Lobster Pots
- Thread starter RoyS
- Start date
FWIW... The J/32 we bought in Maine has a spur on the prop shaft. Not too much use to us, but apparently the former owner, who had owned lots of boats, thought it was worth it.
From this video it seems like a spur would help. My one and only encounter with lobster pots was in the BVI's. It was like navigating a mine field. 
We have a serrated disk on our shaft. I installed it for two reasons. One is safety so that we are less likely to be disabled in dangerous location and the other was to protect an expensive feathering prop. Unfortunately, although I really hate to cut a lobster trap line- (its a financial loss to the lobster man and perhaps needless death to the trapped lobsters), I regret that too many lobster men set their traps very close to or actually in channels. I have cruised Maine many times and in some areas it is a constant dodge and weave through the water. And many of the pots are not floating on top of the water but are under the water where they can't be seen. Using a cutter is self-preservation.
However use of a cutter does not guarantee that you will never snag a line. I have picked up a couple lines that were floating free- not attached to anything. These will wind up nicely on your prop. In one case I limped back to a port and had a diver remove the line, and in the other case I dove on the prop with my hook knife and removed the line piece by piece myself. BTW, a hook knife is an essential tool that will get you out of trouble at the worse possible time. I recommend having one on board.
However use of a cutter does not guarantee that you will never snag a line. I have picked up a couple lines that were floating free- not attached to anything. These will wind up nicely on your prop. In one case I limped back to a port and had a diver remove the line, and in the other case I dove on the prop with my hook knife and removed the line piece by piece myself. BTW, a hook knife is an essential tool that will get you out of trouble at the worse possible time. I recommend having one on board.
If you see the pots floating, turn around! You've got about 12" of water!
From what I understand, most of the fishermen set their trawls with a buoy on both ends. Some lay them in a NE-SW direction while others swing a circle. In Penobscot Bay, many, if not all, use an additional buoy (I think it's called a pennant) so there will be 4 opportunities to get caught, cut free and the fellow will still be able to retrieve his gear.
From what I understand, most of the fishermen set their trawls with a buoy on both ends. Some lay them in a NE-SW direction while others swing a circle. In Penobscot Bay, many, if not all, use an additional buoy (I think it's called a pennant) so there will be 4 opportunities to get caught, cut free and the fellow will still be able to retrieve his gear.
The spur video loop does not seem to apply to the geometry involved in a lobster pot encounter. When you encounter the line it will be vertical - not fed in from the bow of the boat. We sail in Maine and the pot thing is outrageous. I saw some idiot had placed a pot 10' off of a fuel dock in Boothbay. Very dangerous if sailing at night. Who wants to dive on a fouled prop in the dark in the ocean?
Justin, Mooring pendants are our hazard in the mooring area. I've wrapped one around my
prop and had to call the coast guard for help. Pat
prop and had to call the coast guard for help. Pat
We have them everywhere here in Maryland. I've found that you can run them down with aplomb and no worries. DO NOT try turning sharply while over one as the disturbed water tends to get the float rope caught in rudders or props. DO NOT take them down the centerline of the boat either. I've done it but always look behind to see if the float shows up astern. Now if you absolutely cannot keep a watch...... you don't need to be on the water, drop anchor and wait till you can keep a watch.
I personally like crab pots as they give a positive indication of set and drift.
I personally like crab pots as they give a positive indication of set and drift.
I find them really hard to see at night. ( eyes aren't as young as they once were) When coming home at night I try to follow the same route as the ferry and hope he got them all.
Like Ron20234 we sailed the Chesapeake Bay (especially the upper Bay). In the years we sailed there we caught only one crab trap, although there were a few close calls as floats disappeared then resurfaced. I would not consider a blade (or other cutter) on the shaft for fear of cutting myself while cleaning or bottom painting. Seeing the floats cheered me to think of a healthier Bay and a productive food source! The floats also help to gauge water flow conditions. Actually, the traps were not in channels and large areas of water were float free. Finally, we wrapped our own anchor rode more often than we snagged crab traps. Go figure! Didn't need to cut that line either.
