Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 10/3/2026

It has been 6 days since I had been in the water - between the flu I am now shedding and the impacts of Hurricane Nolo, it has been a rough 6 days.

This morning the conditions actually cleared up - both on my flu and the surf.  Nice rising tide.  Light side on winds.  And decent surf every 15 minutes or so.

No.41 with the AFS UHM 75 Skinny mast, Enduro 900, Mako Pro 130 on the standard fuselage.

Looking at this stabilizer, it looks like it would be the best of both the Mako Carve 130 and the HA38

Oddy enough, it is something totally different.

Normally after not doing a specific activity for a bit I need an adjustment period - usually three waves or so then I get back my muscle memory.  With the 5cm shorter mast and the different stabilizer, I ended up breaching throughout the session - more earlier than later.

There were some really good rides this morning - you just had to be patient.

21 rides - with a few of these ending in breaches as previously discussed 

The wind comes back tomorrow - I'm planning to parawing tomorrow with the PPC Orbit!!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:122/FD:66/S:25

Parawing Session - 10/2/2026

Ground handled this parawing this evening - the PPC Orbit 4.5m

Definitely flies differently from all the single skins - and even a bit different from the BRM Paia.

When you engage the Power Assist Line (PAL) you are supposed to get more pull from the parawing.

And it changes the center of effort (balance point shifts back)

With the PAL disengaged, the balance point is still about an inch back from the front lines.

Turning the parawing requires pressure on the back lines - if you leave this out, the lower tip will collapse and the lines will drape over (your head).

Similar to the distinct line on the BRM S3 (when sheeting out), the Orbit has a break just before the trailing edge

This seems like a parawing that will work best by pulling you up on to foil (instead of pumping the parawing)

Sunday looks to be the first day with wind strong enough to take this parawing out for a spin (and we shall see how this flies!!!)

Garage Works - 10/2/2026

Got the bottom fills covered with fiberglass patches

I'll start working on the rails next.

Looks like this board was put through the wringer...

Garage Works - 9/30/2026

I am fighting the flu right now, and the surf seems to be jumbled up from Hurricane Nolo - so what better time than now to fix more dings.

This is Rich and Staci's 10' SUP.  The movers put a bunch of holes in it and they asked me to fix it.

I had recently finished fixing their surfboard (the seafoam one prior to this) - and this one was out drying (it seemed heavy - but I couldn't tell if it was the board or water inside).  After drying while the seafoam surfboard was being fixed, this one did seem to get lighter.

I sanded the spots that needed to be addressed.

Today (since it was a rest day again for me - three days in a row), I went ahead and placed colored fill into the spots that were opened.

These will get a light sanding and I'll place fiberglass patches over these and the rest (that didn't need fill).

Gotta get this one done because it is big and is taking up a lot of room in the garage.

Parawing Session - 9/27/2026

Double session at Hickam today - winds were a notch below smoke on the water

The surf was pretty unruly outside - which is why I went to Hickam.

I set up the AFS Ultra 750 again - I wanted to get the mast position dialed in.  I ended up moving it a hair more forward and was happy with how it took off.

I was sitting on the board with the BRM S3 3.4m closed up when those 45mph gusts blasted through.  Otherwise the 3.4 handled the wind well

I tried to get a couple of tacks in since this foil has a lot of glide - but the wind was a little much and at the outer run points it was more survival jibing.

Those blue lines were where I hunkered down during the blasting gusts

Probably the strongest winds I've been out on parawing...

Prayot was sitting on his board when I did this flyby.

Interesting to see how the parawing was releasing/holding wind

I went in and swapped out foils to the Cabrinha Whippit 850/Tweaker 390/160

I did stop once to get the mast moved forward.  The setting was ok - I think it still needs to go forward a notch.

Not anything surprising - this foil rolls really well.  Cabrinha's current answer to the AFS Silk.

I tried to stay up closer to the taxiway - the water surface was more settled there.

