Sargassum Weed

[BigN8]

Looks like FL beaches are in for some big trouble from this years bloom.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/climate-change/article273090490.html

 

[VitaminSea]

Yeah, I have been seeing all the articles. Apparently the Cancun area is already having issues.

Hoping it stays out of the ICW, and doesn’t venture too much into the Gulf.

Also at present there is a Red Tide bloom in the Sarasota/Tampa Bay Area from what I have been reading.

 

[Judge]

Me too... I have been watching it and the red tide over here in the southwest Gulf has been bad enough. This would be the last thing we need over here.

 

[Dean P]

It's here and making the news almost daily. Of course it has to hit/bloom during spring break. Really stinks...

 

[Farny]

Mmmm fertilizer!!!

 

[Ronnie]

The name of the post is what got me to look at. At first I thought it was a different strain, like Labrador from the first Cheech & Chong movie. In the Sacramento delta the prevalent marine vegetation is Hyacinth and when it’s really bad the nearby boat ramps close and / or advise customers to launch somewhere else. As a jet boat operator i always do what the recommend.

pro or not so pro tip: if you Get stuck in vegetation, check both clean out ports not just one of them.

 

[Eldonfredo]

My news feed is clogged with all the stories as well.

 

[84rzv500r]

Well its put a crimp on the style of jet skiers and jet boaters here... Myself included. Hasn't been an issue til this year since i got here in 2016.

I went and bought an outboard powered boat to augment my fleet just so I can keep boating daily...

2005 23' Pathfinder DV23 twin 2015 F200 Yamahas 21 degree deadrise at stern...

 

[Eldonfredo]

Came to the forum to find company for my misery. I guess I’m geographically unlucky. Where we put in is just south of Boca inlet and we can’t go 10 feet without packing the grates with sargassum. Especially with an incoming tide, there’s just no way to avoid it. The only thing that makes it even slightly possible to boat is it’s all a slow speed zone around there in the intracoastal. We rarely go out the inlet anyway but i would not even dare for the next few months. So we putter at 5000 rpm going 6mph waiting for the overheat alarm to go off. Luckily the sandbar is reachable before that happens. If you had a team of engineers and endless budget you could not design something better suited to clog those grates than the sargassum. It goes in far enough to get stuck but not far enough to get chopped up. We had a scary moment as our max speed was 6 mph., clogged again five minutes after clearing the grates. We were headed towards a bridge that decided to open. We were stuck between the big yachts and the bridge. Slow speed to those yachts ain’t 6 when those bridges open. I was able to get off to the side but it wasn’t fun. Clean out port helps some but it’s really designed to get something off the impeller shaft not the grates. You really have to get out to clear it fully. Honestly thinking there is a boating season in south Florida now. It’s tough to go out when this sargassum is rampant. Please JBP invent something!! Rant over if I’m missing something please shout at me. For now it’s going to be a while before we can out safely.

 

[zpaul]

The name of the post is what got me to look at. At first I thought it was a different strain, like Labrador from the first Cheech & Chong movie. In the Sacramento delta the prevalent marine vegetation is Hyacinth and when it’s really bad the nearby boat ramps close and / or advise customers to launch somewhere else. As a jet boat operator i always do what the recommend.

pro or not so pro tip: if you Get stuck in vegetation, check both clean out ports not just one of them.

hey Ronnie, is there a reason you keep football ball over clean out plugs?

 

[fatboyroy]

hey Ronnie, is there a reason you keep football ball over clean out plugs?

Trust me he tried so hard for a basketball .

kidding aside… our beaches here have bunch of sargassum now too but doesn’t see a lot coming in the inlet. I haven’t gone out to open water in almost 3 weeks but looking out from the beach looks like it’s not a problem here in Sebastian, fort pierce area

 

[TeenGee]

Next week we're going to Key Largo. It was a problem last year. Any current reports for the North Keys?

 

[lazergeek]

Next week we're going to Key Largo. It was a problem last year. Any current reports for the North Keys?

I saw a report of someone that crossed to Bimini earier in the week and didnt see any in the crossing. From what I heard in the keys fishing groups there is no more then usual this year so far.

