First time cruisers to Maine take note

[TomY]

Isn't this the area they hold the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta?

I wonder if this is a new situation of increasing pots? It's quite a fleet of boats that race through that area. It would make for dicey racing.

 

[Rick486]

I wonder if this is a new situation of increasing pots? It's quite a fleet of boats that race through that area. It would make for dicey racing.

This regatta has been very controversial in the local community, Brooklin. The fishermen have claimed for years that they lose gear in the Reach and in Jericho Bay because of and during the race. In years past they have actually canceled the regatta over the controversy. many more fishermen than yachtsmen in that corner of the world.

 

[TomY]

This regatta has been very controversial in the local community, Brooklin. The fishermen have claimed for years that they lose gear in the Reach and in Jericho Bay because of and during the race. In years past they have actually canceled the regatta over the controversy. many more fishermen than yachtsmen in that corner of the world.

Wow! I didn't know they had actually canceled the regatta due to pots. I know it was on last year and is scheduled again next week. I have a friend that has been racing in it for over a decade, I'll ask him if things are getting worse.

 

[TomY]

This regatta has been very controversial in the local community, Brooklin. The fishermen have claimed for years that they lose gear in the Reach and in Jericho Bay because of and during the race. In years past they have actually canceled the regatta over the controversy. many more fishermen than yachtsmen in that corner of the world.

According to the website, the race has only been cancelled once since 1986, and that was due to fog. I don't quite understand a maine sailboat race cancelling due to fog. The 15 mile course has remained pretty much the same over the years as well. The race has grown to quite a fleet and event. It's something see.

Here's the website. I'm going over it to see who's racing this year. http://www.erregatta.com/index.html

"The Eggemoggin Reach Regatta began humbly in 1985 with thirteen wooden boats and a dream. Organizer, Steve White, together with Frank Hull of Brooklin Boatyard first envisioned the race as an opportunity for wooden boat owners to get together and enjoy each others' company as well as to compete. The race quickly grew to 125 boats and is now co-hosted by Brooklin Boatyard and Rockport Marine. The Regatta's 15-mile course has remained the same for many years, and only once was the race cancelled due to fog. (The party still happened though!) The Camden Feeder Regatta and the Castine Classic Yacht Race soon joined the ERR to create a truly spectacular three-day event"

 

[Barnacle Bill]

There are a few manufactures who are making sailboats with twin rudders. I understand they don't go will in Maine. Cool thread and great info.

 

[okawbow]

I just finnished 3 weeks of cruising Maine from Kittery to MDI. I spent a lot of time in Penobscot Bay. The locals call Muscle Ridge Channel, "lolli Pop land". It is impossible to steer away from all the lobster floats, all the time. I finnally gave in and just ran over them. I was sailing a Cheoy Lee 31 with a full keel and protected prop. I didn't snag any, but the mass of all the pot floats and line increased my wife and myselfs' tension, and more than once caused us to steer too close to rocks or other boats. The lobster fishermen are mostly great guys, but some are uncaring and dangerous as they block channels and run right in front of us, knowing we are supposed to give way to them. Often there is no where to safely turn. During our cruise, we heard several boats calling for help because they snagged pots. A couple barely escaped being slammed on the rocks when they fouled their rudder and prop in high winds. A lobster fisherman, upon hearing their call to the coast Guard, flipantly replied "stay out of our lobster pots, moron!" on the radio. This happened near Rockland on July 9th.

There needs to be a better ballance and some areas should have a 50 foot channel left free of pots.

 

[Rick486]

The reason I made the original post was to call this to the attention of people headed up there to this situation so they will be prepared. Maine Sail's post was very helpful as it describes tactics for avoiding getting snagged. But as described above, you can find yourself in situations where the density of the gear is so high it seems impossible to avoid sailing or powering over them. I have never gotten in a situation where I couldn't avoid them but it calls for perfect 100% attention looking forward and literally hundreds of heading changes to avoid them. As I said, stressful and exhausting. I've pretty much decided that for me and cruising, Maine begins in Portland and ends at Camden and anything further east just isn't worth the aggravation of the lobster gear.

 

[Tim R.]

Going too close to rocks to avoid a pot seems like the worst of two possible situations.

 

[Rick486]

Going too close to rocks to avoid a pot seems like the worst of two possible situations.

