Moth Myths

At some point there was some talk about whether seaweed is a big problem for hydrofoil Moths. In general, the consensus among experienced foiler sailors has been that it presents no more of an issue than in other boats, which is probably true. However it must be the case then that kelp is excluded from most people's definitions of seaweed, because short of hitting a crab pot (ask me how I know), few things will bring a Moth to a halt from full foiling height like a nice big clump of kelp.

I have no idea how difficult it is to back a VO70 down to clear the keel, but I suspect it is easier than trying to sail a Moth backwards. If you're lucky, you'll only grab a small bit of the stuff, which will make your Moth nose around in the drink like a pig searching for truffles while you sort out what to do next. I have to say that it does provide excellent practice in crash tacking, because the clumps are often barely visible until you are on top of them and if you're foiling, you have about two nanoseconds to execute an avoidance maneuver.

Going to need another wetsuit - I'll bet the water at Cabrillo Beach wasn't much over 60 today, if at all. Nice place otherwise, but not much use trying to sail on the inside by the launch ramp as it's too shallow and there's too much weed. Extremely tame racoons add some novelty value to the whole experience around dusk.