Any fresh weed reports from San Luis/Oniel forebay?

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1125 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

hochuli · Joined: 13 Sep 2001 Posts: 38

I was out there this last weekend. Got there Friday, left Monday.

The weeds are pretty awful, it is that stringy stuff that really catches. I started with my large board and a 40cm Curtis weed fin. This didn't cut it as the fin was too deep.

I moved down a board and this one had a 12.5 True Ames weed fin on it. This mostly worked. The weeds still win perodically but we had a great weekend of sailing. My two sailing partners both had longish fins and had a tougher time.

There is clear water by the island for turning on the outside but the inside turn is in the weeds. Strong motivation to make your turns.

The first thing that I did Friday was to start cutting a channel through the worst of the weeds. This was pretty successful.

The water level was 220 or better the whole weekend so this was not a problem.

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1125 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

So I take it there are solid green patches in the center, Which are to hard to cut through. It looks like you were sailing from the South Side in the channel next to the power lines. Was the water high enough at any point through the weekend to make the solid patches disappear?

hochuli · Joined: 13 Sep 2001 Posts: 38

Getting through the solid green stuff can be anywhere from challenging to impossible, none of it was that bad. The channel that I cut was through some of the solid green stuff.

The patches never really disappeared but they got a lot smaller.

I was sailing from the normal Medeiros side (where you see the motor homes) not the power lines. I did sail out to that channel and it was pretty clear.

There were two guys sailing the Santa Cruz side who didn't seem to be slowed by the weeds.

All said, we had a heck of a good time. We had to make some adjustments to cope with the weeds but sailing the cut channels is a kick.

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1125 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

I called Oneil Forebay about the swimmers parasite. Its along the Boating Part of the Lake on the South side where the campers are and the water is somewhat stagnant. Also I asked about weeds and the ranger said it was being cut as they did last year.

hochuli · Joined: 13 Sep 2001 Posts: 38

They usually only cut the weeds in the main channel. Kind of fun to watch but not a lot of help for windsurfers..

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1125 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

Do you mean from the bridge over the highway to through the center?

hochuli · Joined: 13 Sep 2001 Posts: 38

Pretty much. The channel runs from the bridge to the pass between the Santa Cruz side and the first (northernmost) island. It is the area where the water is normally the coldest, not so much now though. You can actually feel the temperature drop when you sail over it, not to mention falling in there.

Regarding the parasite, we had several conversations with rangers and park staff and they tell us that it is only a problem on the hottest days (105+) and along the medeiros shore. I have sailed a lot since the warnings went up and no itching.

I drove by about 2 hours ago and the water is way high (223) and you can't see the weeds.

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1125 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

If there was only wind

windoggi · Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 2743

Spring will be upon us before we know it. The forebay has always been a spring and early summer spot. Right? I love sailing and camping there. I've been going there since I started sailing, but It seems like a once or twice a season deal these days. That place used to pack up on weekends...not so much these days. If they let kiters in there it would be packed. You cant beat that fresh cool water.