That 23.9mph run was at the end of the session - I headed on a reach instead of pinching and the foil just went.

Hurricane Nolo is passing to the south of the western Hawaiian Islands now - the winds are forecasted to flow in from the south for the next several days.  I could use the break to rest up.

PF:11/W:3/PW:122/FD:65/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/26/2026

Dawn patrol at Kailua to get into some Hurricane Nolo driven winds

It was nuking!!!!

I watched the conditions for a while before deciding on using the AFS Ultra HA 750/UGlide 141 Rear Stabilizer mounted onto No.44 via the UHM 80cm mast.

I put up the Flysurfer POW 2.5, the BRM Maliko 2.9 and the BRM S3 3.4m parawings

Even though the wind was super strong, I opted to go with the BRM S3 3.4 as it was the most stable when the gusts would come ripping through.  It also depowered enough that I could handle the gusts since I had the small foil bolted on.

There was a lot of chop on the surface - and that made it hard to get situated initially.  But I got through the acclimation quickly and into doing laps

At the top of the course, retracting the PW was pretty easy.  And the DW ride on the swell was phenomenal!!!

I was 50-50 on the redeploys.

The BRM S3 3.4 was the right call.

The wind started to swirl so I figured I should call it before I got hurt.

Super fun session!!!

PF:11/W:3/PW:120/FD:65/S:25

Garage Works - 9/26/2026

This was a rush repair order - the seam opened up on Prayot on Friday afternoon

I had to wipe the saltwater off and dry it

But it held up to Hurricane Nolo today at Kailua!

And this evening I went ahead and got the fiberglass patches on this ding repair order.

I'll sand this one tomorrow and get started on the SUP board repair

Parawing Session - 9/25/2026

Afternoon session had a nice high tide again - waves every now and then, but

the wind was all over the place.

When I first went out, I had the BRM S3 5.3 because the wind was light.  By the end of the day, the 4.2 I had brought out was starting to get overpowered.

I bolted on the Cabrinha Prestige 905/Union 160

And the honest truth is I didn't feel the back foot pressure in my knee like I normally do with the AFS foils.  Yet another amazing trait from this foil!

The next three pictures are when I had the BRM S3 5.3 up

A few retracted PW rides in there

I think the waves were smaller than yesterday (thus the slower top speed) - and having to contend with a too big parawing for the conditions

Wide range between the background wind and the gusts

This was the ride with the BRM S3 4.2 up

I had a little trouble dousing the PW - the wind was taking the PW as I was bringing it down.

The downs in this chart are mostly botched redeployments (wind shadows, poorly wadded up PW, too much wind)

I think I could have used the 3.4 easily today - 

PF:11/W:3/PW:119/FD:65/S:25

Parawing Session - 9/24/2026

Mega high tide - chest high surf on the inside - and a strong wind line outside.

This feels like the start of the Hurricane Nolo effects.

No.44 with the AFS Enduro 900/HA38 (for better glide).

I packed the BRM S3 5.3 in a plastic bag and had the S3 4.2 at the ready.

There was a lot of water moving around - producing chop on the surface and pull below.

Stu and Norm were headed to PV on a downwinder.  I opted to stay up at WP and ride the bigger waves.

Prayot came out later - and Derek came out even later.

I nabbed some really good retracted parawing rides.

And I was less meticulous about the pack down - and redeployment seemed to be easier and more successful.

Some solid wind on the outside - but if you rode too far in, chances were you had to schlogg back out to the wind line.

There were definitely times I could have used the 5.3, but conversely there were also times I could have used the 3.4 - so the 4.2 was a good split.

The 5.3 stayed almost perfectly dry in the plastic bag inside the stash bag.  Nice insurance policy to have that available.

That 21.2 mph run was on a giant (for today) wave.  Well overhead drop - phenomenal experience!!!!

Awesome session today!

PF:11/W:3/PW:117/FD:65/S:25