It's called a toggle and it makes navigating the field a nightmare - they usually put a small buoy on the downline to the pot string, and then maybe 5-25' of line to another buoy. the downline goes tight in the current, maybe even under water, and the second one floats loose. BUT, they rarely match colors, and as they swirl around in the current they tangle - maybe as many as 20 or more! going up some of the rivers in Maine we put a man in the bow to watch for submerged buoys. Rich has it right - they usually buoy both ends of a string. the cutters work sometimes, but have a hookknife on board just in case.
I once woke up early in the morning to a thumping noise - someone had placed a pot right on my stern - and I was in an inside slip in Boothbay! I called the marina owner and asked him to do something so I could get out - and he sent a bunch of dockhands down, moved the boat next to me, hauled Escape across the double slip and guided us around the pot! you don't mess with lobstermen in Maine.
I once woke up early in the morning to a thumping noise - someone had placed a pot right on my stern - and I was in an inside slip in Boothbay! I called the marina owner and asked him to do something so I could get out - and he sent a bunch of dockhands down, moved the boat next to me, hauled Escape across the double slip and guided us around the pot! you don't mess with lobstermen in Maine.
We use Spurs and if we've picked up any pot lines, they haven't bothered us even slightly. I did one trip up Narragansett Bay to Providence and there were pot buoys right in the channel and everywhere else. There was no clear navigable channel at all and I think that is absolutely selfish and discourteous, therefor I couldn't have cared less how many I hit and how expensive it was to the fishermen. They obviously don't care how many they lose or they wouldn't set them in the channels.
Even the West Indians aren't that brazenly discourteous to the others sharing the waters they fish in.
Even the West Indians aren't that brazenly discourteous to the others sharing the waters they fish in.
Rich: "...needless death to lobsters....". What do you think happens to them when the pot is pulled and they find themselves at a restaurant immersed in boiling water?
It's rare to see a prop cage on a sailboat in Maine, but you can find them. Most of the lobster boats use them(that should tell you something). 
Here's a prop cage with a spade rudder.
At high water and with a sea running, the buoys can be a few-several feet under water. Invisible.
Here's a toggle buoy set up at high water. The main buoy is nearly invisible - underwater and up-current of the toggle. Some boats (underbody) are stickier than others when it comes to pots and warp. Older boats with long keels and attached rudders, have an advantage with lobster buoys. Our boat is slippery to pot warp, even under power.
Still, sailing is the best deterrent to problems. If you get hung up under sail, it's usually just a matter of tacking to get free, even with modern underbodies. With a spinning prop, it's a different story.
Some days sailing in the more tightly choked areas of our coast, I lose track of all the buoys we run down. You can hear the buoys clunking along the bottom of the boat. A glance back to see them pop up, and you're all set.
Here's a prop cage with a spade rudder.At high water and with a sea running, the buoys can be a few-several feet under water. Invisible.
Here's a toggle buoy set up at high water. The main buoy is nearly invisible - underwater and up-current of the toggle. Some boats (underbody) are stickier than others when it comes to pots and warp. Older boats with long keels and attached rudders, have an advantage with lobster buoys. Our boat is slippery to pot warp, even under power.
Still, sailing is the best deterrent to problems. If you get hung up under sail, it's usually just a matter of tacking to get free, even with modern underbodies. With a spinning prop, it's a different story.
Some days sailing in the more tightly choked areas of our coast, I lose track of all the buoys we run down. You can hear the buoys clunking along the bottom of the boat. A glance back to see them pop up, and you're all set.
I refer to toggles as Yacht Traps. These crazy lobster men are filling up the channels and the anchorages in Maine. When were the waterways ceded to them? Suppose someone decided to place have a heart traps all over the highways to catch rabbits. Would we tolerate that? Something needs to be done.