Weeds at Leo Carrillo

[laci]

Having sailed at Leo for the first time this season yesterday, I was struck by how much the kelp beds have grown since last year. There is currently no clear path to the wave zone without heavy kelp . I know that in past years the winter storms actually helped thin the kelp but it seems that the opposite has happened this year. Is there anything that can be done to improve this situation? When the lifeguards put back the buoys they will probably go right through the kelp.

[nealpar]

I think the lifeguards grafted new "weedlings" during the past 4 months to create an impassible forest for us. I say we get our garden tools and paddle out and go to town....then dry it out and smoke it.

PS: Seaweed isn't some protected plant, is it, so that we end up in jail on some felony charge?

[MikeUzi]

I found a channel through the weeds, but man it was narrow. A little higher tide probably would have helped thin out the weed clumps.

[mikecole]

Fins with slightly more rake help with getting through the kelp beds. Examples are Surfingsports.com freeweed and TrueAmes Surfgrass. We lost a lot of kelp at Jalama this winter and it sucks. The heavy kelp beds knock the wind chop off the water which helps the wave. Less kelp has detracted from the quality of the wave for sure. Embrace and nurture your kelp! If the slalom sailors with their airplane wing fins manage to cut a channel, then you can us it

Mike

[NORMPE]

The kelp is usually worst this time of year, but i'll admit it is very thick this year. It really only takes a couple of high wind weekends with a good crew to carve out our usual channels. So sharpen your fins and full speed ahead!

[laci]

So I guess there really is no better solution to the weeds than to bite the bullet and sail right at them until enough of us have done it to cut a channel. I also have been using a surf-weed fin for a few years now, mine happens to be an Orca Weed Wave, and I actually did sail through the kelp a few times last Saturday. I was hoping there might be an easier way, such as Nealpar's suggestion. Seriously, one guy with a mask and fins and a pruning knife.

[jp5]

"Seriously, one guy with a mask and fins and a pruning knife. "

We might be able to talk DaBull into that one.

[MalibuGuru]

Since kelp can grow a foot in 2 days, we have to hope for warm water which halts the growth of kelp. Summer warmth shuts it down.

[FredBGG]

Carefull what you hope for......

Last year warm waters kept the wind from comming right down to the water surface.

I remember a ton of days when I was powered up on a relatively small kite while sails on the water surface were having trouble.

Kelp can be nasty, especially for kiters, but warm water can be worse.

Having done some underwater work in the past my guess is that it would be a very long and hard job clearing out a channel wide enough to be usefull.

I used to ride a twin concave windsurfer board with very sculpted rails.
Busted my fin to down to about an inch and a half... still I could ride that board. It was pretty thin and on the long side. It could really hold an edge, however it tended to flip over if I was hit by a sudden lull.
Didn't try it in the waves though...bet it would be tough...

[MikeUzi]

I was full speed kelp cutting this one time at Leo and ran into a piece of driftwood a little bigger than a baseball bat. I got freakin launched!