crab traps do you avoid them ?

[Zhyachts]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have been lucky too, but I think my boats design helps.
Nighttime, I wish I had a nickel for every float I have seen “appear” behind me illuminated by the stern light, how are you supposed to see them at night, especially as it seems some genius paints a lot of them black?

Besides shaft cutters and Ice knifes a powerful LED bow light, 40 watt minimum, mounted FWD so no reflections on the boat, helps. Many PNW fishing boats have them.


This Buehler COOT also has one aft.

[Hasbeen]

On the Australian east coast of New South Wales there are both crab & lobster pots. The south going East Coast Current can hit over 4 knots as it passes protruding headlands at times. To overcome this the fishermen use a string of up to 5 floats, on a very long line.


When sailing north into this current, running before a southerly, I sailed into one of these long ropes, with floats either side of me. It stopped me dead, over the ground, but I was still sailing into the current at about 4 knots.


No amount of tugging on the rope had any effect at freeing the boat. It was only when I dropped sail, & let the current carry me back south that the boat drifted out of the trap.


There are hundreds of these things & I have made the trip many times, but that was the only time they caught me.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by cyan

Kinda funny, but some rivers in far away places can indeed deliver all kinds of objects. We just missed a refrigerator-type white box slightly submerged near Columbia, while carefully looking for bigger logs in oddly brown sea water far offshore. I think refrigerators like to loiter like sleeping whales. If they don't sink, they are indeed floating just below the surface. I thought it was just a white foam cooler, but when we passed it the size was closer to a fridge.

About 30 miles from Panama heading SW we passed a complete tree floating along.. a really big one with half the branches up in the air.. must have been around 30 pelicans sat in them.. surreal.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by boatman61

About 30 miles from Panama heading SW we passed a complete tree floating along.. a really big one with half the branches up in the air.. must have been around 30 pelicans sat in them.. surreal.

Proof the oceans are rising!!!

[RobD527]

Ok I think we have the crab trap thing figured out

I did find something interesting in the replies so I am going to start a new thread called interested objects encountered on the water

could be fun

[wcapman]

When you cut a crap trap line, which is usually made of polypropylene, you set float and line adrift. I was running in a marked channel on Mobile Bay 5 years ago and ran afoul of one of these "floaters." I never saw it in the murky water. It wrapped around my shaft and prop, stopped the engine, and damaged the strut and shaft, log and packing. Bottom line, i was out of the water for 3 months making repairs and the total bill was over $10k, all out of pocket. So yes, I avoid crab traps at all cost, and when in S. Florida, I try not to run under power at night, and try to stay in deeper water during the day. A lot of times that just means going an extra mile or so off shore.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by wcapman

When you cut a crap trap line, which is usually made of polypropylene, you set float and line adrift.

Excellent example of why you want to keep a good lookout, night or day.

For the record, in New England lobster buoys use sink line. Float line is now illegal (some say it contributes to whale entanglement.) Old-timers used sink line anyway (lead line, in the old days.)

Not sure why anyone would think float line (poly) would be a good idea, but it's out there. Some folks even use it for anchor line, believe it or not. I actually found an anchor "water skiing" behind me one time after snagging one.

[SSgtPitt]

Would a full keel boat make a difference in getting hooked or have the lines wrap around your prop?

[danielamartindm]

Yes, and for two reasons: they are the bread and butter of fellow seamen, and snagging them by prop or appendages could cause damage or necessitate a dive to clear them. Avoiding them is part of maintaining an adequate watch.

[drakes]

I came down the inside to Marathon from the East Coast -2nd week of Dec and caught one IN THE CHANNEL about 15 miles from the 7 mile bridge

Had to go in the water and cut it off. THen I had to untangle the rest of it from the shaft.

I was alone and it was very cold that week - especially in the water.

I respect the fisherman and his right to make a living. I work with lots of them.

But they should not be allowed in the channel. It creates dangerous situations.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by wcapman

When you cut a crap trap line, which is usually made of polypropylene, you set float and line adrift. I was running in a marked channel on Mobile Bay 5 years ago and ran afoul of one of these "floaters." I never saw it in the murky water. It wrapped around my shaft and prop, stopped the engine, and damaged the strut and shaft, log and packing. Bottom line, i was out of the water for 3 months making repairs and the total bill was over $10k, all out of pocket. So yes, I avoid crab traps at all cost, and when in S. Florida, I try not to run under power at night, and try to stay in deeper water during the day. A lot of times that just means going an extra mile or so off shore.

Wow! That is an expensive fix.
Thanks for sharing your experience here.

[boatman61]

Use of non sinking line is very cheapskate and bad practise.. and definitely environmentally unfriendly.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Would a full keel boat make a difference in getting hooked or have the lines wrap around your prop?

Yes, while cruising years ago through maine on a bermuda 40, we would start sailing as soon as out of harbor, lock the prop, and never worry about looking for pots. Never snagged one, ran over 100s. On my current boat there luckily is a peg that sticks down and protects the gap between rudder and hull, and a flexofold. Again, less worry while under sail. I always worry while motoring... I do think a prop in aperture would be less likely to snag since it’s in concave part of hull between waterline and bottom of keel, so if any tension on pot line probably pretty tough for line to even get to the prop. A major advantage to full keelers. But I’d still worry

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by drakes

I came down the inside to Marathon from the East Coast -2nd week of Dec and caught one IN THE CHANNEL about 15 miles from the 7 mile bridge.

With a few exceptions for locally unique conditions, I don't see why you'd expect fishermen NOT to place their gear wherever their target species is.

It's inconvenient when a kayak (or sailboat!) is in my way in the channel. I would never suggest it should be illegal for them to be there. I keep a proper lookout, and treat them with the same respect I'd expect from them.

There are a few fishing practices which irritate me. The way toggles are misused in some areas is both rude and foolish. One local guy puts dozens of buoys in a narrow stretch of channel, where far fewer are needed. That's beyond rude. But it's not illegal; just really, really stupid.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by RobD527

Is the Sailboat with a wing keel less likely to pick one up than a twin engine powerboat ? (I would think much more likely the powerboat will pick one up)

Ive been running twin engine powerboats in SW Florida for over 20yrs and probably have ran over hundreds by accident and never had one in the prop

Maybe im lucky

You would think, but I snagged one in Hawk Channel, under sail no less, with awinged keel. When I dove, it was in the prop, but if I had put it in gear, it would have been much worse! But, I have accidently run over a lot of them that didn't catch anything.