Tips for Pulling a Prawn Trap

[Sonrisa]

Does anyone out there have any ingenious tricks to make raising a prawn trap easier?

Currently we feed the line through a forward hawse, sit down on the foredeck, and pull. This is killer on the back, and there are no cleats around to give the puller a break.

I'm considering some arrangement to lead the lines to a winch... but I have to get it over the rail somehow, and it's just yellow poly line, I'm not sure how well it'll grip. Would a block tied to a halyard help to get it over the rail? Then maybe I'd be pulling in a downward motion instead of straight back?

We have no electric windlass or winches, so I'm not hoping for a miracle solution... just some tips to make this a bit easier. We're hoping to burn less caolories raising the trap than the trap actually contains

Thanks! (My trap is down now... I have 3 hours to figure this out )

[Hud3]

What's it weigh?

You could rig a block on your boom, run the line from the trap through it to a snatch block attached to a point on your toe rail or a stanchion base where you can get a fair lead to your main cockpit winch. Stabilize the boom with preventers led fore and aft, and crank away. Once you get it out of the water, unhook the preventers and swing it over the lifelines.

[ahnutts!]

I've had the same issue, I recently decided to stick to crab. I got tired of pulling up 400 ft of line by hand just for a half dozen prawns at best. If you do better than that please share your secrets! I had considered a block on the end of the boom going to a winch as well. Their tasty little buggers but there sure hard to get at without the right gear.

[zeehag]

what about a stern anchor roller-- 2 function equipment may be the thing....