Aquatic weeds

gorky · Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Posts: 23

Anyone have informed opinion/information about the rapidly increasing gorge weed problem ? I assume it’s caused by fertilizer/nutrient runoff and warmer water, but if present trends continue, it will become very difficult to launch, especially foiling. Hard to believe how much worse it is at Stevenson, just as compared to last year.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Weed fins.
Hi water flow will lessen weeds, so need more rain.
Less agriculture demand will increase water flow.
The world is constantly changing.

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3551

coachg · Joined: 10 Sep 2000 Posts: 3551

gorky · Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Posts: 23

I love it…maybe I’ll apply some texture to the bottom and try it! Who needs a smooth bottom anyway, if you’re just on foil.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Oh, but I LIKE smooth bottoms.

OK, that was easy pickin'.

I don't know about Stevenson's weeds, but at the other end of the Gorge they've been a problem way offshore as well. Oddly enough, they've been less obnoxious this year out east. I even WSed one session without a weed fin this year.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Sharpen leading edge of mast...
I'm the slowest foiler at Berkeley, and complains the least about weeds and seagrass.....maybe slow down?

gorky · Joined: 07 Aug 2003 Posts: 23

Yes, clumps of weeds have shown up in the middle of the river, increasing over the past 5 seasons or so, a real pain if you’re foiling. As for the weeds impeding the launches, maybe the wind sport community will somehow support weed removal…I’ve heard this is done in the Seattle area.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Most recent years, both kiters and foilers all but abandoned Roosevelt in the midsummer because of the launch area weeds. Their impact on foils is obvious (it's often very difficult just to force your way through them, let alone drag any kind of gear with you), and when kite strings droop onto floating weeds, the chicken loop becomes completely ensnared.

I remain baffled by the number of WSers who refuse to use weed fins in such conditions*, especially given the dramatic effect of a single nearly invisible string on planing and jibing. The milfoil pillows and mattresses offshore are a faceplant just waiting to happen without weed fins. One fellow's excuse was that he watches for the pillows and mattresses and dodges the ones he can see.

I'd rather watch the terrain and just go surfing.

* It's much like tired campers who risk fistfights if they ask noisy park users to show some courtesy (and comply with federal regulations) at night, rather than just using earplugs and a white noise machine.

When the inconsiderate rabblerousers are also flashing lights, as at Roosevelt Sunday night, add a sleep mask and you'd swear you're isolated in a sensory deprivation tank. These folks weren't being belligerent; they were just kids and young parents having fun, but at the expense of people trying to sleep five feet away. But then, as with weeds, the most elementary technology solved the problem.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Removing that quantity of milfoil requires a pair of heavy duty/powerful work boats connected by a dragline plus a barge of some sort to haul away the results. That, in turn, is only a temporary solution and propagates the milfoil.

The Walla Walla Corps District has had some success using targeted herbicide, but the Porlland district, which controls the Gorge, refuses.