To us for sure but you would be amazed at the level of understanding some first time cruisers to Maine have concerning lobster fishing gear. There's a lot of dread out there, and with good reason. I once gave a talk to one of the boat clubs on this subject and some of the questions were surprising since there are lobster pots all along the New England coast. Maine Sail's post was very good in that he actually delved into the details on the buoys, especially the toggle. I think the single most confusing thing for folks is to figure out how to proceed through a field of floats and toggles and be able to choose a path.

 

[gettinthere]

For a first timer...are there areas less congested that are easier to visit?

 

[TomY]

For a first timer...are there areas less congested that are easier to visit?

We've done alot of close to home sailng(about a 100 nm) all between Camden/ Rockport harbors out and around the middle areas of Penobscot Bay. I'd have to say in over 10 years sailing out of here, the pots are pretty thin this year. Last few years, pots have been down due to the recession and lobster prices hitting rock bottom.

We may have to disconnect the WP once or twice under power as I raise sails to avoid a pot. Once under sail, we rarely change course for pots as we have a full keel. Once you're a mile or so off the coast, pots disappear in the deeper water of course.

I don't think I've ever seen many if any toggles in this side of Pen. Bay.

They're a little thicker in around the Fox Islands, under power we'll dodge a few going through the Fox Island Thoroughfare. But this is just leasurely steering, never so many there's any panic.

I haven't been into Eastern Penbay this season. I recall there are a little more on that side. That is also where we have encountered some on toggles.

I was through the Muscle Ridge last year, four times. Twice under power, twice under sail. There are more pots in there than out on the bay. I've never had a panic situation in there due to pots. It's been a little tight on some really fast sails because of boat traffic, both fishing and pleasure.

With our boats full keel, I really don't worry much about pots under sail though.

I think I've hooked two pots in the last 5 years. We sail anywhere from say 500 to 1200 nm on the coast of Maine (mostly) and New England. I think in 20 years(maybe 10k miles?), I can recall a half a dozen hang ups at most. We've been lucky, all were relatively easy to get off.

What you want to avoid, is wrapping one on your prop under power. Under sail whether you hook your rudder, keel or prop, don't panic. You only have a loop of warp on something. Often just changing direction by tacking will free you. A boat hook will work on most others.

Don't forget your anchor can always be dropped if you're being pushed onto a shore.

I can't really think of areas that I would avoid due to heavier than usual pots. One place that seems to have the fewest, is Blue Hill Bay.

The Gulf of Maine is pretty free of them of course. But you still have occasional stuff out there marking fish traps and what not. But we have gone through the Gulf several times through the night both under power and under sail and have yet to have a problem out there.

I should add, I don't dispute anyone else's experiences with pots, this is just mine. Suffice to say, you should be warned, the lobster buoys are there.

 

[Rick486]

For a first timer...are there areas less congested that are easier to visit?

Yes. The Boothbay area seems less densely fished and the floats there tend to be large with bright colors and long handles so you can see them easily. Northeast Penobscot Bay seems less dense, but southwestern Pen bay and definitely the Muscle Ridge channel are very dense and include toggles in areas where the floats are very close together. A general way I think about it is where the fishermen are home ported, you will find dense fields of pots in the channels and around aids to navigation. This includes places like Stonington, MDI, Brooklin, Port Clyde, Tenants Harbor, Vinalhaven, Hurricane Sound, Winter Harbor and Down East in general. My purpose in this thread has been only to provide a heads up to folks so when boats end up in one of these areas with very dense fields of floats, they will be warned and prepared. I'm not advocating staying away from anywhere, although I have made a personal decision to do so, just be prepared is all.

 

[Rick486]

Just for the record, in about 15 years of cruising the Maine coast from Portland to Cutler I have never been snagged on a pot, not once, and my two boats during this period had/have exposed props. I have come close any number of times but lucked out in not snaring one. But it takes an unimaginable amount of concentration by myself and crew to maintain the level of alertness and continuous short term situational awareness and "route planning" to thread our way through some of these areas. To the extent that you really can't enjoy the beautiful scenery. I recently made the passage from MDI to North haven via Casco passage and Deer Isle thoroughfare motorsailing in a light south wind. I can tell you when we dropped the hook in Pulpit Harbor we were exhausted from the continuous heading changes over about three hours necessitated by the density of pots in the channels and around the aids.

 

[CarlN]

Rick, I mean this kindly but I think you worry too much. 15 years without snagging a pot? I average one a year. This is well below the number of times I "touch" bottom.

The best change Down East in the last 30 years is the almost universal use of two buoys. I used to go through great efforts to cut and retie the line. Now I just cut it with the Hook knife and go about my business. Since I buy hundreds of dollars of lobster a season, I'm still a great source of profit to the Maine lobster industry.

