Optimum Propulsion Methods in Seaweed/Sargassum

As many of you will be aware, the amount of sargassum being produced in the Atlantic has increased of late and this is being left piling onto the beaches from the Caribbean upto the East Coast of the USA.

To combat the problem I am working on a shallow draft vessel to collect the weed at sea which can either drop it off on shore to a waiting land vehicle, or to one of the new experimental facilitys dabbling with Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR).

One would think that a paddle boat would be a good method for this but being so cumbersome, I am wondering if there is a better alternative?

I have added a poll for those that don't wish to opine.

 

Airboat?

 

Where is this harvesting proposed to happen, and how much weed are you talking about?
No need to collect it at sea, it is easily harvested from the shorelines, scoop it up at low tide.
The economics of harvesting at sea by boat don’t seem viable, and get worse the further offshore it is picked from.
The vessel would necessarily be quite large, and large vessels generally are deep draft, requiring compatible harbor and unloading facilities.
If you could be more specific, you’d be more likely to stimulate meaningful discussion.

 

Here is the solution. Propulsion at Sea, plus Land scooping capabilities

 

Surface piercing in a heavy duty form.


A 5,000-mile seaweed belt is headed toward Florida https://apnews.com/article/sargassum-seaweed-climate-change-florida-beaches-travel-gulf-of-mexico-caribbean-550da1abf9c0906fd30740d1687d5b05

It is a very large problem in the Carribean at certain times of the year.

 

Thank you for all your input.

@kapnD At the moment, the weed is picked up on the shore by some pour souls and this is not only ardous, but a unhealthy job due to the sulpher that is given off by the seaweed as it dries. It is also labour intensive as some places cannot be accessed or disrupted by heavy machinery on the beach so the pick up is done by hand/pitchfork. In addition to this, if the weed is to be used for CDR, they need live seaweed, and by the time it reaches the beach it is not useful to them. The vessel is a cat drawing 0.4m so should hopefully be able to get to most of places as the bays here are relatively deep. Anchored floating barriers are also currently used in places to prevent weed piling up which also keeps it offshore a little.

The conveyour on the boat will only pull up the sarguassum at about 0.5 m/s so I think the FNR might not work @Barry which is a great shame as that looks fun!

 

My paddlewheel propelled pedal boat ground to a halt in a mat of weed on the canal. Whilst the paddlewheel was OK, the rudder got stuck. A wheel at either side, also used for steering, might have worked.

 

The rudder issue is a good point well raised.

 

We have a grass that's similar in composition, closed circuit keel cooling with prop and shaft. Traditional packing, lower skew prop that's slightly underproped with a dry stack.

Outboards work for a little while but eventually suck up enough chunks to block the coolant and you spend the whole time trying to flush grass out of the inners. And the Jet units pretty much stop moving, unless you keep the grate really wide. In our case my jet turned into a 250 horsepower Salad Shooter for about 3 minutes and then clogged up and became a paperweight.

I keep an old school props skiff for those years when the fish are heavy on the grass.

 

How about a low speed airboat ? Two props, nothing in the water.

 

Edit
When I attached the "5000 mile seaweed belt" I missed the fact that there are 4 pictures there with the second pict being most revealing

 

Would a fore mounted collector not clear a path? Like a harvester system? How do hovercrafts go in such conditions for moving around?

 

Expensively...

 

What about 2 screws?

Development of the Screw Propeller - Shipping Wonders of the World https://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/screw_propeller.html

The main idea is that if the edge is sharp enough, and the screw's diameter large enough, it will cut the seaweed and channel it through the screw rather than get stuck up. It would also have to be coupled with an air cooled engine. Having two screws means you don't need a rudder. To turn, just run one screw faster or slower than the other.

 

Surface drives, Arnason style, but an airboat would be the way to go, no?
Hovercraft?