  First off I measured the reinforcement block and cut it in half (longitudinally).

Next I transferred the outline to the board, and proceeded to cut out the opening for the blocks.

When I get a chance in the next couple of days, I'll enlarge the openings to let the blocks drop in comfortably when paired with a sheet of fiberglass.  I'll vacuum bag the blocks in.  I'll also just use carbon on the back half of the board (too much weight to go full in a situation where I'm not sure of the payback in stiffness/weight - or maybe I'll go full carbon and vac bag it so I can see the difference in weight driven by the process).  Maybe another two weeks before this hits the water.

High Noon Foiling - 7 December

The high tide - 1.2' - came at 12:35pm.  Even with that height, I still hit bottom a few times (scratches on the rear wing - no real issue except my OCD).  The swell was a hair smaller than yesterday, or it could have been mushed out by the high tide.  But the wind - straight onshore and strong enough to chop it all up.  Didn't really matter on the foil though - caught 5 long ones, one of which was right behind a fore-runner so I maneuvered to stay on the second one.  Nothing to get too excited about (especially since I had to dodge newbies everywhere) - but it was good to be on the foil again.  Going to have to go on tides higher than 1.3' if I want to bring out the Armstrong.

The beach also had a visitor partaking in my favorite activity - napping.

He looks way cooler napping than I do also.

Evening Session - 6 December

Hit the surf in the evening after work yesterday.  It was small (maybe thigh high), but with almost no wind it was fun.  The tide was low, so I opted to bring out the longboard ( I hate worrying about whether I'm going to hit bottom or not).  After three waves, I figured I'd better figure something else out to make longboarding interesting on days where I should be foiling.  I took off regular then after the board settled, I rode switch!  I then did that for the next six waves.  I felt like I couldn't weight my front foot or I would have bogged down the board - probably because I didn't takeoff going goofy and moved up from regular stance.  And on the last wave I just took off goofy.  Rode that one almost all the way in.  I'll bring out the GoPro next time and get pictures (I'm sure they won't be pretty).

Late Afternoon Session - 3 December

I picked up Marlon from school after I got off work - he's taking his Driver's Test tomorrow so I wanted to get him to practice on the course.  But to get him to relax, I figured we should get some of this bump up from the South.  It was low tide so I decided to do some crosstraining.  I've noticed that I'm not moving my feet at all - que the TJ Everyday.

Needless to say - with waist high waves and a lower tide, this board is too much fun.  And I purposely moved my feet all around.

Marlon was out trying some new moves - he got two reverse takeoffs and at least a couple of nose rides.

That's me photobombing Marlon.  Excellent day of surf!

Dialing in the 4'6"

I'm now at the point in shaping this one where my OCD is a detriment.  I keep chasing the little asymmetries - and chasing, and chasing... you get the idea.

This is pretty close - and I'm going to stop the rough sanding here (80 and 100 grit).  Both of these pictures are of the bottom deck.

I'm using a slight downturn on my noses, since these things get flipped over and paddled upside down for a fair distance (to get the foil to deep water).

Next step is a quick hit with 180, 220 and 400 grit sandpaper.  Then I'll route out the voids where the high density foam block will go (going to use a premade one from Fiberglass Hawaii instead of a homemade one), vacuum it in place, then cut out the finbox slots.  Then glassing.  I'm going to try to get this one lighter than the 4'10" by using carbon tape along the stringer on top and by only using carbon around the mast track on the bottom.  I don't mind the weight of full carbon on a polyurethane blank, but I want to see if I can get similar response from a lighter glassed board from this one as compared to the 4'10".

Dawn Patrol - 1 December

Windy and choppy, but a little bit more energetic than yesterday.  Another full tide at 2.1'.  Same setup as the past few sessions.  If there is a day in the near future where the swell is a little bigger, I may swap out the front wing for the HS1550.

I only stayed out for 40 minutes because I had to take Marlon to music practice.  I got six or so waves - with two of those all the way to the beach.  The waves were a tad harder to catch today, and they fizzled out faster.  All that taken into consideration, I'll call today a win.

Windy Saturday Dawn Patrol - 30 November

Marlon and I headed out to get some early morning surf.  As soon as we left the house he noted "Wow - the wind really picked up quick".  That was telling as the surf was super choppy.

Marlon decided to sit this one out (too cold).  I headed out for a 40 minute session.  Tide was super full at 2.2', the swell was knee high with some waist sets, and the water was warm once you got used to it.  I had out the 4'10" and the CF1600 and caught several with four long rides all the way into the beach.

It was a little tough riding with all the chop, but it was still super fun!  In my lifetime of surfing, I have never looked forward to smaller, super mushy surf - now that's all I want to surf!

Thanksgiving Dawn Patrol - 28 November

Happy Thanksgiving to us all!  I am thankful for the life I live, my family, our health (Mom - let's get better now!) and the opportunities we make for ourselves.  I have been preparing this turkey for the past three days - started by deboning it, then brining it, then drying it, then stuffing it, smoking it and finally carving it.  Here it is this morning -

After the turkey went into the Big Green Egg, I went on a dawn patrol.  There was a mega high tide at 2.3', ZERO wind and a waist high swell pushing through.  I brought out the 4'10" and the Armstrong CF1600 - same setup as the past couple of sessions.

I stayed out from 6:30 to 8:45 - I had a bunch of long rides and banking turns from section to section.  I didn't want to leave, but the waves were backing down (counterintuitive to a dropping tide), the wind was starting to fill in and I had a turkey to check on.  It came out exquisite!!!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!