MainSail is so right about the buoy stick. I treat it like a lane marker. In particularly dense areas I actually try to bump the stick down the side of the hull since lobstermen have to leave at least their own beam width between buoys. We have similar beams

If I don't see a pot in time to turn (once or twice a day), I pop into neutral if motoring and engage in that time honored Maine tradition of watching my wake to see the buoy pop up.

Finally, should you ever have young folks (under 12) aboard, the important job of directing you through the pots will be the highlight of their day.

Carl

 

[Maine Sail]

The best change Down East in the last 30 years is the almost universal use of two buoys. I used to go through great efforts to cut and retie the line. Now I just cut it with the Hook knife and go about my business. Since I buy hundreds of dollars of lobster a season, I'm still a great source of profit to the Maine lobster industry.


Carl

Actually Carl there has been no change. Sadly this stoopid practice has been around for eons and is finally fading in popularity because it is USELESS and 100% UNNECESSARY. It actually leads to MORE snagged pot buoys and MORE cut lines but sometimes "tradition" in Maine, "My grand daddy fished this way so I do too." trumps common sense...

Very often the lines are cut at the toggle then BOTH buoys go drifting away so no "savings" from having toggles and two buoys to re-tie and replace compared to just one...

We can sail right by most single pot buoys with it rolling down the hull and never snag it provided we are not in a real stiff current. Try that with a toggle set & a typical fin keeler and you're probably toast...

Remember every string out there has pot buoys on either end so when these guys run "toggles" there are FOUR buoys per string. Some times there are more buoys than pots on the bottom. Half the time these toggles reside just below the surface of the water and you can't even see them until your prop or rudder are fouled..

Toggles are BAD, not good... Toggles are bad for boaters and bad for lobsterman...

 

[Rick486]

Rick, I mean this kindly but I think you worry too much. 15 years without snagging a pot? I average one a year. This is well below the number of times I "touch" bottom.

The best change Down East in the last 30 years is the almost universal use of two buoys. I used to go through great efforts to cut and retie the line. Now I just cut it with the Hook knife and go about my business. Since I buy hundreds of dollars of lobster a season, I'm still a great source of profit to the Maine lobster industry.

MainSail is so right about the buoy stick. I treat it like a lane marker. In particularly dense areas I actually try to bump the stick down the side of the hull since lobstermen have to leave at least their own beam width between buoys. We have similar beams

If I don't see a pot in time to turn (once or twice a day), I pop into neutral if motoring and engage in that time honored Maine tradition of watching my wake to see the buoy pop up.

Finally, should you ever have young folks (under 12) aboard, the important job of directing you through the pots will be the highlight of their day.

Carl

I agree Carl that we worry a lot, maybe too much, but unfortunately not all pot snaggings result in the happy ending of just free the warp and sail on.

As an example, a good friend of mine snagged a pot off Stonington on his 45 ft sailboat several years ago and after a bit of work he escaped but with damage to his maxprop. He was RPM restricted and ended up over at Billings to have a diver do a temporary repair, followed by his shipping the prop off to PYI for reconditioning. Bill: $500 total. Also folks who are elderly or for other reasons just can't free themselves from a snagging end up calling one of the towing services to free them, at whatever cost that entails.

As a side note, there is an excellent article in a recent Points East describing how a fisherman helped some elderly folks off a snagging.

And I agree that snagging a pot on a beautiful summer day with 5 kts of breeze and flat seas isn't the end of the world, but when it's blowing and choppy, like a SW breeze up Jericho bay, and you can't see the pots that well and there are toggles galore is a totally different story. Time to worry a bit.

 

[TomY]

There's another side to the fishing story as well.

Warning new sailors about the dangers of pots is a good idea, as are the rocks, fog, etc.

But I also tell people considering sailing to Maine to enjoy the fishing heritage and culture on the water. Maine is unique in New England in that much of our waterfront is still working. There's great public access as well as a great deal of public waterfront. Much of that is due to our working waterfront.

I also tell these folks as well as the cruising guide, get a book or two on the rich history of this coast. The Lobster Coast is a good one to give someone a sense of the waterfront history in Maine and how it has shaped the way we are today. Those working on the water and those of us that recreate on it, will never be bosum buddies (although it happens), we're headed out there in opposite directions so to speak.

But with some knowledge of the fishing history, I find it's more fun to enjoy what's going on out there.