 

[84rzv500r]

well it depends where you are and what the wind and the currents do. I park the jet boats on the days its bad... and just run the pathfinder.... Its no where near the skinny water boat that the Ratty old AR210 is but... it dont care about sargassum

 

[VitaminSea]

Came to the forum to find company for my misery. I guess I’m geographically unlucky. Where we put in is just south of Boca inlet and we can’t go 10 feet without packing the grates with sargassum. Especially with an incoming tide, there’s just no way to avoid it. The only thing that makes it even slightly possible to boat is it’s all a slow speed zone around there in the intracoastal. We rarely go out the inlet anyway but i would not even dare for the next few months. So we putter at 5000 rpm going 6mph waiting for the overheat alarm to go off. Luckily the sandbar is reachable before that happens. If you had a team of engineers and endless budget you could not design something better suited to clog those grates than the sargassum. It goes in far enough to get stuck but not far enough to get chopped up. We had a scary moment as our max speed was 6 mph., clogged again five minutes after clearing the grates. We were headed towards a bridge that decided to open. We were stuck between the big yachts and the bridge. Slow speed to those yachts ain’t 6 when those bridges open. I was able to get off to the side but it wasn’t fun. Clean out port helps some but it’s really designed to get something off the impeller shaft not the grates. You really have to get out to clear it fully. Honestly thinking there is a boating season in south Florida now. It’s tough to go out when this sargassum is rampant. Please JBP invent something!! Rant over if I’m missing something please shout at me. For now it’s going to be a while before we can out safely.

Have you tried the reverse maneuver? More or less, put the boat in reverse, gain some momentum, pull the shut off cord, and quickly shift to fwd. This opens the reverse bucket with he goal of water moving through the jet in the opposite direction and clearing the intake grate.

 

[84rzv500r]

Have you tried the reverse maneuver? More or less, put the boat in reverse, gain some momentum, pull the shut off cord, and quickly shift to fwd. This opens the reverse bucket with he goal of water moving through the jet in the opposite direction and clearing the intake grate.

yeah the old Crazy Ivan... works ok on twins cause you can get a couple mph in reverse even with clogged intakes not sure about singles...

what i've seen down here in the lower keys this year is either tire or boat sized clumps that you can't steer around or football field(s) size masses that you cant navigate around easily... it was bad a month ago but had been better now that i bought a boat with outboards.

FWIW

 

[Eldonfredo]

Have you tried the reverse maneuver? More or less, put the boat in reverse, gain some momentum, pull the shut off cord, and quickly shift to fwd. This opens the reverse bucket with he goal of water moving through the jet in the opposite direction and clearing the intake grate.

I have not. Part of my geographic challenge is how narrow and crowded the area is. The only reasonable solution is to move.

 

[lazergeek]

I have not. Part of my geographic challenge is how narrow and crowded the area is. The only reasonable solution is to move.

Ive never had a problem with Sargassum in the ICW between Hilsboro and Miami, Personally I hate the ICW. I alway choose to run in the Ocean. I hate the slowness and crowds in the ICW.

 

[Ronnie]

hey Ronnie, is there a reason you keep football ball over clean out plugs?

Once upon a time i was concerned that if I ever had a plug blow out it would damage the clean out plug hatch and the forums solution was to put nerf balls on top of the clean out plugs. After a few years of never having a blow out but constantly pulling and reinserting waterlogged nerf balls I just tossed them in the trash rather than reinsert them.

 

[Cambo]

We have eel grass in the great South Bay and one day we pulled into Oakland’s a restaurant over looking the Shinnecock inlet in our previous 2005 AR230. While eating lunch we watched the fishing boats moving quickly through the out going tide, they turn before going into the ocean waves. There was some eel grass floating in the marina not much but it was very long. load up the kids pull out of the marina go to power up nothing but cavitation. The water was moving faster than the power of the boat. I had a short anchor line it works fine anywhere in the bay but this was deep water and the anchor would not bite. This inlet is similar to the haulover inlet a little wider but lots of boats waves and jetties on both sides. Your natural tendancy is to fight the current but it’s a loosing battle and as soon as we rounded the corner in about 500 feet you're in the inlet that is moving even faster with boat traffic, waves and headed toward the ocean breakers with almost no power. Just like your taught if trapped in a rip current while swimming don’t fight the current go sideways, we did this and headed toward a sand bar as soon as the water got shallower the water slowed and then I could pull the clean out plugs yank the grass there wasn’t much but it was long and wreaked havoc on the propulsion and cooling system. Yes the temperature alarm lit up and steam was coming out of the pisser adding layers to the stress. I was always curious if different impellers could shred it up better, sitting in my garage are new jet pumps loaded with concord twin impellers these are great for surfing but I will defiantly rip through some eel grass to see how they do.