Crew member on GBR958R Jangada

This from a couple of days ago...

Weed!

Weed to left of us. Weed to the right of us.  Streaks of weed.  Lilly pad plates of weed 10 feet in diameter.  Weed around the rudders - both of them, which need clearing every 20 minutes!  Weed around the keel - spinnaker down and reverse the boat to clear.  Weed at night that you can't see.  I'm fed up with weed!

Even the weed stick is feeling the pressure.  Fine in UK waters, but not a match for this tropical weed. Now clearly under-engineered, the weed stick has had several modifications.  A corner bracket cut out from a chopping board to support the bend. The main shaft lashed to a broom handle.  And rope to cover the hook so we don't scratch the rudders too much.  Fortunately, now that we are into more choppy seas with winds building to 20kts, the weed seems to be more disperse and we are not having to clear rudders so often. Just as well, as we don't carry a spare weed stick.

Looking forward to a downwind run for the final 1,200nm to Grenada.....

Richard & Rupert

JPK1010 Jangada

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Pure Grenada
Calero Marinas
Port Louis Marina