Another good read for insight into lobstering culture is the Wooden Nickel, a novel about a fisherman and his way of life. Not always pretty. But fishermen are like everybody else, I know all kinds here in my town. Once you meet a few, generalizations will go out the window, like they always do.

Another good "Guide book" for my area is the History of the islands of the mid coast of Maine. This really goes back but it too gives a better sense of where you are both geographicaly, and in a time line. Sometimes it's eerie to see how much of the coast has perhaps gone backwards in developement in the past hundred years.

If the fishermen and their pots disappeared, what would happen? There would be little need for as much public access (that we here in Maine enjoy as very economical boating, good for visitors too) and land may well be sold to private developers, and well, you know the rest.

Interesting lobster info in Collin Woodwards Lobster coast on the industry. Science is helping determine more of what is really going on down there. As well as the fact there are roughly one lobster per square yard of bottom(!), there is now some evidence that our fishing has become more of a farming operation. (Nothing new to many).

But here's a possible bright side. There is some opinion that as lobsters go in and out of traps, foraging all day long(vents allow smaller ones to escape), lobstermen may be using many more traps than they need to harvest the same amount of lobsters. If this proves to be true, we could see less in the future.

 

[jviss]

New England fishing

Great post, Kris. My only quibble is in your opening, when you state "Maine is unique in New England in that much of our waterfront is still working." It is not unique. I would venture that Massachusetts lands more commercial fish tonnage than Maine, and in fact, Maine ground fishing boats are abandoning Maine for Massachusetts ports, principally Gloucester.

"Cash-strapped boats are landing fish in Gloucester primarily because they can earn extra money selling lobsters they catch in their nets, a practice allowed in every coastal state but Maine. At least five draggers have left Portland permanently for Gloucester and Boston."

from:
http://www.pressherald.com/archive/groundfishing-boats-abandoning-portland_2008-02-10.html

My home port of Westport, while very small, has a busy local fishing fleet. We're close to New Bedford which is legendary, and all the way up the coast, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, you'll find commercial fishing.

 

[okawbow]

Warning new sailors about the dangers of pots is a good idea, as are the rocks, fog, etc.

But I also tell people considering sailing to Maine to enjoy the fishing heritage and culture on the water. Maine is unique in New England in that much of our waterfront is still working. There's great public access as well as a great deal of public waterfront. Much of that is due to our working waterfront.

I also tell these folks as well as the cruising guide, get a book or two on the rich history of this coast. The Lobster Coast is a good one to give someone a sense of the waterfront history in Maine and how it has shaped the way we are today. Those working on the water and those of us that recreate on it, will never be bosum buddies (although it happens), we're headed out there in opposite directions so to speak.

But with some knowledge of the fishing history, I find it's more fun to enjoy what's going on out there.

Another good read for insight into lobstering culture is the Wooden Nickel, a novel about a fisherman and his way of life. Not always pretty. But fishermen are like everybody else, I know all kinds here in my town. Once you meet a few, generalizations will go out the window, like they always do.

Another good "Guide book" for my area is the History of the islands of the mid coast of Maine. This really goes back but it too gives a better sense of where you are both geographicaly, and in a time line. Sometimes it's eerie to see how much of the coast has perhaps gone backwards in developement in the past hundred years.

If the fishermen and their pots disappeared, what would happen? There would be little need for as much public access (that we here in Maine enjoy as very economical boating, good for visitors too) and land may well be sold to private developers, and well, you know the rest.

Interesting lobster info in Collin Woodwards Lobster coast on the industry. Science is helping determine more of what is really going on down there. As well as the fact there are roughly one lobster per square yard of bottom(!), there is now some evidence that our fishing has become more of a farming operation. (Nothing new to many).

But here's a possible bright side. There is some opinion that as lobsters go in and out of traps, foraging all day long(vents allow smaller ones to escape), lobstermen may be using many more traps than they need to harvest the same amount of lobsters. If this proves to be true, we could see less in the future.

Last month, I talked to several lobster fishermen. All of them thought there was too much competition, too many pots, etc. I don't think any were ready to give up because of it. Most had done well so far this year.

I thought about how the floats might be changed to make snaggings less of a problem. What if the bouys were something like a long pipe, and weighted so most of the pipe was underwater? The prop might hit it as they came in contact, but the rope would not snag or wrap.

 

[jviss]

Future of lobstering

You would think that with GPS, you could just lay your tackle on the bottom, with no float, and grapple for it, to pick it up. But, fisherman hang on to old ways, and the lobster fishing community is so big and powerful in Maine that it has killed the groundfishing fleet.