i have went over the front 3 times in last 2 days of sailing after hitting weed.
only recently switched to pointer fin on small board,previously used weed fin.
today hit huge clump,very deep and thick,went fast over the front,broke my Aeron boom at clamp and had to swim back.
someone going to injure themselves seriously soon,unless this weed is removed.
Sorry to hear of your mis-hap Peter
On a brighter note, Mandurakastan has bugger all weed, which is Bizare
Enjoy the Weedies Boys, we know how much you love them
I got a nice bruise on my shoulder from hitting the boom on monday. Stupid weed. I think the government should hunt it down, it's obviously got a taste for humans now.
If you went to safety bay and used a pointer fin it's your own fault, if you only started stacking it after switching to a pointer then common sense would tell you to change back.
Occasionally while crossing the sound you can get massive clumps of floating weed that are really hard to see due to the swell. When you hit these at 20+ knots it gets fun.
Also how do you propose to remove seaweed from the ocean?
Ah I see.
Either way though if the problem only started occurring after changing to a pointer you could change back.
I would have thought with the shallowness of the bank hitting it rather than the weed would be more of a problem.
16cm freestyle fins FTW
Sorry to hear about your accident Peter.
Sounds like you are not the only one that knows about the problem.
Bit like continuing to hit your thumb instead of the nail. You know it's there but still continue to do it.
Grab a weedie or find another location to sail. There's alot of ocean out there.
I went out yesterday and I see what you mean.
I think the low tides at the moment aren't helping as it's condensing the clumps of weed.
Unfortunately weedies are a necessity while sailing down the river at the moment,there are plenty of stories going around of folks going over the handle bars in the last few weeks,hopefully the river will get a good flush out soon.
The guys down Mandurah have mastered the art of weed fin sailing so its good practice for us river sailors to try and catch up
I had a sail at melville yesterday
I used a pointer (39cm) and as long as I stayed off the sandbar and out of the real shallows I did not ctach any weed at all.
But when walking over bar and in close the weed is as bad as I can ever remember seeing in 30yrs of sailing in the river.
Do we need more rain to fix it or does this just flush more nutrients into the swan which feeds the damn weed more?
Melville: A low tide, a Sat or Sun morning, 15 or 20 volunteers armed with a garden rake each, one ally dinghy to pick up raked snot.....problem solvered...
Looking at the mass of snot up at Pt Walter yesterday on a super low tide I think you would soon sink a tinny.
Hopefully a couple of days of 36 degrees might help start to kill it off.
Read your survival techniques i snapped a boom at safety bay 650 meters out and sailed back in turning the boom over ! bit sketchy but prevented a swim.
Remember sailing Leighton beach few times years back when it was very popular,around 20 sailors.
Rigging up bit sandy on gear,then bit of a walk to beach,and the rolling swell is frickin scary.
Would only sail Leighton on small/narrow board.
You need to start sailing at back of sandbank on river Aus 111,where real men sail.
