Thinking of giving Canton a go for the first time tomorrow. I've got one 21cm weedfin that suits my 95ltre board c 25kts and can borrow another for my bigger board or for c 20kts but if its more I don't have one.I'd be using a 24cm Maui freeride or 22cm Maui wave..(?) on a Tabou Pocket Wave 78ltre.
So what happens? Do you get clumps of weed that stop you, ribbons that sit on the fin and make the board feel slow..spinout?...Can you sail it without a weedie..?
I've never sailed there, but stood somberly on the bank as others flew around having a ball. And yes they all had weed fins, looked mandatory to me.
I windsurfed there today and the weed is pretty thick till about 50 meters from the shore. Have you ever used a weed fin? They are much larger than conventional fins. Even if it's very windy the smaller weed fin will probably work. A 21cm weed fin is quite small.
The wave fin will work on the Tabou. Once you get past the shallow water you should be OK. If it slows you down just do a little chop hop to clear the weed.
Wave fins trend to rake back enough to release the weed at speed.
I went there once and I had a weed fin, but even with that i got stuck in the weeds ! Its more a submerged jungle than simple weeds, for about 100 meters out. You need a full weed fin (45 degrees rake) not one of those race-weed fins, that have less rake. You also need to be well powered up to start planing.
Thick as in seagulls resting and defecating on it. Big clumps. Unless something is done the shoreline is going to turn into a fetid, stagnent, decaying mass of foul smelling weed, dead animals and other detritis.
I pity the people who live across the road. The place stinks. However its a good place to windsurf on westerly and southerly winds.
Yeah it wasn't bad yesterday. Not a howling westerly but not too gusty. Some big lulls but the wind was there for up to a half hour at a time. Good runs for well over a kilometer with a bumpy patch in the middle when the wind picked up.
The floating weed and rubbish is blown into the shore and it builds up there. So once you get out around 20 to 50 meters offshore there isn't as much weed. There are a few clumps up to about 100 meters from shore. After this the water is fairly clear. The worst is on the shore where you have to walk through it. Its pretty gross.
was fun today , best sail i ever had
OMG , it suck when u drop the sail and u have 20kg of weed around the boom ,
Were you there today? I was out from 1 - 2pm..Bit rusty..embarassing..Stuffed first few gybes as I couldn't figure out where the wind was coming from.. Even held onto the rig too long before flipping and got flattened when the wind came from the wrong side..
Never had that happen before!'
Got my act together at the end and finished on a good note.
Borrowed a weedfin and wasn't happy with my upwind performance but it was gusty. Used the 125 + 6.6m . The regulars said it was crap but I enjoyed it although got a headache now & painkillers tonight..
Need to get out & sail more to keep my body up to it.
Getting in was gross as Moby says but after that not bad & a new experience flying along in dead flat water. Found I could concentrate on trying to figure out how to trim my sail better for upwind etc without the chop bashing me around.
Looks like I'll be a regular in the Winter W. Driving time is the same time as to get to Valentine but easier drive dead down the freeway then just off ramp & straight along.
Not as pretty or clean as Valentine so its still my favourite.
Hopefully I can get the planing gybes going well there although I suppose they'll fall to pieces when I hit chop..
It's a top place to go for gybes. The water is pretty flat no matter what the wind strength is and if you blow it, you are about chest deep in water so it's easy to get going again.
You go windsurfing there in spite of the foreshore. I'm not sure why so many liters are going there now. Anyway the windsurfers blow them away on the water.
Yep, so true, it is great place to experiment and try stuff out, it takes no time or energy to get going again after a fall.
I was out on the Sunday and enjoyed it. I had a few great runs on the way back to the beach, went out into the deeper water and raced along the waves (well wind chop!). It was pretty quiet and I'm not too sure what happened to the regulars, they have all probably become a bunch of tea-baggers
Back to the original question about fins, yep a weed fin is pretty much necessary now. Occasionally the beach is cleaned out and it is possible to use normal fins....but that very rare....and definitely not now, on Sunday the weed was even occasionally sticking to my weed fin, I think Mobydisc will verify a spinout I had. As for size of fin, though whilst 21cm is perhaps not ideal it not stop you going out for a sail, if worst comes to worst then you can walk back upwind, it's not that deep. My personal preference with weed fins is to go bigger than normal, the large amount of rake does not generate much lift, plus it does make the board feel 'soggy' and less responsive.
Never had that happen before!'Need to get out & sail more to keep my body up to it.
It was a NW so I'm guessing down the southern end somewhere..? Someone else might know better.
Just received my Makani 38cm freeride weedfin - looks like a weapon.I'm keen to try it and it arrived in around a week from Canada!
38" - what size sails will you use that with? I have a 30" weed fin and wondering if I need bigger for 6.5m sail?
I think you're right jase, the 30 has been fine the two times I've been out on it so far, just wondering if bigger would be better, will keep my hard earned cash for something else
Lets see if seabreeze is working this time.I tried to answer before but it wouldn't let me..Yah! It does..
My 125 Tabou comes with a standard 44cm fin .I go out in 5 - 18kts with it & a 6.6m. I wanted something equal to the 44cm and Makani recommended that one.Its really thick so should work well.
They are huge fins for your weight , i use the same size fins
As you and I am 97 kgs
