Hi Reader,

It's Matt Weidert with the Yacht Warriors.

By now, you've surely heard the news...the sargassum is coming to ruin your Caribbean vacation. It could be a record breaking year.

And, there are already reports of the stuff washing up in large quantities, and on beaches it's not usually seen.

But let's not let it ruin all of the fun. I'm chartering in Antigua/Barbuda in a few weeks, and I'm not concerned about it. If you're sailing this year too, I have some tips so your crew can have an unforgettable trip, in spite of the stinky stuff.

• Sargassum tracking
• Finding the idyllic beach
• Changing your fishing tactics
• Sargassum-related maintenance fix

Sargassum tracking

The Sargassum Watch Project from USF is a helpful tool to track the larger patches of sargassum by satellite imagery. This rendering is from March 21, 2023. Reds indicate higher concentrations.

Here's how to see the latest sargassum map:

• Open the webpage and click "SaWS Clickable Map"
• Select the region
• Choose the date, there is usually a 1-2 day delay
• Click "Composite DOY 080", and then click "FA_UNET_DENSITY 7 Day Information"

Try the "Animate" to see how the sargassum is progressing over time.

While this is helpful to identify larger trends, there's no way to know for sure if your favorite beach will be impacted.

The Sargassum-free beach is out there

Beaches most exposed will be windward/eastward facing, but any beach is a potential victim. Passing disturbances or changing local ocean currents can wash up sargassum in unexpected places.

For example, check out this Virgin Islands map of local currents.

My advice? Keep looking, check webcams, ask around. The idyllic Caribbean beach is out there. And if you're on a yacht charter, you have plenty of flexibility.

Take our visit to Culebra for example. While Flamenco beach was partially impacted, the western (leeward) coast of Culebra was business as usual.

Last point on this: the Caribbean is dependent on tourist $$. I'd expect popular beaches with local establishments to make attempts at clean-up efforts.

Change your fishing tactics

There's nothing more frustrating than clearing weed from lines every 5 minutes. If you plan to go trolling, this is what I'd recommend:

• Check the lines more frequently
• Keep the lures closer to the boat and put out a smaller spread, to make clearing easier
• Skip the diving lures - the resistance on a hung lure makes it difficult and time consuming to reel in

Another idea? Heave to next to a sargassum patch, toss out some chum, and drop down a jigging lure. Mahi love to hang out underneath the weed.

Have some ballyhoo? Try these weedless ballyhoo rigs.

Get ready for some DIY maintenance

You are motoring along in light winds, and then suddenly one of your catamaran engines dies. Or perhaps an engine alarm is blaring from overheating.

Sargassum present? It very well could be the culprit.

If you are bareboating, troubleshooting the water intake for the engine (or generator) is a great skill to arm yourself with. It might be clogged by sargassum at the intake, at the strainer, or somewhere in between. We even once successfully attacked the “somewhere in between” clog with our dinghy pump.

Fixing this yourself beats waiting for a charter company chase boat.

Check during your chart briefing about the proper way to handle this, and get the OK for the DIY fix. Either way, it's usually worth calling base ops to inform them of what you've encountered.

Not familiar with the approach, this youtube video from the Offshore Sailing School is a good intro.

Best of luck this year, and hope these tips were helpful!

-Matt