I sail a Hobie 20 on a frighteningly weedy lake in Minnesota. Got to wondering....on your boat, who normally does weed duty on the daggerboards and rudders. Crew or skipper, and why?

Tim

Tim,
You're kidding; right?

Weed clearing and beer distribution are two things high up on the crew duty list. I once had a crew desperately try to convince me (in 12 knots of wind) that it's the skipper's responsibility to sheet the spinnaker too.

I would never kid about such a serious issue!

I get differing opinions based on who I ask, so please offer yours, Mary!

Tim

Crew clears the c/boards by lifting them up when you go off the breeze....... skipper can kick up the windward rudder on each tack or gybe.

When sailing on a very weedy patch off water we normally run upwind with the windward board and rudder up and swap when we tack.

Downwind we bring both boards up on a non spinnaker cat or just the windward board on a spinnaker cat.

We have convinced our local government that the weed is bad for tourism, now they are cutting the weed 3 - 4 Times a year with a special machine.

So the crew can consentrate on the Spi and bringing beer.

Tim, there is a long thread on this subject, "Problems with grass, the seaweed kind."

To answer your question, the crew clears the weeds on both the boards and the rudders. The skipper (presuming he or she is also the helmsperson) has to concentrate on steering. It would be hard enough for the skipper to do this while sitting on the boat without losing control of the steering temporarily, but can you imagine how hard it would be for the skipper if he or she is on the trapeze and has to come in on the boat to do it and then go back out on the trapeze? It's much easier for the crew, and the skipper can stay on the trapeze and control the boat with the main to prevent the boat from capsizing while the crew is clearing the foils on the leeward side of the boat. Also, when sailing either upwind or downwind, the jib is cleated, so the crew is free to move about the boat and take care of those chores.

As far as the skipper raising and lowering rudders during a tack to clear boards, that usually is not necessary. If you just do a slow tack, usually the weeds will fall off during the tack. Not so during a jibe, however.

I started the above-mentioned thread about problems with grass to find out how the skipper on a unirig (no crew) is able to handle the problem of clearing weeds. Unless there is a mechanical system for raising and lowering the boards from the same side of the boat, sometimes the only way to do it is to stop sailing, clear the boards, and start sailing again.

The late-summer weed problems in midwest and northern lakes are a big reason why Hobie 16's (or other boardless boats) are often the boat of choice in those places.

By the way, I like Rob Lammerts' suggestion -- convince local authorities that weeds in the lake are bad for tourism -- they foul propellers and they are a safety hazard for swimmers who may become entangled in them and drown. I think I have heard of that device he mentioned for cutting the weeds.

We actually have a "weed muncher" that patrols our lake. Although I must admit that we often speculate as to whether that thing is a weed eradicator, or a weed seeder!

This year, the weeds on our lake are just awful. It's somewhat seasonal, in that they are at their worst in June. They can also be especially bad if the preceding winter didn't provide a lot of snow. Snow cuts down on light reaching the weeds in the winter, which in turn cuts down on the weed population.

Tim

Tim, Are the weeds all invaders? In New Englands ponds, lakes, and rivers we have a huge problem with invasive species. The machines will clear them temporarily, but they do seem to grow back in no time! There are at least two "weeds" plaguing us here, the water chestnut(Not the edible one) and something____foil. Dang the invaders! Brian

The weed we have trouble with is called Potamageton Crispus, commonly known as Curly Leafed Pondweed.

The weed you couldn't remember the name of is called Eurasion Water Milfoil, and makes many other weeds look wimpy by comparison!

Tim

And, to further add to the problems, many of the lakes have a huge influx of phosphorus from the non-point source runoff (including farm waste and lawn fertilizers). The phosphorus can stimulate weed growth and algae blooms.

Then, of course, there's the zebra mussels, sea lamprey,flowering rush
purple loosestrife . . .


Hmmm. What a mess. Nobody seems to have listened to the Lorax. (for those who remember the Dr. Seuss story)


[color:"green"]At the far end of town

where the Grickle-grass grows

and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows

and no birds ever sing excepting old crows...

is the Street of the Lifted Lorax


And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,

if you look deep enough you can still see, today,

where the Lorax once stood

just as long as it could

before somebody lifted the Lorax away . . .

[/color]